Rev. 14:8 tells us that “another angel” will announce the fall of Babylon.

⁸ And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.

In praying about this some years ago, the Father said it is the Angel of Abundant Clarity of Love. At first, I thought this was odd, but then I realized that it is the love of God that must overthrow Mystery Babylon. Babylon feeds on fear and thrives on hatred. As long as fear and hate are generated, Babylon remains spiritually strong. One cannot overthrow Babylon by hating or mistreating Babylonians, even if those Babylonians tend to mistreat or kill the overcomers.

Love is stronger than either fear or hatred, but it must be clarified, because only a few really understand the love of God. There are three levels of love—eros, phileo, and agape—and most people understand only the first two levels of love (attraction and brotherly love). The highest level is the kind that God has demonstrated. It is described by the Apostle Paul in Rom. 5:7-10,

⁷ For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. ¹⁰ For if while we were yet enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Babylonians do not understand the love of God. They only know how to love one of their own family, tribe, or nation. To most people it is a virtue to hate their “enemies.” Certainly, that has been the patriotic view since the beginning of time. After all, they say, such “enemies” do not deserve to be loved. And so the cycle of violence is perpetuated by those whose understanding of love is limited to eros or phileo.

Keep in mind that there is a difference between Babylon as a system and Babylonians as citizens of that system. The system will be destroyed; the people will be saved, for the fact of divine reconciliation has already been established at the cross, as Paul tells us, even if the timing of their salvation is yet future.

Those believers who have been taught that the majority of mankind will be lost normally find it difficult or impossible to believe that their Babylonian “enemies” are redeemable. When they do not view “the wicked” as future believers, they tend to treat them as “enemies” who are worthy only of death and destruction. But those who truly understand the love of God can see the face of Christ in the worst of sinners, even as Jacob—after his name was changed to Israel—was able to see the face of God in his wicked brother, Esau (Gen. 33:10).

When the wickedness of Mystery Babylon is uncovered (as described in Rev. 18:24), many people will be angry and wish to take vengeance upon the supporters and rulers of this “city.” I believe it is for this reason that the Angel of Abundant Clarity of Love is assigned to announce the fall of Babylon. Much love will be needed, and the love of God must be abundantly clarified in that day. Love does not negate justice, but mercy has a position higher (or above) justice, as we read in James 2:13. I discussed this in my book, James to the Twelve Tribes, chapter 11.

Hence, my personal revelation causes me to understand that a “Hope” angel drives the gospel of the Kingdom, while a “Love” angel announces the fall of Babylon. These are two of the three great attributes that Paul lists in 1 Cor. 13:13,

¹³ But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Watching for Babylon’s Fall

Rev. 14:8 is the first time that John mentions Babylon by name. It is in the context of her fall, not of her rise to power. It also suggests that Babylon remains hidden and largely unknown prior to its fall—hence, the “mystery.” John was quoting from Isaiah 21:9,

⁹ . . . and one answered and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.

The judgments of God are directed against the false gods and the oppressive governments, along with the legal and economic systems of the earth. Babylon will fall through the gospel that the manifested overcomers will preach to the world through the power of love.

Providing the context of this announcement is the prophecy in the rest of Isaiah 21. Strangely enough, this announcement does not come in Isaiah’s “oracle concerning Babylon” (Isaiah 13:1). Instead, it comes eight chapters later in “the oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea” (Isaiah 21:1). To get the full picture, of course, one must study both chapters, along with all of the prophecies by the other prophets.

Isaiah 13:17 says, “Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them.” Earlier, God speaks of mustering His own army who are sent to overthrow Babylon, saying in Isaiah 13:3,

³ I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, to execute My anger.

The next verse says, “The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle” (Isaiah 13:4). Hence, he calls the army of the Medes “My mighty warriors” who are called “to execute My anger.” The result is seen in Isaiah 13:19, 20,

¹⁹ And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁰ It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation, nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.

The ancient city of Babylon today is uninhabited. The locals will not even camp there at night, for it is believed to be haunted. The end-time Babylon is no longer a single city, but a world-wide system, and when this system falls, it will lose all of its citizens. The Holy Spirit will be poured out, and Babylonians everywhere will repent. They will immigrate from Babylon to the Kingdom of God.

Here is where it is important to understand the loving purpose of this second angel, for it is by the abundant clarity of love that Babylon “will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.” It does not mean that all Babylonians will be killed, as some have taught. It means they will all declare allegiance to the rightful Heir of all things, for Isaiah 45:23 tells us,

²³ I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.

This is God’s personal vow as He swears by Himself, and therefore it describes the New Covenant. This is not mere wishful thinking, nor does its success depend upon the will of man. God has taken the responsibility upon Himself to turn every heart and to bend every man’s will to conform to His own in the end.

With this in mind, we may read Isaiah 21 and see the context in which the prophet says in verse 9, “fallen, fallen is Babylon.” Earlier, in verse 2 we read, “Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media; I have made an end of all the groaning she (Babylon) has caused.” So here again Media (i.e., “the Medes”) are commanded to lay siege to Babylon.

The prophet then pictures refugees arriving from Babylon—evidence of Babylon’s fall. Isaiah 21:6, 7 says,

⁶ For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout [or “watchman”], let him report what he sees. ⁷ When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, a train of donkeys, a train of camels, let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

Perhaps the watchman is instructed to “pay close attention, very close attention” because most of the watchmen today have missed the significance of this camel caravan (unbelievers) and donkey train (Pentecostals). Perhaps we might paraphrase this to mean: “When the watchmen see a big refugee problem, let him pay very close attention, because many could miss the fact that it is a sign of Babylon’s fall.”

In recent years the world has seen a huge refugee problem, caused by the Babylonian plan to overthrow many governments. This plan has caused chaos and anarchy, and many have fled to Western countries for refuge. It is ironic that they flee to the very nations which have caused chaos in their own countries. In the end, the Babylonian rulers do not realize that they have set up the very sign of collapse that was prophesied by Isaiah. Isaiah 21:8, 9 continues,

⁸ Then the lookout called, “O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, and I am stationed every night at my guard post. ⁹ Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered and said, “fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

John tells us in Rev. 14:8 that the one answering the lookout is an angel. I identify him as the Angel of Abundant Clarity of Love. It is the angel that gives clear vision to the lookout as he strains to see what is coming and pays close attention to understand what he sees. John speaks of Babylon as being the one “who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality” (Rev. 14:8). But Isaiah 21:10 says,

¹⁰ O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I make known to you.

A threshing floor is the place where men thresh wheat in order to remove its chaff and render it fit to eat. The Latin word for a “threshing sledge” is tribulum, from which we derive the word tribulation. In Hebrew metaphoric language, a threshing floor was a place of tribulation. So when Isaiah says the people have been “threshed” on the “threshing floor,” he was referring to the Babylonian captivity which (in his day) had not yet begun.

Isaiah lived to see the Assyrians put the house of Israel into captivity, but he does not tell us that Assyria has fallen. Instead, he refers to the Babylonian captivity, for this would relate better to Daniel’s prophecies regarding Babylon and the beast systems in general.

When we link the two prophecies of Isaiah and John, we see that the Babylonian captivity threshed the people by forcing the people to “drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.” In other words, Babylon was pictured as a harlot, a spiritually lawless “woman” pretending to be the bride of Christ. She is a harlot because the only way to be part of the true bride of Christ is through the New Covenant marriage contract. But Christ has no intention of marrying Babylon.

One must be part of the New Jerusalem to be married to Christ (Rev. 21:2), for she is the true bride of Christ. This city-bride is pictured in Gal. 4:26 as “Sarah,” the mother of those who are called as inheritors of the promises of God. Those who claim the old Jerusalem as their spiritual mother are children of the flesh and must ultimately be cast out (Gal. 4:30).

The children of spiritual Hagar are people of the Old Covenant, which is ruled by fear. The children of spiritual Sarah are of the New Covenant, which is ruled by Love.