WE HAVE long looked for ward to the time when the earth shall be lightened with the glory of the angel with the last message of mercy to the world (Rev. 18:1). That message is simply a call to come out of Babylon, for the last plagues are about to be poured out upon her and God would have His people separated from Babylon that these plagues might not fall upon them.
Babylon has been shown to John as she sits upon the scarlet-colored beast. She sits on many waters, that is, "peoples, and multitudes, and nations" (chap, 17:15), and is also said to be sitting on the seven heads, the seven kingdoms, of which five are fallen and one has not yet come. She has sat on five heads and will sit on the seventh. And now in this vision she sits on the eighth kingdom, the beast himself (verses 3, 11). She is supported by the beast, but does not rule it (verse 7). Her condition is that she is drunk "with the blood of the saints," has become "the habitation of devils" (chap. 18:2), and is controlled by them, so that she is ripe for destruction.
The angels who bear messages from God to the world are typical of movements in the church on earth (chap. 14:6-12). The angels play their part in the work of God as He commands them (Ps. 103:20), but the preaching of the gospel is the work of men (Mark 16:15).
The Glory of Jesus
When the first advent of Jesus was prophesied it was said, "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together" (Isa. 40:5). And the apostle John reports: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). John is evidently speaking of the character of Jesus. When Israel saw this glory they did not comprehend it. Jesus said, "Now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father" (chap. 15:24).
The glory of the Lord that was revealed and seen was the glory of grace and truth, of meekness and lowliness. The story of His trial and execution in which these qualities are demonstrated is beyond human conception. He was reviled, He was scourged twice, He was spat upon, and His beard plucked out (Isa. 50:6). A crown of thorns was plaited, and placed on His head, and He was then struck on the head with a reed. All this was done by men He had created and who lived by Him and whom He could have annihilated by a word. Yet He excused and prayed for those who nailed Him to the cross. Jesus was not helpless. He could have prayed to the Father and twelve legions of angels would have flown to His assistance.
A Revelation of God
His love and His forbearance were a revelation of God. In His crucifixion God was glorified. He had prayed, saying, "Father, glorify thy name," and announced, "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth [that is, crucified], will draw all men unto me" (John 12:31, 32). The patience, the love, the compassion, manifested by the Prince of princes as He anticipated with joy the salvation of sinners is far beyond human comprehension, and is staggering to contemplate.
Those of us who believe, "see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). "This was to be indeed His true coronation."—The Desire of Ages, p. 379.
Christ's reasoning as He faced the crucifixion crisis is described as follows:
This is the crisis of the world. If I become the propitiation for the sins of men, the world will be lighted up. Satan's hold upon the souls of men will be broken. The defaced image of Cod will be restored in humanity, and a family of believing saints will finally inherit the heavenly home. This is the result of Christ's death. The Saviour is lost in contemplation of the scene of triumph called up before Him. He sees the cross, the cruel, ignominious cross, with all its attending horrors, blazing with glory.--Ibid., p. 625.
It is amazing. So strange is the thought of Hebrews 2:9 that the translators add words to make it say that we now see Jesus glorified in heaven, as if the cross, the great sacrifice of God for the redemption of fallen men, was not the glory of Cod. It is not only the redemption of fallen men that is accomplished but there also is the condemnation of every lost soul of men and of angels.
A Consuming Fire
There is a glory of God that men cannot see and live, for as the Lord said to Moses when he asked to be shown God's glory: "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live" (Ex. 33:20). That glory is so great that God is said to be "a consuming fire" (Deut. 4:24).
In this glory the righteous shall share; by it the wicked will be destroyed. "In all who submit to His power the Spirit of God will consume sin. But if men cling to sin, they become identified with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin, must destroy them." —Ibid., p. 107. It was of this glory that Jesus spoke when He said, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee be fore the world was" (John 17:5). When this glory is manifested to and shared with the redeemed "the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and be fore his ancients gloriously" (Isa. 24:23). Here we must share the glory of God's character, and there we shall share the glory of Christ's person (Phil. 3:21).
The Glory of Character
From all this we conclude that the glory of the angel of Revelation 18:1 is the glory of character, not the glory of person. Now, with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, we may behold "the glory of the Lord," and be "changed into the same image from .glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18), and Jesus will come and receive us into God's eternal glory.
Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of Cod that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble. --The Great Controversy, p. 623.
If the earth is to be lighted with the glory of God as seen in the characters of His people, what a standard! What a responsibility! But it is the work of God and the earth will be lightened with their glory.
