The Second Angel’s Message

June 21 – 27, 2026

Key Text

“And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ ” Revelation 14:8

Study Help: Early Writings, 237–245; Selected Messages, Book 2, 116–118

Introduction

“The substance of the second angel’s message is again given to the world by that other angel who lightens the earth with his glory.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 116

Sunday

1 THE END IS NEAR

1.a. How will God intervene to stop the progress of wickedness in this world? 2 Peter 3:10; Nahum 1:3–6

Note: “In the bowels of the earth, God has in reserve the weapons that He will use to destroy the sinful race. Since the Flood, God has used, to destroy wicked cities, both the water and the fire that are concealed in the earth. In the final conflagration, God will in His wrath send lightning from heaven that will unite with the fire in the earth. The mountains will burn like a furnace, and pour forth streams of lava.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, 946

1.b. What is one of the reasons why God is delaying His intervention? 2 Peter 3:9

Note: “Before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, everything in nature will be convulsed. Lightning from heaven uniting with the fire in the earth, will cause the mountains to burn like a furnace, and pour out their floods of lava over villages and cities. Molten masses of rock, thrown into the water by the upheaval of things hidden in the earth, will cause the water to boil and send forth rocks and earth. There will be mighty earthquakes and great destruction of human life. But as in the days of the great Deluge Noah was preserved in the ark that God had prepared for him, so in these days of destruction and calamity, God will be the refuge of His believing ones.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, 946

“God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish; but His forbearance has a limit, and when the boundary is past, there is no second probation. His wrath will go forth and He will destroy without remedy.” Ibid.

Monday

2 A THREEFOLD MESSAGE OF MERCY

2.a. What must be done on earth before the end can come? Matthew 24:14. What is our individual responsibility in this work, and what object should we have in view? Ezekiel 33:7–9, 11, 15; Isaiah 55:6, 7

2.b. What are the last three messages of the everlasting gospel to be given to the world? Revelation 14:6–11. What will follow immediately after these messages have been proclaimed? Revelation 14:14, 15

Note: “The first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and we are now under the proclamation of the third; but all three of the messages are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as ever before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for the truth. By pen and voice, we are to sound the proclamation, showing their order, and the application of the prophecies that bring us to the third angel’s message. There cannot be a third without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of prophetic history the things that have been and the things that will be.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 104, 105

Tuesday

3 THE SECOND ANGEL AND HIS MESSAGE

3.a. What message does the second angel proclaim, and when was it first preached? Revelation 14:8. In what sense was spiritual Babylon not yet completely fallen when the message began to sound?

Note: “The second angel’s message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that ‘Babylon is fallen, … because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ She has not yet made all nations do this. The spirit of world conforming and indifference to the testing truths for our time exists and has been gaining ground in churches of the Protestant faith in all the countries of Christendom; and these churches are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.” The Great Controversy, 389 [Author’s italics.]

3.b. When apostasy is present, what historic pattern must be followed? 2 Corinthians 6:17. Accordingly, what happened in the summer of 1844?

Note: “Those who dared not withhold from others the light which God had given them, were shut out of the churches; but Jesus was with them, and they were joyful in the light of His countenance. They were prepared to receive the message of the second angel.” Early Writings, 237

“Thus the believers found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity. They loved their churches and were loath to separate from them; but as they saw the testimony of God’s word suppressed and their right to investigate the prophecies denied they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to submit. Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God’s word they could not regard as constituting the church of Christ, ‘the pillar and ground of the truth.’ Hence, they felt themselves justified in separating from their former connection. In the summer of 1844 about fifty thousand withdrew from the churches.” The Great Controversy, 376

Wednesday

4 A REINFORCEMENT COMING IN DUE TIME

4.a. What special call, given in the summer of 1844, added power to the message of the second angel? Matthew 25:6

Note: “This was the midnight cry, which was to give power to the second angel’s message. Angels were sent from heaven to arouse the discouraged saints and prepare them for the great work before them. The most talented men were not the first to receive this message. Angels were sent to the humble, devoted ones, and constrained them to raise the cry, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!’ Those entrusted with the cry made haste, and in the power of the Holy Spirit sounded the message, and aroused their discouraged brethren. This work did not stand in the wisdom and learning of men, but in the power of God, and His saints who heard the cry could not resist it. The most spiritual received this message first, and those who had formerly led in the work were the last to receive and help swell the cry, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!’

“In every part of the land, light was given upon the second angel’s message, and the cry melted the hearts of thousands. It went from city to city, and from village to village, until the waiting people of God were fully aroused. In many churches the message was not permitted to be given, and a large company who had the living testimony left these fallen churches.” Early Writings, 238

4.b. Why, how, and when must the message of the fall of Babylon be repeated? Revelation 18:1, 2

Note: “I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he descended, the earth was lightened with his glory. The light which attended this angel penetrated everywhere, as he cried mightily, with a strong voice, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the churches since 1844. The work of this angel comes in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel’s message as it swells to a loud cry.” Early Writings, 277

Thursday

5 THE WORK OF GOD ACCOMPLISHED

5.a. What is the final mission of the movement symbolized by this other angel? Revelation 18:4

Note: “God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments these faithful ones must be called out, that they partake not of her sins and ‘receive not of her plagues.’ Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard: ‘Come out of her, My people.’ These announcements, uniting with the third angel’s message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.” The Great Controversy, 604

5.b. What prophecy will then meet its final and complete fulfillment? John 10:16

Note: “The light will shine, and all who are honest will leave the fallen churches, and take their stand with the remnant.” Early Writings, 261

“The people of God have accomplished their work. They have received ‘the latter rain,’ ‘the refreshing from the presence of the Lord,’ and they are prepared for the trying hour before them.” The Great Controversy, 613

Friday

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

What is soon to happen on this planet, and why is it delayed?
What are the three angels’ messages, and what is to be accomplished through them?
Explain the progressive nature of the second angel’s message.
Why is the other angel needed?
Describe the work of that other angel of Revelation 18.