o be understood. Multitudes,
trusting implicitly to their pastors, refused to listen to the warning;
and others, though convinced of the truth, dared not confess it, lest they
should be "put out of the synagogue." The message which God had sent for
the testing and purification of the church, revealed all too surely how
great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather
than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than
the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly
wisdom, and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.

In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the means which
Heaven had provided for their restoration. They spurned the gracious
messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated them from
God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of the
world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of worldliness,
backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in the churches in 1844.

In Revelation 14, the first angel is 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."(623) The term
"Babylon" is derived from "Babel," and signifies confusion. It is employed
in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion.
In Revelation 17, Babylon is represented as a woman,--a figure which is
used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing
a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.

In the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists
between Christ and His church is represented by the union of marriage. The
Lord has joined His people to Himself by a solemn covenant, He promising
to be their God, and they pledging themselves to be His, and His alone. He
declares, "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee
unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in
mercies."(624) And again, "I am married unto you."(625) And Paul employs
the same figure in the New Testament when he says, "I have espoused you to
one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."(626)

The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence
and affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly
things to occupy the soul, is likened to the violation of