Babylon and Rome- it is FALSE

 That the ancient city of Babylon restored is to play an important part in the startling events of the last days of this Dispensation, is very clear. This is seen from what is said of it in the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of the Book of Revelation. At first sight the two chapters, which contain some things in common, are difficult to reconcile, but when we get the "Key"the reconciliation is easy.

The seventeenth chapter speaks of a "Woman," and this "Woman" is called

"MYSTERY,"
Babylon the Great,
The Mother of Harlots
And
Abominations of the Earth."

The eighteenth chapter speaks of a "City," a literal city, called "Babylon the Great." That the "Woman" and the "City" do not symbolize the same thing is clear, for what is said of the "Woman" does not apply to a city, and what is said of the "City" does not apply to a woman. The "Woman" is destroyed by the "Ten Kings," while the "Kings of the Earth" in the next chapter, "bewail and lament" the destruction of the "City," which is not destroyed by them, but by a mighty earthquake and fire. Again the "Woman" is destroyed Three and a Half Years BEFORE THE CITY; and the fact that the first verse of chapter eighteen says-"after these things,"that is after the destruction of the "Woman" what happens to the "City" occurs, shows that the "Woman" and the "City" are not one and the same.

The "Woman's" name is-

"MYSTERY, Babylon the Great."

"Mystery!" Where have we heard that word before, and in what connection? Paul calls the Church a "Mystery" because it was not known to the Old Testament Patriarchs and Prophets. Eph. 3:1-21. That Christ was to have a "Bride" was first revealed to Paul (Eph. 5:23-32), and the "Mystery" that Antichrist is to have a "bride" was first revealed to John on the Isle of Patmos. The name of Antichrist's "bride" is "Babylon the Great." Some one may ask why give to a "bride" the name of a "City"? The answer is that it is not unusual in the Scriptures. When the same angel that showed John in this chapter "Mystery, Babylon the Great," came to him in chapter 21:9-10 and said-"Come hither, I will shew thee the Bride-'The Lamb's Wife,"' he showed John, instead of a woman, that great City, the "Holy Jerusalem"descending out of Heaven from God. Here we see that a "city" is called a "bride" because its inhabitants, and not the city itself, are the bride."Mystery, Babylon the Great," the "bride" of Antichrist, then, is not a literal city, but a "System," a religious and apostate "System." As the Church, the Bride of Christ, is composed of regenerated followers of Christ, so "Mystery, Babylon the Great," the bride of Antichrist, will be composed of the followers of all False Religions.

The river Euphrates, on which the city of Babylon was built, was one of the four branches into which the river that flowed through the Garden of Eden was divided, and Satan doubtless chose the site of Babylon as his headquarters from which to sally forth to tempt Adam and Eve. It was doubtless here that the Antediluvian Apostasy had its source that ended in the Flood. To this centre the "forces of Evil" gravitated after the Flood, and "Babel" was the result. This was the origin of nations, but the nations were not scattered abroad over the earth until Satan had implanted in them the "Virus" of a doctrine that has been the source of every false religion the world has ever known.

Babel, or Babylon, was built by Nimrod. Gen. 10:8-10. It was the seat of the first great Apostasy. Here the "Babylonian Cult" was invented, a system claiming to possess the highest wisdom and to reveal the divinest secrets. Before a member could be initiated he had to "confess" to the Priest. The Priest then had him in his power. This is the secret of the power of the Priests of the Roman Catholic Church today.

Once admitted into this order men were no longer Babylonians, Assyrians, or Egyptians, but members of a

Mystical Brotherhood,

over whom was placed a Pontiff or "High Priest," whose word was law. The city of Babylon continued to be the seat of Satan until the fall of the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires, when he shifted his Capital to Pergamos in Asia Minor, where it was in John's day. Rev. 2:12,13.

When Attalus, the Pontiff and King of Pergamos, died in B.C. 133, he bequeathed the Headship of the "Babylonian Priesthood" to Rome. When the Etruscans came to Italy from Lydia (the region of Pergamos), they brought with them the Babylonian religion and rites. They set up a Pontiff who was head of the Priesthood. Later the Romans accepted this Pontiff as their civil ruler. Julius Caesar was made Pontiff of the Etruscan Order in B.C. 74. In B.C. 63 he was made "Supreme Pontiff" of the "Babylonian Order," thus becoming heir to the rights and titles of Attalus, Pontiff of Pergamos, who had made Rome his heir by will. Thus the first Roman Emperor became the Head of the "Babylonian Priesthood," and Rome the successor of Babylon. The Emperors of Rome continued to exercise the office of "Supreme Pontiff" until A.D. 376, when the Emperor Gratian, for Christian reasons, refused it. The Bishop of the Church at Rome, Damasus, was elected to the position. He had been Bishop 12 years, having been made Bishop in A.D. 366, through the influence of the monks of Mt. Carmel, a college of Babylonian religion originally founded by the priests of Jezebel. So in A.D. 378 the Head of the "Babylonian Order" became the Ruler of the "Roman Church." Thus Satan united

Rome and Babylon
In One Religious System.

Soon after Damasus was made "Supreme Pontiff" the "rites" of Babylon began to come to the front. The worship of the Virgin Mary was set up in A.D. 381. All the outstanding festivals of the Roman Catholic Church are of Babylonian origin. Easter is not a Christian name. It means "Ishtar," one of the titles of the Babylonian Queen of Heaven, whose worship by the Children of Israel was such an abomination in the sight of God. The decree for the observance of Easter and Lent was given in A.D. 519. The "Rosary" is of Pagan origin. There is no warrant in the Word of God for the use of the "Sign of the Cross." It had its origin in the mystic "Tau" of the Chaldeans and Egyptians. It came from the letter "T," the initial name of "Tammuz," and was used in the "Babylonian Mysteries" for the same magic purposes as the Romish Church now employs it. Celibacy, the Tonsure, and the Order of Monks and Nuns, have no warrant or authority from Scripture. The Nuns are nothing more than an imitation of the "Vestal Virgins" of Pagan Rome.

As to the word "Mystery," the Papal Church has always shrouded herself in mystery. The mystery of "Baptismal Regeneration;" the mystery of "Miracle and Magic" whereby the simple memorials of the Lord's Supper are changed by the mysterious word "Transubstantiation," from simple bread and wine into the literal Body and Blood of Christ; the mystery of the "Holy Water;" the mystery of "Lights on the Altar," the "Mystery Plays," and other superstitious rites and ceremonies mumbled in a language that tends to mystery, and tends to confusion which is the meaning of the word Babylon.

All this was a "Mystery" in John's day, because the "Papal Church" had not as yet developed; though the "Mystery of Iniquity" was already at work (2 Thess. 2:7), but it is no longer a "Mystery" for it is now easy to identify the "Woman"-Mystery, Babylon the Great," which John described as the "Papal Church."

In Rev. 17:4 we read that the "Woman" "was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a 'Golden Cup' in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornications."

Now who does not know that scarletand purple are the colors of the Papacy? Of the different articles of attire specified for the Pope to wear when he is installed into office five are scarlet. A vest covered with pearls,and a mitre, adorned with gold and precious stones was also to be worn. How completely this answers the description of the Woman's dress as she sits upon the Scarlet Colored Beast.

We are also told that the Woman was "drunken with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus." While this refers more particularly to the martyrs of the time of Antichrist, yet who does not know, who has studied the history of the Christian Church for the past nineteen centuries, that this is true of the Papal Church during those centuries? One has only to read the history of the persecutions of the early Christians and more particularly the story of the "Inquisition" in Papal lands, to see that the Papal Church has been "drunk" with the blood of the Saints.

The fact that the Woman sits on a "Scarlet Colored Beast" reveals the fact that at that time the Beast (Antichrist) will support the Woman in her ecclesiastical pretensions, or in other words, the Woman, as a "State Church," will control and rule the State, and her long dream of world-wide Ecclesiastical Supremacy will at last be realized, for John tells us that "the waters which thou sawest, where the 'Whore' sitteth, are Peoples, and Multitudes, and Nations and Tongues." That means that after the "True Church" (the Bride of Christ) is taken out of the world the "False" or "Papal Church" (the bride of Antichrist) will remain, and the professing body of Christians (having the "form of Godliness without the power") left behind, will largely enter the Papal Church, and, it will become the Universal Church. But this will continue for only a short time for the "Ten Kings" of the "Federated Kingdom," finding their power curtailed by the "Papal System" will "hate The Whore," and strip her of her gorgeous apparel, confiscate her wealth (eat her flesh) and burn her churches and cathedrals with fire. Rev. 17:16.

This will occur at the time the worship of the Beast is set up, for Antichrist in his jealous hate will not permit any worship that does not centre in himself.

The Beast upon which the Woman sits is introduced to show from whom the Woman (the Papal Church) gets her power and support after the True Church has been "caught out," and also to show that the Beast (Antichrist) and the Woman (the Papal Church) are not one and the same, but separate. Therefore the Papacy is not Antichrist. For a description of the "Scarlet Colored Beast" see the Chapter on The Antichrist.

From this foreview of the Papacy we see that the Papal Church is not a dying "System." That she is to be revived and become a "Universal Church," and in doing so is to commit fornication with the kings of the earth, and that she shall again be "drunk with the blood" of the martyrs of the Tribulation Period. The meaning of chapter seventeen of the Book of Revelation is no longer a Mystery; the prophetic portrait of the Woman there given corresponds too closely with the history of the Papal Church to be a mere coincidence.

2. Commercial Babylon.

Rev. 18:1-24.

This chapter begins with the words "after these things." What things? The things recorded in the previous chapter, the destruction of "Mystical Babylon."

If "Mystical Babylon" was destroyed in the previous chapter then she cannot appear in this chapter, and the "City" here described must be a literal city called Babylon, and as there is no city of that name on the earth today, nor has been since the ancient city of Babylon was destroyed, it must refer to some future city of Babylon. That the two chapters refer to different things is further verified by the fact that they are announced by different angels. The events of chapter seventeen are announced by one of the "Vial" Angels, while those of the eighteenth are announced by "another" angel; probably the "Second Angel Messenger," who by way of anticipation, announced in chapter 14:8, the "Fall of Babylon," that is there called-"That Great City."

The ancient city of Babylon from the days of Nimrod (Gen. 10:10), grew in size and importance century after century until it reached its greatest glory in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar B.C. 604-562. As described by Herodotus it was an exact square of 15 miles on a side, or 60 miles around, and was surrounded by a brick wall 87 feet thick, and 350 feet high, though probably that is a mistake, 100 feet being nearer the height. On the wall were 250 towers, and the top of the wall was wide enough to allow 6 chariots to drive abreast. Outside this wall was a vast ditch surrounding the city, kept filled with water from the river Euphrates; and inside the wall, and not far from it, was another wall, not much inferior, but narrower, extending around the city.

Twenty-five magnificent avenues, 150 feet wide, ran across the city from North to South, and the same number crossed them at right angles from East to West, making 676 great squares, each nearly three-fifths of a mile on a side, and the city was divided into two equal parts by the river Euphrates, that flowed diagonally through it, and whose banks, within the city, were walled up, and pierced with brazen gates, with steps leading down to the river. At the ends of the main avenues, on each side of the city, were gates, whose leaves were of brass, and that shone as they were opened or closed in the rising or setting sun, like "leaves of flame."

The Euphrates within the city was spanned by a bridge, at each end of which was a palace, and these palaces were connected by a subterranean passageway, or tube, underneath the bed of the river; in which at different points were located sumptuous banqueting rooms constructed entirely of brass.

Near one of these palaces stood the

"Tower of Bel,"

or Babel, consisting of 8 towers, each 75 feet high, rising one upon the other, with an outside winding stairway to its summit, which towers, with the Chapel on the top, made a height of 660 feet. This Chapel contained the most expensive furniture of any place of worship in the world. One golden image alone, 45 feet high, was valued at $17,500,000, and the whole of the sacred utensils were reckoned to be worth $200,000,000.

Babylon also contained one of the "Seven Wonders" of the world, the famous Hanging Gardens.

These Gardens were 400 feet square, and were raised in terraces one above the other to the height of 350 feet, and were reached by stairways 10 feet wide. The top of each terrace was covered with large stones, on which was laid a bed of rushes, then a thick layer of asphalt, next two courses of brick, cemented together, and finally plates of lead to prevent leakage; the whole was then covered with earth and planted with shrubbery and large trees. The whole had the appearance from a distance of a forest-covered mountain, which would be a remarkable sight in the level plain of the Euphrates. These Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar simply to please his wife; who came from the mountainous country of Media, and who was thus made contented with her surroundings. The rest of the city was, in its glory and magnificence, in keeping with these palaces, towers, and "Hanging Gardens." The character of its inhabitants and of its official life is seen in the description of "Belshazzar's Feast" in Dan. 5:1-31.

Babylon was probably the most magnificent city the world has ever seen and its fall reveals what a city may become when it forsakes God and He sends His judgment upon it. It is so intimately connected with the history of God's people that the Scriptures have much to say about it. A large part of the Book of Daniel and of the prophecy of Jeremiah relate to it, and it is mentioned in 11 other books of the Old Testament, and in 4 of the New Testament. And that the Book of Revelation is a continuation of the Book of Daniel is further proven by the fact that the city of Babylon is again spoken of in it, and its prominence in the affairs of the world at the "End Time" disclosed, and its final destruction foretold.

That the ancient city of Babylon was destroyed there can be no question, but when we affirm that it is to be rebuilt and again destroyed we are met with two objections.

1. That all the Old Testament prophecies in reference to its destruction have been literally fulfilled, and that it cannot be rebuilt.
2. As there is no city of Babylon now in existence the references in the Book of Revelation to the destruction of such a city must be symbolical and not refer to a literal city.

Let us take up the first objection. For a description of Babylon and her destruction we must turn to Isaiah, chapters 13 and 14, and Jeremiah, chapters 50 and 51. In these two prophecies we find much that has not as yet been fulfilled in regard to the city of Babylon.

The city of Babylon was captured in B.C. 541 by Cyrus, who was mentioned "by name" in prophecy 125 years before he was born. Isa. 44:28-45:4, B.C. 712. So quietly and quickly was the city taken on the night of Belshazzar's Feast by draining the river that flowed through the city, and entering by the river bed, and the gates that surmounted its banks, that the Babylonian guards had forgotten to lock that night, that some of the inhabitants did not know until the "third" day that the king had been slain and the city taken. There was no destruction of the city at that time.

Some years after it revolted against Darius Hystaspis, and after a fruitless siege of nearly 20 months was taken by strategy. This was in B.C. 516. About B.C. 478 Xerxes, on his return from Greece plundered and injured, if he did not destroy, the great "Temple of Bel."

In B.C. 331 Alexander the Great approached the city which was then so powerful and flourishing that he made preparation for bringing all his forces into action in case it should offer resistance, but the citizens threw open the gates and received him with acclamations. After sacrificing to "Bel," he gave out that he would rebuild the vast Temple of that god, and for weeks he kept 10,000 men employed in clearing away the ruins from the foundations, doubtless intending to revive the glory of Babylon and make it his capital, when his purpose was defeated by his sudden death of marsh-fever and intemperance in his thirty-third year.

During the subsequent wars of his generals Babylon suffered much and finally came under the power of Seleucus, who, prompted by ambition to build a Capital for himself, founded Seleucia in its neighborhood about B.C. 293. This rival city gradually drew off the inhabitants of Babylon, so that Strabo, who died in A.D. 25, speaks of the latter as being to a great extent deserted. Nevertheless the Jews left from the Captivity still resided there in large numbers, and in A.D. 60 we find the Apostle Peter working among them, for it was from Babylon that Peter wrote his Epistle (I Pet. 5:13), addressed "to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia."

About the middle of the 5th century Theodoret speaks of Babylon as being inhabited only by Jews, who had still three Jewish Universities, and in the last year of the same century the "Babylonian Talmud" was issued, and recognized as authoritative by the Jews of the whole world.

In A.D. 917 Ibu Hankel mentions Babylon as an insignificant village, but still in existence. About A.D. 1100 it seems to have again grown into a town of some importance, for it was then known as the "Two Mosques." Shortly afterwards it was enlarged and fortified and received the name of Hillah, or "Rest." In A.D. 1898 Hillah contained about 10,000 inhabitants, and was surrounded by fertile lands, and abundant date groves stretched along the banks of the Euphrates. Certainly it has never been true that "neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there." Isa. 13:20. Nor can it be said of Babylon-"Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby." Jer. 51:43. Nor can it be said-"And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations,but thou shalt be desolate forever, saith the Lord" (Jer. 51:26), for many towns and cities have been built from the ruins of Babylon, among them Four Capital Cities, Seleucia, built by the Greeks; Ctesiphon, by the Parthians, Al Maiden, by the Persians; and Kufa, by the Caliphs. Hillah was entirely constructed from the debris, and even in the houses of Bagdad, Babylonian stamped bricks may be frequently noticed.

But Isaiah is still more specific for he locates the Time when his prophecy will be fulfilled. He calls it the "Day of the Lord." Isa. 13:9. That is the Millennium. And he locates it at the beginning of the Millennium, or during the events that usher in the Millennium, for he says-

"The stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine." Isa. 13:10 (Luke 21:25-27).

Surely nothing like this happened when Babylon was taken by Cyrus.

In the description of the destruction of the city of Babylon given in Rev. 18, we read that her judgment will come in one hour (vs. 10), and that in one hour she shall be made desolate (vs. 19), and as an illustration of the suddenness and completeness of her destruction, a mighty angel took up a stone like a Great Millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying-"Thus with Violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all."Rev. 18:21.

We are also told in the same chapter that she is to be destroyed by FIRE(Rev. 18:8,9,18), and this is in exact harmony with the words of Isa. 13:19.

"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew

Sodom and Gomorrah;"

and the Prophet Jeremiah makes the same statement. Jer. 50:40.

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was not protracted through many centuries, their glory disappeared in a few hours (Gen. 19:24-28), and as ancient Babylon was not thus destroyed, the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah cannot be fulfilled unless there is to be a Future Babylon that shall be thus destroyed.

In Rev. 16:17-19, we are told that Babylon shall be destroyed by an Earthquake, attended with most vivid and incessant lightning and awful thunder. It would appear then, that as Sodom and Gomorrah were first set on fire and then swallowed up by an earthquake, that the rebuilt city of Babylon will be set on fire, and as the site of ancient Babylon is underlaid with Bitumen (Asphalt), that an earthquake will break up the crust of the earth, and precipitate the burning city into a "Lake of Fire," and the city like a "Millstone" (Rev. 18:21) sink below the surface of the earth as into the sea, and be swallowed up so that it will be impossible to ever take of her stones for building purposes, and the land shall become a Wilderness where no man shall ever dwell.

As to the probability of the ancient city of Babylon being rebuilt we have only to consider the events that in recent years have been happening in that part of the world looking to just such a thing.

In the Department of War of France, at Paris, there is to be seen the records of valuable surveys and maps made by order of Napoleon I, in Babylonia, and among them is a plan for a New City of Babylon, thus showing that the vast schemes of Napoleon comprehended the Rebuilding of the Ancient City of Babylon, and the making it his Capital, as his ambition was to conquer the whole of Europe and Asia, and he recognized to that end the strategical position of ancient Babylon as a governmental and commercial centre.

It is a fact that the whole country of Mesopotamia, Assyria and Babylonia, only needs a system of irrigation to make it again the most fertile country in the world, and steps have already been taken in that direction. In 1850 the British Government sent out a military officer with his command to survey and explore the river Euphrates at a cost of $150,000, and when the European war broke out, the great English Engineer who built the Assouam dam in Egypt, was engaged in making surveys in the Euphratean valley for the purpose of constructing a series of irrigation canals that would restore the country and make it again the great grain producing country it once was. As a result towns and cities would spring up and railroads would be built. What is needed in that part of the world is a "Trans-European-Asiatic-Indian Air Line" that will connect Europe with India, and China. Such a line has been the dream of Emperor- William of Germany. It was that desire that made him and Abdul Hamid, of Turkey, the closest of political friends, and he secured from Abdul Hamid a concession to build a railway from the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, by way of Aleppo, to the Tigris river, and from there to Bagdad, and from Bagdad via Babylon (via Babylon, mark that) to Koweit on the Persian Gulf, and most of the road has been built to Bagdad.

With these facts in mind it can readily be seen that it is the purpose of European capitalists to revive the country of Babylonia and rebuild its cities, and when once the time comes the city of Babylon will be rebuilt almost in a night and on a scale of magnificence such as the world has never seen.

But I hear a protest. How you say can we be expecting Jesus to come at "any moment," if the city of Babylon must be rebuilt before He can come? There is not a word in Scripture that says that Jesus cannot come and take away His Church, until Babylon is rebuilt. The Church may be taken out of the world 25 or even 50 years before that.

Babylon the Great will be an immense city, the greatest in every respect the world has ever seen. It will be a typical city, the London, the Paris, the Berlin, the Petrograd, the New York, the Chicago of its day. It will be the greatest commercial city of the world. Its merchandise will be of gold and silver, and precious stones and pearls, of purple, and silk, and scarlet and costly woods. Its fashionable society will be clothed in the most costly raiment and decked with the most costly jewels. Their homes will be filled with the most costly furniture of precious woods, brass, iron and marble, with the richest of draperies, mats and rugs. They will use the most costly of perfumes, cinnamon, fragrant odors, ointments and frankincense. Their banquets will be supplied with the sweetest of wines, the richest of pastry, and the most delicious of meats. They will have horses and chariots and the swiftest of fast moving vehicles on earth and in the air. They will have their slaves, and they will traffic in the "souls of men." That is, women will sell their bodies, and men their souls, to gratify their lusts.

The markets will be crowded with cattle, sheep and horses. The wharves will be piled with goods from all climes. The manufactories will turn out the richest of fabrics, and all that genius can invent for the comfort and convenience of men will be found on the market. It will be a city given over to pleasure and business. Business men and promoters will give their days and nights to scheming how to make money fast, and the pleasure loving will be constantly planning new pleasures. There will be riotous joy and ceaseless feasting. As it was in the days of Noah and of Lot, they will be marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling, building and planting.

The blood will run hot in their veins. Money will be their god, pleasure their high-priest, and unbridled passion the ritual of their worship.

It will be a city of music. Amid the noise and bustle of its commercial life will be heard the music of its pleasure resorts and theatres. There will be the sound of "harpers and musicians, of pipers and trumpeters" (vs. 22). The world's best singers and players will be there. Its theatres and places of music will be going day and night. In fact there will be no night, for the electric illumination of the city by night will make the night as bright and shadowless as the day, and its stores and places of business will never close, night of day, or Sunday, for the mad whirl of pleasure and the absorbing desire for riches will keep the wheels of business constantly moving. And all this will be easy because the "God of this World"-Satan, will possess the minds and bodies of men, for we read in verse 2, that Babylon at that time will be "the Habitation-of Devils, and the Hold of Every Foul Spirit, and the Cage of Every Unclean and Hateful Bird." The city will be the seat of the most imposing "OCCULTISM," and mediums, and those desiring to communicate with the other world, will then go to Babylon, as men and women now go to Paris for fashions and sensuous pleasures. In that day demons, disembodied souls, and unclean spirits will find at Babylon the opportunity of their lives to materialize themselves in human bodies, and from the atmospheric heavens above, and from the Abyss below they will come in countless legions until Babylon shall be full of demon possesssed men and women, and at the height of its glory, and just before its fall, Babylon will be ruled by SATAN HIMSELF, incarnate in the "Beast"-ANTICHRIST.

But before its destruction God will mercifully deliver His own people, for a voice from heaven will cry

"Come Out of Her, My People, That Ye be Not Partakers of Her Sins, and that Ye Receive Not of Her Plagues." vs. 4.

As Sodom and Gomorrah could not be destroyed until righteous Lot had escaped, so Babylon cannot be destroyed until all the righteous people in it have fled.

The destruction of the city will be sudden and without warning. A fearful storm will sweep over the city. The lightning and thunder will be incessant. The city will be set on fire and a great earthquake will shake it from centre to circumference. The tall office buildings, the "Hanging Gardens" and the great towers will totter and fall, the crust of the earth will crack and open, and the whole city with its inhabitants will sink like a "Millstone," (vs. 21), into a lake of burning bitumen, and the smoke will ascend as of a burning fiery furnace, and the horror of the scene will be intensified by vast clouds of steam, generated by the waters of the Euphrates pouring into that lake of fiery asphalt, and when night comes on those clouds of steam will reflect the light of the burning city so it can be seen for miles in all directions in that level country. And the kings of the earth, and the merchants, and the shipmasters, and sailors, and all who have profited by her merchandise, will stand afar off and cry, and wail because of her destruction, but the heavens will rejoice for God will have rewarded her Double according to her works, and BABYLON WILL BE NO MORE.

The Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday or Lent, and the early New Testament Church did not observe these days. Here is how the BBC Religion page describes Ash Wednesday and Lent:

"Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast.

"Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some other churches hold special services at which worshippers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death and sorrow for sin…

"The Christian churches that observe Lent in the 21st century (and not all do significantly) use it as a time for prayer and penance. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It is more common these days for believers to surrender a particular vice such as favourite foods or smoking" (BBC).

Lent is counted differently by those of the Western Catholic tradition and those of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. "The western church excludes Sundays (which is celebrated as the day of Christ's resurrection) whereas the eastern church includes them. The churches also start Lent on different days. Western churches start Lent on the 7th Wednesday before Easter Day (called Ash Wednesday). Eastern churches start Lent on the Monday of the 7th week before Easter and end it on the Friday 9 days before Easter. Eastern churches call this period the 'Great Lent'" (BBC).

Various biblical events and customs are referred to by those who celebrate these days. The Bible mentions people mourning in sackcloth and ashes. The Bible also talks about repentance and fasting, and the number 40 is prominent in various biblical events.

"The justification for the Lenten 40-day preparation for Easter is traditionally based on Jesus' 40-day wilderness fast before His temptation by Satan (Harper's Bible Dictionary, 'Lent'; Matthew 4:1-2; Mark 1:13). The problem with this explanation is that this incident is not connected in any way with Jesus' supposed observance of Easter. The 40-day pre-Easter practice of fasting and penance did not originate in the Bible" (The Good Friday—Easter Sunday Question).

Some have suggested that Lent may be connected to earlier, pagan holidays. In Ezekiel 8:14, the prophet in vision saw women weeping for the pagan god Tammuz. "It has been suggested by some scholars that the practice of 'weeping for Tammuz' was the actual origin of Lent, the Roman Catholic 40-day period of abstinence prior to Easter (starting after Mardi Gras, 'Fat Tuesday,' on Ash Wednesday). Consider that the name Easter itself is derived from Ishtar, the ancient Babylonian fertility goddess and Tammuz's mother". (See the Bible commentary on Ezekiel 8 for details.)

The Bible does teach the importance of fasting and self-examination, but it does not teach a 40-day period called Lent or an Ash Wednesday of putting ashes on the forehead. These customs appear to have pagan origins, and are not practiced by the United Church of God. We seek to follow the customs and practices of the early New Testament Church as described in the Bible. For more on the biblical religious festivals, such as the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring, see God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind. As you undoubtedly know, the city of ancient Babylon is in Iraq, about 50 miles south of Baghdad on the Euphrates river. What you may not know is that prior to Desert Storm and the conflict in Iraq, Saddam Hussein had for several years been working to uncover the ancient ruins of Babylon with a view to rebuilding the city and establishing himself as practically the incarnation of Nebuchadnezzar, the great Babylonian king who took Judah captive from 606 to 586 B.C. This captivity by Nebuchadnezzar began the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24), the period of gentile domination over Jerusalem and Israel which has and will continue to keep all descendants of David from sitting on the throne of Israel until the return of the Lord Himself.

Babylon’s Biblical Beginnings

Babylon comes from the Hebrew Bab-el which some say is a Hebrew form of the Assyrian Bab-ili, which meant “Gate of God,” and is used of the ancient city on the banks of the Euphrates River. However, in Hebrew Bab-el means “confusion.”

Genesis 10-11

Babylon is first found in Genesis 10 in the table of nations. Here Moses traces the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. We have here the Japhethites, those least connected with Israel, then he traces the Hammites, those responsible for a great deal of sin and trouble in the world, and then the line of Shem, those who became Israelites. 

But when Moses traces the descendants of Ham, those responsible for a great deal of trouble for Israel throughout her history, Moses wrote the following:

Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar (Gen. 10:8-10). 

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Babel is the first reference to Babylon and its beginnings. Nimrod is recorded as the founder of Babel, later called Babylon (Gen. 10:10; 11:2-3, 5, 9). Nimrod’s nature and character are seen in both his name and in his actions as described in Genesis 10:8-10 and in his origin in Babylon.

His name means “Let us revolt or rebel.” It didn’t have this meaning to the Babylonians, but this is the biblical meaning by context and by the form of the word. In Genesis 10:8 he is called “a mighty one,” and in 10:9 “a mighty hunter before (against) Yahweh.” Genesis 10:10 gives us the result. A kingdom is formed as a result of his tyranny or the exercise of absolute force (10:9-10). God’s ideal of a king is a shepherd who leads his people under God and in God’s plan. Nimrod was against God and His plan and formed his own kingdom by force. This kingdom originally consisted of Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar, southern Babylon above the Persian Gulf and along the Euphrates River.

He was the son of Cush, the son of Ham (Gen. 10:6, 8). He was a Hamite upon which no blessing was pronounced in contrast to Shem and Japheth, the other two sons of Noah. This shows us that God recognized in the Hamites a greater proneness toward godlessness and rebellion. Note, however, Canaan was the descendant who was cursed because of even more vile tendencies (Gen. 9:25-27).

Nimrod was a rebel from beginning to end. As the first king of Babylon, he had within him the nature and character that would exist in the Gentile nations throughout history and especially in the final form in the Tribulation—tyranny and apostasy.

Genesis 11:3-4 records the out-and-out rebellion of the people of Shinar against the plan of God, undoubtedly under the leadership of Nimrod (cf. 10:10). Their rebellion is seen in their attempt at building a city and tower that would reach to heaven, i.e., high in the sky. The purpose of this was to make a name in defiance against God’s plan of nationalism (11:4f). Under God’s direct orders, man was to scatter and replenish which meant the establishment of nations divided by geographical boundaries and family ties or races (9:1). Concerning the table of nations described in Genesis 10, Ross writes:

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It all appears to be a witness to the fulfillment of the divine commission to fill the earth (9:1); but the present to?l?tsection includes also the account of the dispersion at Babel. When we also consider that account, we learn the reason that the nations spread out and filled the earth, separating into different areas with different languages—it was divine judgment on a rebellious people.²⁰⁰

Ancient history reveals that it was common practice to build huge mounds or towers called ziggurats made of sun dried brick. One such ziggurat was discovered at Erech, a place in Nimrod’s kingdom going back to about 3,000 B.C. These were sacred temple towers dedicated to heathen deities often in connection with astrology, the zodiac, and the mother-child cult. “Ziggurat” means “pinnacle, mountain top.”

It seems quite clear then, that this tower stood for rebellion against God, rejection of Him, His plan of salvation in the coming Redeemer (Gen. 3:15), and a rebellion against nationalism. It was the first attempt at world unity apart from dependence upon God. Here was an attempt at a man-made world unity by means of force. As Stigers says, “it is the will of God, so long as sin is present in the world, to employ nationalism in the reduction of sin (Commentary on Genesis, p. 129).”²⁰¹

God judged this act with the confusion of tongues which automatically created nationalism by the linguistic differences. So where nationalism was to be perpetuated by obedience to God’s command (Gen. 9:1), by geography through scattering, and by differences in races or families, now linguistic differences were added to force nationalism on the heathen world to enforce God’s original plan (Gen. 11:8).

Because of God’s judgment, the descendants of Noah stopped building the city (11:8) and its name was called Babel, a short form for Balbel from Balal“to confuse.” Babel really means confusion and again, let me stress, it expresses God’s judgment on internationalism. The Assyrian counterpart Bab-eli meant “Gate of God” but as given by God in the Hebrew Scriptures it meant “confusion.”

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This became the central city of Babylonia even beyond the time of Alexander the Great. The Apostle Peter may have written from here (1 Pet. 5:13). However, its greatest glory was during the time of Nebuchadnezzar 600 years before Christ. Cyrus the Mede captured the city from the Chaldeans, Alexander the Great in turn captured it from Medo-Persia, and both made it their capitol. From this you can see its importance to the Gentile world powers and how it stands in opposition to Jerusalem and the purposes of God. Important to the study of Babylon and its origin is the origin of its religion and idolatry which spread from Babylon to surrounding nations and beyond. This will be discussed below.

Genesis 14

After we are introduced to Babylon in Genesis 10 and 11, Babylon disappears briefly from Scripture, but appears again in Genesis 14. Here is one of those accounts we have generally missed, but it is a very important account in the overall teaching of the Bible about Babylon and it becomes the beginning of what can be considered as “The Tale of Two Cities.”

Sodom and Gomorra were attacked and defeated by a confederation of kings and taken captive. This included Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Two things are particularly significant here:

First, Sodom and Gomorra were located in the land of Canaan or Palestine probably at a spot that is now under the southern end of the Dead Sea. But where is this? It is a part of the land God had promised to Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant which had its beginnings in Genesis 12:1, recorded for us, significantly so, right after the account of the tower of Babel.

Second, in the beginning of the chapter the kings are described for us. Dr. Charles Dyer points out that historically, the leader of these kings that came in against the land, a land that God had promised to Abraham, was a man by the name of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. But note who Moses lists first. Amraphel king of Shinar which is the land Babylon.²⁰² The NIV has a notation in the margin regarding the name “Shinar,” “that is Babylonia.”

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It seems that by mentioning this king first, we see who Moses viewed as the real leader of this confederacy. Here is God’s perspective on this invasion.

What’s interesting after Abram defeats these kings is what happened when coming back into the land. He stopped at a place called Salem which later came to be known as Jerusalem. There Abram received a blessing from Melchizedek, King of Salem. Melchizedek means “king of righteousness” and in the Bible, he is a type of Christ (Heb. 7:1f). So, beginning in Genesis 14, we see in seed form what Dr. Charles Dyer called, “The Tale of Two Cities.”²⁰³

Historically, we can summarize Babylon’s early history in Genesis with the following:

First, we have the rise of the city of the ungodly, Shinar or Babylon which had its beginnings not only in rebellion against God, but in an attempt to be like God.

Second, we see this city intruding on the land which God had promised to Abraham through whom the Messiah would come. 

And third, suddenly brought into this narrative is the city of Salem, later to become Jerusalem, with a king who is a type of Christ, whose name means king of righteousness, and who meets Abraham and gives him a blessing. 

Fourth, right after this, we have God Himself appearing to Abraham to reinforce His covenant with Abraham with specific boundaries given in connection with the land of promise and victory over the inhabitants of the land (cf. 15:1, 18-21).

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Isaiah 36-37

Babylon then disappears from the book of Genesis and the next place we find her mentioned in an historic way is in Isaiah 36-37. Here Hezekiah King of Judah is faced with invasion and is threatened by Sennacherib King of Assyria. In this passage we find Hezekiah reading the terms of surrender from Sennacherib, but Hezekiah turned the matter over to the Lord and was delivered.

However, in chapters 38-39 we have a lapse of faith by Hezekiah. Because of this, Isaiah the prophet predicted that all he had stored would be taken to Babylon where some of the King’s sons would become officials of the palace of the King of Babylon. This was a prophecy of the Babylonian captivity which took place about 100 years later. 

Hezekiah’s descendants represented the Davidic kingdom and the line of Messiah. Their city, Jerusalem, was the place of the temple with the Shekinah glory. This represented the presence of God and was the place of God’s worship. All of this represented God’s reign and kingdom on earth. What does this mean?

(1) Through the Babylonian captivity, Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land, destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple, and deported Judah’s king. 

(2) This was a product of God’s judgment against Israel for her continued disobedience as He had predicted through the prophets, but nevertheless, the first kingdom that man had started, Babylon, literally attacked and destroyed the kingdom of God on earth. From this point in history, there has not been a king from the line of David sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem. 

In a sense, though temporary, this is the triumph of mankind over God’s kingdom. The book of Daniel pictures this in the statue with King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as the head of gold. This statue as described for us in Daniel 2 represents what our Lord referred to as “the times of the Gentiles” spoken of earlier. 

So historically we see three things about Babylon: 

(1) It begins as the place of man’s rebellion through tyranny and a united world effort which God judged by the confusion of languages. 

(2) It’s also the instrument that seeks to take away the land promised by God to His people, the Israelites, 

(3) and it is the kingdom that destroys or at least disrupts God’s kingdom here on earth and starts the times of the Gentiles, the time of Gentile domination.

The Origin of Babylon’s Religion

Ancient records indicate that Nimrod had a wife named Semiramis who was the founder and first high priestess of the Babylonian mystery religion. She gave birth to a son named Tammuz, whom she claimed was conceived miraculously. This son was considered savior of his people and in effect was the first false Messiah—a counterfeit of Genesis 3:15 and God’s promise of a Savior. The son was to have been killed by a wild beast, but brought back to life.

The religious system of Semiramis had many secret rites in the worship of its idols. These were called mysteries (secrets) into which new members had to be initiated. When the initiates were initiated they were given a cup containing a mysterious drink made of wine, honey, water and flour. This represented the doctrines of the cult, but these also made the participant intoxicated and prepared for what the participant was about to see, hear and do. These rites involved consecrated male and female prostitution and the most sordid sexual immorality carried out in connection with its idolatrous worship. The fornication is both physical and spiritual (Rev. 17:2-5).

The rites incorporated the worship of the mother (who was called “the queen of heaven”) and the child. While the rites varied, and the idol images often varied from country to country as the cult spread from one location to another, they all contained one central feature, the worship of the goddess mother and her child. Often the names changed, but no matter where you went, pictures and images of a mother with a child in her arms were found. (See the study on Rev. 14.)

The religious system which began in Babel (or Babylon), became the mother, the source of all pagan religions of the world. This is the reason she is called “Mother of Harlots” (Rev. 17:5). This system spread to Greece, Egypt, Italy, Phoenicia, Israel, India, Asia Minor and Europe. Canaan was full of this iniquity and is one of the reasons God commanded Israel to destroy its inhabitants. Their failure to do so led to Israel’s own downfall and involvement with the Babylonian system.

Babylonianism Today

But what about the present? Now we come to information which will link the past with the present and help us to identify Babylonianism today. This will also help us to identify the religious city of 17:18 which, because of its Babylonianism, is symbolically called Babylon.

Linked with the central mystery of Babylon—the worship of the mother and child—were many other lesser mysteries which will have many familiar sounds. These include:

The Doctrine of Purgatory

The doctrine of purgatorial purification after death was seen first in pagan Babylonianism. It involved the same extortion and theft of the poor to get the dead cleansed and into a higher state. Prayers and supplications were offered by the priest but only after great fees were collected.²⁰⁴

The Doctrine of Extreme Unction

In the pagan Babylonian system the dying were anointed for their last journey. This was done in the name of Bee?l-samen, “lord of heaven” and “lord of oil,” the anointed one.²⁰⁵ In James 5 anointing, by contrast, is to be done medicinally, with a view to health, not death.

The Doctrine of Festivals of Ancient Babylonianism

Yule Day

Yule means “infant,” thus, the day of birth. In Egypt the son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the queen of heaven, was to have been born at the end of December. Long before they were introduced to Christianity, Anglo Saxons celebrated a “Yule Day” and this was preceded by “A Mother’s Night.” The Sabaeans of Arabia likewise celebrated a birth festival on the 24th of December. This was the birth of their moon god, “Lord Moon” which in the East was called “Meni” (Isa. 65:11). A special tree and a yule log were both involved with this festival. The yule log represented Nimrod, the dead stock of Nimrod, cut down by his enemies, and the tree represented Nimrod come to life.

March 25

Long before the birth of Christ pagan Rome honored Cybele, the mother of the Babylonian Messiah, with a special day, March 25th, nine months before December 25th. Today in Rome this is called “the Annunciation of Mary.”

Easter

Easter was another name for Astarte or Istar, which were other names for the queen of heaven. This festival in ancient Babylonianism was a 40-day weeping period for Tammuz just prior to the festival of Astarte (or Istar or Easter), who was said to have received her son back from the dead; for it was taught that he was slain by a wild beast (boar). To him the egg was sacred, depicting the mystery of resurrection.

Fifteen hundred years before Christ the hot cross buns of Good Friday were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess of Easter. They were even called “the boun,” i.e., “bun” (Jer. 7:18). They were first offered, then later eaten.

The egg can be traced back to the fable of the mystic egg of the Babylonians. “An egg of wondrous size” is said to have fallen from heaven into the River Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank where the doves having settled upon it, hatched it. Out came Venus who afterwards was called the Assyrian goddess or Astarte, the queen of heaven. So the egg first was a symbol of Astarte or Easter, the queen of heaven.

Thus you can see the background for lent, the 40-day period prior to Easter, and the Easter festival. Some simply adopted the egg and applied it to the resurrection of Christ. In the very early church there was the celebration of the Passover on Friday before the resurrection, but it was not called Easter.

The Nativity of John the Baptist

One of the grand and original festivals of Tammuz, the child of Semiramis, was observed in June. In fact, June was called by his name in some places. Other periods had been devoted to the commemoration of the death and reviving of the Babylonian god for various reasons in different countries, but the month of Tammuz appears to have been the primitive date of this festival. As a result, this date and festival still had a firm hold on the people in various parts of the Roman world, so the papacy came up with a solution. John the Baptist was born six months before Christ, which according to their festival for Christ’s birth was December 25, so June would be John’s birth month. One of their many sacred names for Tammuz was Oannes. This was just perfect because in Latin, the sacred language of the church, John was Joannes. Thus, this festival was continued and suited both Christians and pagans alike.

The Feast of Assumption

This is the teaching that Mary saw no corruption, but was in body and soul carried up to heaven and is now invested with all power of heaven and earth. This too, goes back to Babylonian mystery.

The Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration

This doctrine of Rome did not come out of mistaken use of Scriptures such as Acts 2:38, but from Babylon itself. The baptism was by immersion and was a part of the initiation rites of Babylonianism. It was a rather rough process along with the other parts of the initiation and if one survived, then he was admitted to the knowledge of the mysteries. It took real courage to submit to these rites. The motivation, please note, was regeneration and pardon of all sins! Babylonianism spread all over the world and it touched all nations. Thus, as you would expect, baptismal regeneration was even found in Mexico before Roman Catholic missionaries ever arrived, as well as in India and among our Anglo ancestors.