Christ.
Since its earliest existence, Babylon was the centre and symbol of an anti-God world power. This tradition is also reflected in the name Babylon, which means Gateway to the gods. (After God confounded their language, the name Babylonwas also associated with confusion and disorder). The gateway to the gods consisted of a temple tower (ziggurat) in which the priests ascended to make contact with the gods. The top could be reached by means of a helical stairway that surrounded the tower. Up there the priests meditated to become one with the cosmic world. Observations with a view to horoscopy were also made from that look-out post.
The great tower of Babylon was part of the building complex known as the temple of Marduk. It comprised eight sections built one upon the other. At the pinnacle was a smaller temple with luxurious couches and a golden table. Marduk was the Babylonian city god. As paramount god in the Babylonian pantheon, he was accorded the title King of heaven and earth. The word Lord is Bel in Chaldee, and it is for this reason that Marduk is also called Bel, or Baal in other languages (Jer. 50:2, Is. 46:1). Hence the name tower of Baal or Bel.
The title of Baal with the general meaning of Lord, Protector god or Possessorwas applied to various gods and further qualified by another name, e.g. Baal-Peor (the god of the mountain Peor), etc. Marduk was thus the Baal of Babylon. Close to him was the most important goddess, Ishtar (also called Astaroth, Ashtoreth or Astarte in other Middle East languages). In the plural form the term refers merely to the goddesses of the pagan nations. In this sense mention is often made in the Bible of the Baals and Ashtoreths of the heathens (see Judges 2:13 and 10:6).
Ishtar (Astaroth) occupied an extremely important position in the Babylonian and Assyrian religions. Temples and open-air places for worship were built for her in all the cities and towns. She is also known as the queen of heaven (Jer. 7:18, 44:19) and is the daughter of the moon-god, Sin. Her symbols are the crescent moon, the morning star (or battle star) and the evening star (the star of passionate love). As the mother goddess she expressed sadness and sympathy for her earthly children in their suffering, particularly when they were ill or struck by natural disasters. Healing rituals were carried out in her name.
She was also the goddess of fertility and love. Unbridled lust was such a strong characteristic on her part that her temples and places of worship became centres for immoral acts. In the service of Ishtar, women belied their chastity and became temple prostitutes. But to them it was a form of devotion to honour Ishtar and as a result they did not forfeit their esteem in society. Ishtar was also the Assyrian's goddess of war. She was so fearsome that the other armies trembled when the war-minded Assyrians sang her praises.
In the rebuilt part of Babylon the gate of Ishtar has been restored and people can move through it to the king's throne-room. Should Ishtar's cult be revived in Babylon, a period of growing idolatry, immorality and wars of conquest awaits that part of the world.
According to Babylonian mythology, Ishtar murdered her lover, Tammuz – the god of spring. Because of this act she developed a sense of guilt and descended to the underworld where she found him and restored him to life. He is therefore the symbol of death and resurrection. A cross-shaped token representative of the T of Tammuz was customary in the pagan world as a symbol and decoration on garments and buildings. In mythological accounts Tammuz is sometimes depicted as the son of Semiramis, who is the personification of the queen of heaven. The religious concept of the Madonna and child in Roman Catholicism is clearly a perpetuation of this Babylonian tradition. The real motive behind the deification of Mary in 381 AD was to bring a 'Christian' queen of heaven and her child into being.
Another god of significance in the Assyro-Babylonian pantheon was Shamash, the sun-god. He despised darkness and evil, and was accredited as the giver of good laws. He was the head of the Babylonian diviners. The cult of sun-worship spread to many cultures and is still rampant in our day. The symbol of the sun-god is familiar in the Mormon Church, and in the Roman Catholic church the pope is often likened to the sun. In the New Age Movement, the sun with its rays of light is also a very common symbol.
The Fall of Babylon
Prophecies that deal with the fall of Babylon are so clearly defined and absolute that no period in the entire history of Babylon and Assyria can be found in which they have been exhaustively fulfilled. Consider the following statements:
"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there" (Is. 13:19-20).
Jeremiah refers to the destruction of Babylon in these words:
"They shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever, says the LORD" (Jer. 51:26).
Dr. J. A. Seiss stated as far back as 1865 in his Letters on the Apocalypse that the city of Babylon will have to be rebuilt, in order that the Lord can finally destroy it like Sodom and Gomorrah, never to be inhabited again. This is clearly an end-time event that will, according to Isaiah 13:6, occur on the day of the Lord, probably coinciding with the battle of Armageddon at the end of the great tribulation. In 1918, Clarence Larkin indicated in his famous book Dispensational Truth that Babylon was never completely destroyed or uninhabited. Jeremiah's prophecy that after the final destruction no stones from the ruins of Babylon will be used, must yet be fulfilled. Various towns and cities have in fact been built with bricks recovered from the ruins of Babylon. Before the present rebuilding of Babylon started in 1978, thousands of bricks were removed by Iraqis for construction purposes. Since the official building program started, several impressive structures have risen on the foundations of ancient Babylon. These developments underscore the Biblical view that the great fall of the city is yet to occur.
Two Babylons
In Revelation 17 and 18 respectively, John mentions two Babylons that will rise to prominence shortly before the advent of Christ. The one is mystical Babylon, referring to an evil ideology, or false system of religious worship, and the other one a commercial city with all kinds of worldly fun and immoral practices in it. Both these chapters in Revelation are based upon the supposition that there will be a reconstructed Babylon as an end-time manifestation of the ancient Babylonian empire, and also as a fitting centre of operations for the Babylonian world religion.
The one Babylon is called: "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth" (Rev. 17:5). Because the city of Babylon is the place of origin of the pagan religions, the apostate end-time world religion with its unbiblical unification of all religions, is aptly described as mystery Babylon. It is opposed to Biblical Christianity and is already in the process of establishing an ecumenical body, or parent organisation, called the mother of harlots in Revelation 17:5. What appeared to be impossible a few decades ago, i.e. ecumenical ties between all the religions, has suddenly became common practice.
Present initiatives by interfaith movements such as the World Conference on Religion and Peace, enhance the possibility that the World Council of Churches (representative of apostate Protestantism) will enter into an agreement with the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern religions to give rise to a unified league of world religions. The establishing of a Parliament for World Religions in Chicago in 1993 may see the creation of a superstructure from which a universal religious leader, the false prophet, could emerge.
The traditional religious freedom in the West, in which only Christianity was officially recognised, is currently making way for a dispensation of religious equality. This means that all religions are regarded as of equal significance and standing, thereby denying the uniqueness of Christianity (Jn. 14:6). The universalistic premise that the same God is worshipped by followers of all the religions, is currently paving the way for even closer ties between the various religions. The ultimate objective of this movement is religious unity.
The united world religion of the near future will constitute a revival of the Babylonian religion, which was characterised by the following institutions and practices:
- The deification of a world leader, as was the case with Nimrod of old. He will rule in close association with religious leaders.
- The establishment of a priestly hierarchy of holy men among whom some will attain the level of masters of wisdom.
- Worship of the sun-god.
- The adoration of the queen of heaven and her son (the Madonna and Child).
- The adoration of several 'Baals' within a pantheon of gods (idolatry and Satanism).
- Meditation and other mystical techniques of holistic healing and the development of a cosmic consciousness.
- Magic, divination and astrology, accompanied by the extensive use of occult symbols and emblems.
As part of the Babylonian reforms, a feminine principle is also introduced to the concept of God. Various New Age writers make mention of the Planetary Motheras a spiritual presence sensed at the birth of every child. Besides a physical body, the child is also said to have an astral body that makes him part of a cosmic community under the caring control of a heavenly deity, or Planetary Mother. Mention is also made of her as Our Lady.
This feminine principle of divinity existed in different religions under the titles of Isis, Venus, Ishtar and the virgin Mary. Isis is the Egyptian queen of nature, Venus is the goddess of love in the Roman mythology, Ishtar is the former mighty Babylonian queen of heaven whose sanctuary is in the process of being reconstructed in its ancient abode, and the deified Mary is the Christian replica of this communal mother of humanity.
The syncretistic religion of the great tribulation is symbolised by a woman who rides on the back of a beast (Rev. 17:3). This points to a marriage that will be concluded between religion and politics. The bride of the Antichrist will be the false world church. Her name is Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots.
According to Revelation 17:9-10 and 18, this apostate woman had reigned over past world empires through the strong influence that the pagan religious system had over leaders and governments. Her influence is not to be underestimated, as her capacity to deceive humanity is enormous. She will persuade her millions of followers during the tribulation to associate with the Antichrist as global messiah, and to accept his number. According to Zechariah 5:5-11, her headquarters will be moved to Shinar, i.e. Babylon. Halfway through the tribulation, her position as a religious body will become redundant. The Antichrist will declare himself as God and demand that he alone be worshipped. The apostate church will then be abandoned and destroyed:
"And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire" (Rev. 17:16).
The Antichrist will order the execution of his 'wife' after an association of 3½ years. That will be the end of mystical Babylon who ruled over the kings of the earth. Only those members of the false world church who abandon their religious affiliation, worship the beast as God and accept his number, will escape the annihilation of the mother of harlots – only to be eternally condemned after another 3½ years when Christ comes.
An International Centre
In its capacity as economic, political and entertainment centre the rebuilt Babylon will, according to Revelation 18, play an important part in the great tribulation. It can be expected that international organisations will rush to be accommodated in Babylon, and that large building projects will be undertaken and completed in a relatively short time. Very soon the city will assume a cosmopolitan character as the point of convergence for a variety of cultures and civilisations from all over the world. Here the nations were separated when their languages were confused. An attempt will soon be made to reunite them at the same place from where they dispersed 4 500 years ago.
In the days of ancient Babylon, the first united nations conference on record was held on the plains of Shinar:
"Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth" (Gen. 11:4).
In modern times, a similar appeal may be as follows:
"Let's co-operate and build ourselves a city between the East and the West as a symbol of global unity and internationalism. Let's create a united league of world religions and develop our spiritual potential to ascend to greater divinity. Let's establish one monetary system, one government and a classless social order. Only then will we be united into a peaceful and harmonious society of planetary citizens that does not become separated into conflicting and self-centred national groups."
The ideology of the modern tower of Babylon is rapidly gaining ground in the world. Its final implementation will occur very rapidly. Zechariah says that the woman called wickedness will be transported to Babylon by two women who have the wind in their wings. A house will be built for her in the land of Shinar, which is Babylonia (Zech. 5:9-11).
Wherever the neo-Babylonian Parliament for World Religions may be initiated, an urgent decision will soon be taken about her new headquarters. Destination: Babylon!
Satanic Gaiety and Corruption
At the close of the great tribulation, the evils in the reconstructed city of Babylon will have no limits. Revelation 18 tells us that the sins of Babylon, like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, will reach unto heaven (Rev. 18:5). It will be a place of licentiousness and immoral parties (Rev. 18:7,9). Music will be an important aspect of the satanic gaiety of Babylon (Rev. 18:22).
The inauguration of the first part of the rebuilt city in Sept./Oct. 1987, was celebrated with an international music festival. It is obvious that modern rock music, which leads to enslavement to alcohol and drugs, sexual abuse, rebellion, Eastern cults, magic and Satan worship, will find a home in the new Babylon. No wonder the Bible says that these and other decadent forms of art will be destroyed along with Babylon. The noisy instruments of these musicians will become silent and the voices of the singers will no longer be heard (Rev. 18:22).
The Destruction of Babylon
The final fall of Babylon will occur at the end of the great tribulation (Rev. 14:8, 16:17-19, 18:2, 10, 21). From the Scriptures quoted above, it is evident that there won't be a gradual decay and decline of the city over a long period of time. The destruction of Babylon will occur in one hour. As with Sodom and Gomorrah, it will be consumed by fire (Rev. 18:8-10, 18; Is. 13:19, Jer. 50:40). At the same time a great earthquake with continuous thunder and lightning will occur, then the city will subside into a lake of fire, never to be restored or inhabited again (Rev. 16:17-19; 18:21). The smoke of her burning will form dark clouds across the plains of Shinar and be clearly visible from the ships in the Persian Gulf (Rev. 18:17-18). The merchants and the seamen will weep and mourn over the destruction of this city with its riches, pomp and glory.
Where Babylon once was, will be a desolate crater in which the remains of some of its buildings will still be visible. A frightening atmosphere will prevail midst the scene of destruction, and the silence will be ominous. During the millennium no one will want to stay or overnight in its vicinity (Is. 13:19-20). This is the destiny of a kingdom and a society that revolted against God and scorned His mercy.
Evacuate Babylon!
God calls on His people to leave Babylon:
"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).
This command is not only meant for the people of God who may find themselves in the city of Babylon during the great tribulation, but also for those who are members of Babylonian-type churches and religions. Don't be influenced and led astray by churches that are participants in the building of a modern tower of Babel. Their compromise and spiritual blindness may have a severely detrimental effect on you. Through a subtle process of brainwashing they may succeed in deceiving and misleading you in this critical hour just prior to the coming of Jesus, the Head of the true church. Many people are the victims of false prophets!
The city of Babylon, its political and economic structures, its immoral life-styles andthe religious system of mystery Babylon, are all well-planned traps by the great adversary of the people of God. Regard these unitary structures, evil practices and deceptive ideologies as out of bounds if you want to remain faithful to the only true God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Babylon's fate is sealed and her days are numbered! Stay clear of her!
"Put Babylon and all it represents far behind you – it is unclean to you" ( Is. 52:11 LB ).
The Spirit of God identifies Edom with Babylon. (See Ps. 137:7 and 8.) "Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem, who said Raze it, raze it," (i.e. make bare or destroy the Temple, as Edom did under the Romans,) "even to the foundation thereof." "O daughter of Babylon," &c. Here we see, without any possibility of mistake, that Edom is Babylon , and all sacred and profane history confirms it. Chaldea, or Babylon, was established by Assyria. Isaiah 23:13, says, "Behold the land of the Chaldeans, this people was not till the Assyrian founded it for them. The capital of Chaldea was Babylon. The Assyrian empire embraced the country on both sides of the Tigris. Babel, or Babylon, was founded by Nimrod, (see Gen. x. 10,) about A. M. 3416. The Assyrians descended from Taurus, and Caucasus conquered and destroyed Jerusalem, together with Syria; and these, with Phoenicia, became the Roman Empire, and was called Chaldea; as it was in the time of Jesus under Tiberius Caesar. (See Luke 3:1.) From the East the Chaldeans, or Romans, peopled all the west; first Italy, Rome, France, Germany, England and America. Rome was founded by Romulus, 750 B. C. After Jesus 325, Christianity became the established religion, under Constantine;* hence Babylon, Rome, Edom, and Christianity are synonymous.
* RELIGION OF MONARCHIES--"We may well say that despotism cannot be sustained without an established religion, an union of Church and State. A government tolerating freedom of opinion in religion, must tolerate freedom of opinion in politics; for as religion comprehends duties to society as well as to God, and as rights and duties in society are correlative, freedom in religion necessarily leads to freedom in everything else. All great despots have understood this, and have, therefore, always endeavored to surround themselves with an "odor of sanctity," by courting a connection between religion and politics. For this purpose Constantine the Great professed Christianity, made it the religion of the Roman Empire; and, to counteract its free tendencies, he corrupted it with the old State religion, that Heathen Mythology in which he had been educated. He, therefore, converted the Pantheon into a Church, gave to all its statues of gods and demigods and goddesses the nicknames of he and she saints, stuck up an old statue of Jupiter as an image of St. Peter, and changed all the fast and feast days of the gods in the Calendar to Saints' Days. Diana became the Virgin Mary, Venus, Mary Magdalene, and Minerva, so handy with her needle, was metamorphosed into Saint Dorcas, the patroness of sewing societies. Thus Christianity, which is purely spiritual, (they say,) which tolerates no idolatry, which places no human intermediaries (except Jesus) between God and man, was defiled with the grossness of the very superstitions which it was sent to dispel, to enable a crafty politician to stupefy mankind for the purpose of governing them absolutely."
History informs us that "Edom was conquered by Albianus, King of Chittim, and Edom became under the children of Chittim* from that day;" and this is the reason the Prophet Isaiah speaks, in his 23rd chapter, connectively of Edom and Chittim as one and the same place and people. (See verses 1st, 12th and 13th, and compare these with Jer. ii. 10.)†
* This explains where "the ships of Chittim shall come from," (Rome or the Roman Empire,) mentioned in Numbers 24:24.
† Kedar, a descendant of Ishmael. See Gen. 25:13.
So Rome, Edom, and Christianity became, and are, synonymous with Babylon, and therefore is called mystical Babylon;* not only because she had her rise from them, but because of her great Confusion of Tongues as took place in Babel or Babylon, which is confusion, and also from her many sects and divisions springing from that cause. We know too, and are certain that all Protestants first separated themselves and CAME OUT FROM ROME, or the Roman Catholics, in the 16th century, at the Reformation, (so called by Martin Luther.) So by this we see Protestants are of the seed of Rome, and Rome is of the seed of Kittim, or Chittim. See Gen. x. 1-4, and the Book of Jasher, 90 c. 8 v.
* All Protestants declare that Mystical Babylon is Rome.
The Great Wise Men and Rabbis Kimchi, Ibn-Ezra, and Maimonides, and Abarbanel, all unite with the foregoing Scripture testimony in saying, that all the Gentile Christians are the seed, or children, of Esau, or Edom, and that "the prophets did not only prophecy against the land of Edom, which is in the neighborhood of the land of Israel, but against the seed of Rome, or Edom, which is of the root, or rather children of Kittim, or Chittim."
Kimchi says, in his commentary on Joel 3:19, "Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for their violence against the children of Judah."
"The prophet mentions Egypt and Edom; Egypt on account of the Turks, and Edom on account of the Roman Empire; and these two have now had the dominion for a long time, and will continue until the redemption. This is the fourth Beast in the vision of Daniel. And this is said because the majority is composed of Edomites. For although many other nations are mixed among them, as is also the case with the Turkish Empire, they are called from their root," or origin. Kimchi wrote in the 12th century, and therefore includes the Greek empire, because the government of Constantinople was long before overturned.
Ibn Ezra says, "Rome, which led us away captive, is of the seed of Kittim; and so the Targumist has said, in Num. 24:24. 'And ships shall come from the coast of Kittim.' And this is the same as the Greek monarchy, as I have explained in the Book of Daniel, and there were very few who believed on the man of whom they made a God. But when Rome believed, in the days of Constantine, who changed the whole religion, and put an Image of that man upon his standard, there were none in the world who observed the New Law, except a few Edomites, therefore Rome is called the Kingdom of Edom." See his comment on Gen. 20.
Abarbanel says, "From this you may learn that the prophet (Obadiah) did not prophecy only against the land of Edom, which is in the neighborhood of the land of Israel, but also against the people which branches off from thence, and is spread through the whole world, and is the people of the Christians in this our day, for they are the children of Edom."* Abarbanel's comment on Obadiah.
* And this is the reason, "as the literal Babylon is destroyed, and is no more, that Edom, or Christianity, is called the "Mystical Babylon."
The great Maimonides gives a like testimony. "The Edomites are Idolaters, and Sunday,* the first day of the week, is the day of their festival, therefore it is forbidden to have commerce with them in the land of Israel, on that day."
* "The solar is the true year, whether it begins at either solstice or either equinox; and a beginning at the winter solstice is the most natural commencement. In the Northern hemisphere, the SUN reaches the lowest point on the meridian upon the 22d of December: after remaining stationary for three days, it begins to rise on the 25th December, Christmas, a day celebrated by the ancients as the BIRTH-DAY OF THE SUN. From this point it begins to rise till it reaches the summer solstice in June. Hence this rising of a NEW SUN at the natural commencement of a new year, and hence the 25th of December should be New Year's Day," and their 8th Day should always be called SUN-day and never Sabbath.
"It is not necessary to say that the first day is everywhere unlawful." Hilchoth Akkum, c. ix. 4. Now if we will refer to the map in Samuel Baxter's English version of the Polyglot Bible, in tracing Edom or Rome in the 10th chap. of Gen. 2d. to 5th verse, we can there see that he traces Austria and also Italy to Kittim, and consequently Rome, (as Rome is the capital of Italy,) as I have done. It is self-evident to any person who will consult the above-mentioned chapter, viz., the 10th of Genesis, that the Five Powers, Russia, France, England, Austria and Prussia, constitute the Fourth Kingdom of Daniel, (Rome,) as is asserted by Kimchi and the rest of the Wise Men of Israel; and as we see is the case by comparing the 38th and 39th chapters of Ezekiel with the last-mentioned chapter of Genesis. Ezekiel mentions in his 38. c. and 2d. v., "Gog, the land of Magog, Meshech and Tubal," and in his 5th verse, "Persia, Ethiopia and Libya," i.e. Phut. Now refer again to the 10th c. of Gen. 2d. v.; there we find the descendants of Japheth (from whence "are the isles of the Gentiles, 5th v.,") were "Gomer, Magog, Tubal, Meshech," and from "Ham, Cush, Mitzrayim," or Egypt, or Ethiopia; we also find from the 6th verse that "Libya," or Phut, are descendants of Ham. Why Persia is included in the confederacy* that is to come against Israel, in these last days, I cannot say; for they are the descendants of Shem--but Russia, France, England, Austria, Prussia and Turkey, are descendants of Gog, Magog, Tubal, Meshech, Ethiopia, and Libya, or Phut, as the Word of God asserts, and as Samuel Baxter has traced them in his map in the Polyglot Bible, and compose the great army of Gog and Magog of Ezekiel, and the 4th Kingdom of Daniel: and the representatives of these Five Gentile Powers, are now all located at Constantinople; and what is most remarkable, they are all holding the Holy Land as a "balance of Power;" and the Prophet Ezekiel declares that they shall "all come against Israel in the last day." (See Ez. 38.; and Ps. 83.) So that any time the Great God sees fit, He can, by his Providence, let the Four Angels loose in the Great river Euphrates, which is acknowledged to symbolize the Turkish empire, and in whose hands both his Land and People are still held captive.
* Psa. 83:4 and 5.
Dr. McCaul asserts, that "as far as authentic history will carry us, the descendants of the Edomites are to be sought for rather amongst the Jewsthemselves than amongst any other people; for the last that we read of the Edomites is that they were subdued by John Hyrcanus, and converted to Judaism, at the point of the sword."* But is it not perfectly ridiculous for the Gentile Christians to deceive themselves, and thus try to evade the punishmentdeclared against them in the "Day of the Lord," (see Obad. 15. and Joel 3:2-6 and 19th,) and mentioned by nearly all the Prophets? Let such as wish to be undeceived ask themselves candidly this question, viz.:
* Joist's Geschichte, Vol. i. 70 and 153.
How can all the Judgments declared by the Word of God come upon Edom, in the "Last Days" or in the "Great Day of the Lord," if there is NO EDOM IN EXISTENCE?"
Englishmen are descendants from the British Isles, and have tried to evade God's Judgments declared upon Rome and her 10 Horns, or Kingdoms, (see Dan. 7:20 to 27,) by denying that England is one of the "10 Toes,"* or "Horns," of the Roman Beast, or Fourth Kingdom of Daniel. Let such hear what her own Latin Poets or Geographers say, "Ultimos Orbis Britannos; penitus toto dividos orbe Britannos," &c. &c. Besides, all agree that the Geography of the Bible extended no further than the Roman empire, which is confirmed by the testimony of the Christians themselves, "That a decree went forth from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. See Luke 2:1.
* See Dan. ii. 35 and 40.
N.B. English, and afterwards American Christian, first came to this country from England. They first settled in Plymouth, New England, after their cruel and bloody war about the Prelacy, or the government of the Church under Bishops, and not Priests. The above quotation proves England to be one of the "10 Horns of the Beast" of Rome. Is this not their own testimony? Will they reject their own testimony? Do they not testify, in Rev. 17:5, that Rome is "Mystery Babylon?"* and we cannot confine it to the Roman Church, as all Protestants do, saying that she is exclusively "Mystery Babylon," for the same chapter and same verse declares that she is the "Mother of Harlots." Who then are her "Harlot" daughters if she be the Mother? Most assuredly the whole of Christendom, as all Ecclesiastical History declares, from the Church of England down to her last illegitimate offspring, or daughter.
* "As Babylon the Great, (Rev. 17:5,) was the chief of all Idolatrous cities, she is taken as a fit emblem of the enormous guilt and extensive influence of Idolatrous and Papal Rome, EACH IN ITS TURN BEING the "MOTHER OF HARLOTS and of the abominations of the earth:" the former corrupting the heathen world with her fornications: and THE LATTER THE CHRISTIAN." Here is thine own sentence, O Edom, passed upon thyself, that thou art a corruption and a corrupted HARLOT DAUGHTER from PAPAL ROME. So the "Union Bible Dictionary" under "Babylon the Great," page 87; Daniel's "Great Image," ii. 31 to 36, is but a Representation, or Picture, of Pagan and Papal Rome, under the "Head of Gold," or Babylon:--"his Breast and his Arms of Silver," or Persia--"his Belly and his Thighs of Brass," or Grecia--"his Legs of Iron and his Feet part of Iron (Roman) and part of Clay." (Republican,) and thank the God of Heaven, she is now in the DIVIDED form of the "Feet and Toes" of the Roman and Republican. Thus we see that "Babylon the Great" was the mother of all Idolatrous cities and their CORRUPTER.
So is Mystery "Babylon" Edom or Rome, the MOTHER OF HARLOTS," or of all her daughters, or Christian Churches, and is their CORRUPTER.
Martin Luther Protested and came out from the Church of Rome in the beginning of the 16th century, and if she did not possess the "unbroken succession and authority" down from the Apostolic church, the Church of England is without it, because it is the only source from whence that church sprung, and therefore could only derive the "unbroken succession and authority"from that source. PROTESTANTS must first have had something to Protest against and come out of.
If the Church of Rome is the only church against which the Protestants CAME OUT FROM and PROTESTED against, she must have been then the first church, and therefore must have first possessed the "UNBROKEN SUCCESSION AND AUTHORITY" from the Apostles, as is declared in Matthew 18:18, "Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye (the church,see the preceding verse) bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven."
And now most assuredly the Church of Rome never "loosed Martin Luther on earth" to set up the Church of England a separate Church, to lay claim to the "Unbroken succession and authority" of the Church of Rome, and call her all the bad names they can think of, as Old "Whore of Babylon," and Protest against her as the "Mother of Harlots," while she is the very oldest daughter, without we count the Lutheran Church, which only differed from her in a very few non-essential points.
What would we think of a company of wise master-builders, having the "unbroken authority" from heaven to build up the house of God at one end, while others were laying claim to the same "unbroken authority" to pull it down at the other!
As to the Church of England trying to go away round "to the Apostle Thomas in England," and thus try to exclude the Church of Rome, it is all sophistry and falsehood, because her very "Four Apostolic Fathers,* St. Clement, St. Polycarp, St. Ignatius, and St. Barnabas," who are her Guide-Posts, by which means she has to pass through the Fathers of the Church of Rome, both preceding and succeeding her four Fathers, before ever she can even reach any of the Apostles, either "Peter," "Thomas," "James," or "John," is DUST ONLY THROWN IN THE EYES so that she may succeed in covering her "inexpiable sin of schism." The fact is that the Church of Rome was first guilty of the "inexpiable sin of schism, in separating herself from the first only true Church of God, which was the Jewish Church, and then in about 1525 years afterward the Lutheran Church and the Church of England repaid her in her own coin.†
* See the "Apostolic Fathers of the Episcopal Church, translated and published by the most Reverend Father in God, William, late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, from the Seventh London Edition."
† She FIRST ROBBED the Jewish Church, A.M. 4001, and then the Church of England ROBBED her 1525 years afterwards, and now the Democracy is trying to rob her.
The Divine Attributes, or Perfections, cannot be personified, or made personal, without idolatry. It was the personification of the Divine perfections, attributes, powers, or virtues, which laid the foundation, and upon which was built the whole system of the heathen mythology, or worship of the "fabulous deities," or "false gods." Thus we see, that all heathen or pagan Rome, (of which Christian Rome, or Daniel's "four (gentile) beasts" or kingdoms were but the great image . (see Dan. 2:31, 44, and 7:17,) and were set up and established upon the great error of dividing the Divine unity into separate and distinct gods, or attributes, perfections or virtues, personified or made substantive.* This we can see clearly and distinctly from Saturn,† Vesta, Jupiter, Mercury, Diana of Ephesus, down to the statue of the Virgin Mary, which succeeded Diana, and then came Jesus Christ, of whom they made a god, as they had done of all the rest of their extraordinary men, under the heathen mythology, whom they declared were all begotten, and sons, (as they declared he was,) by some of their gods having cohabitation with women.
* Substantive--to attach substance to principles.
† And this we can see by the Christians' Sunday, or Baal Samen, Lord of Heaven; so, with the names of their months, days, and nearly all their festivals, still bearing the names of their false gods, or tutelar deities.
The Virgin Mary was said to be the first of the "vestal virgins," and was the Divine purity personified, or made personal; Jesus, her son, was the Divine light* personified or made personal; Sophia, the Divine wisdom, made personal; the Spirit of God was even made a God, and called "God the Holy Ghost;" and this they made substantive, and even made it into the likeness and "bodily shape of a dove," (Luke 3:22;) and so up to their first and chief gods and idols. Rome, Pagan, had gods for every imaginary thing or virtue, as Christian Rome had canonized saints for every imaginable thing or virtue. Thus their forms, or rites and ceremonies, were more easily introduced, as Mosheim says, "That the leaders imagined that the nations would the more readily receive Christianity when they saw the rites and ceremonies to which they (the heathens) had been accustomed established in the churches, (i.e. Christian churches,) and the same worship paid to Jesus and his martyrs (saints) which they had formerly offered to their idol deities; hence it happened that in those times the religion of the Greeks and Romans differed but little in its external appearance from that of Christians." (Vol. i. B. i., p. 2, chap. 4.) But we can yet clearly see in Christian Rome the exact image of Pagan Rome, although she has almost, and soon will, become Infidel Rome, as the inevitable consequence of her having divided the Divine UNITY into her many false gods and deities. Indeed, it must be the result of her attempting to make the Divine perfections personal; for as soon as we make a pure spirit, bodily or corporeal, we come in direct contradiction to the schoolman's thesis or axiom, "That God is without body, parts, or passions.
* See John 1:1, 14, and 8:12.
II. v. 7-15 THE BABYLONIAN SYSTEM DEMYSTIFIED
(Ill. The verses we are about to consider are among the most confusing to me in the entire book of Revelation. I do not claim to have all the answers, but I hope that I can help them make a little more sense to us today.)
A. v. 7-11 The Beast Demystified – As I said, these are confusing verses. Verse 8 refers to the miracle of the Antichrist’s death and resurrection, Rev. 13:3, 14. Whether his death and resurrection is real or faked, it doesn’t matter. The result will be the same. Most of the lost people of the world will believe the miracle and will follow the Antichrist.
Verse 10 refers to the seven great world kingdoms. Five were already passed in John’s day, (Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia; and Greece). One was ruling, Rome. The one to come is the kingdom of the Antichrist.
Verse 11 refers to the reign of the Antichrist. He will be a world leader, but after the miracle of his death and resurrection, he will become the ruler of the world. But, his judgment is set in stone. Even with all his power and popularity, the Antichrist is headed to perdition! The word “perdition” means “utter destruction”.
B. v. 12-13 The Benefactors Demystified – These two verses refer to ten kings who will give their allegiance and power to the Antichrist. In return, he gives them great power and authority. These kings are wholly committed to the reign of the Antichrist. They are given a kingdom, but their reign is short lived, Ill. “one hour”.
C. v. 14 The Battle Demystified – As we mentioned in our last study, the nations of the world under the direction the Antichrist and his kings will gather to do battle with Jesus Christ at Armageddon. They are fighting a losing battle because they are foolish enough to attack the Lamb. The Lamb they attack is the “king of Kings and the Lord of Lords.” He will destroy them with the word of His mouth, Rev. 19:11-21. We will get to that in a few weeks!
This verse also refers to those who are with the Lamb when He does battle with the world. These people who are “called, and chosen and faithful” refer to the Bride of Christ. This, my friends, is us! When He comes, we are coming with Him! We will watch the Lamb do battle and shout for Him as He claims victory over all His enemies! What a day that will be!
I. The Babylonian Harlot Described
II. The Babylonian Harlot Demystified
III. v. 16-17 THE BABYLONIAN HARLOT DESTROYED
A. v. 16 The Reality Of The Harlot’s Destruction – After the Antichrist and his minions use the harlot to achieve power, they will turn on her. When they have reached the pinnacle of success, they have no more need of a religious system. They turn on the Harlot and they totally destroy her.
B. v. 17 The Reason For The Harlot’s Destruction – Antichrist and his followers do not know it, but they are merely doing the will of the Lord. He is the One Who puts it into their hearts to destroy the Babylonian religious system. God uses these wicked men to carry out His will against false religion.
God hates false religion! In the end of the world, He will use the ungodly to destroy the ungodly. Ill. Organized religion is a disgrace to God! When ritual, tradition and the doctrines of men take prominence over the Lord God, it is false worship. It does not matter what name they have over the door. It does not matter what they claim to be. When anything or anyone but Jesus Christ is the center of attention, it is a false religion and it will be destroyed by God one day!
When the Tribulation Period ends, all false religion will have been destroyed. This will pave the way for the Millennial reign of Jesus. He will usher in a one thousand year period of time when people will worship no one but Him, at least openly!
Conc: Did you know that man is a religious creature? That’s right, all people worship something. Everyone believes something. Even the person who claims to be an atheist believes in his unbelief. When it is all said and done this thing comes down to two simple choices: Jesus Christ or false religion!
Every belief system in the world that does not center on the Lord Jesus is a false system of belief; it is a false religion. How can I say that? Listen to what Jesus said, John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Listen again, Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Listen to one more, John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
That is not my word; that is His Word! So what is it with you? Is it Jesus, or is it religion? Do not be satisfied to join a church or be baptized. Do not be satisfied to get you name on the role of some religious organization. Do not be satisfied with anything less than believing on Jesus Christ, and Him alone, for your salvation! Anything else is just religion. Anything less than Jesus is a prescription for Hell.
One day God will judge and do away with false religion. Be sure that you are in Jesus Christ! Are you?
Nimrod Opposed Jehovah God
Nimrod Opposed Jehovah God
It wasn’t very long after the Great Flood of Noah’s Day,
that mankind began a great Apostasy away from Jehovah God.
Nimrod was the Ring-Leader in this opposition. The Bible
reveals that Jehovah God was NOT pleased with Nimrod or
his evil ways.
“…Nim´rod….He displayed himself
a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah….”
(Genesis 10:8,9)(NWT)
“…Nimrod….He was a mighty hunter
before Jehovah…”
(Genesis 10:8,9)(ASV)-BibleGateway
“Now it was Nimrod who excited them
to such an affront and contempt of God.”
-Josephus (c. 37 – c. 100 AD/CE),
“His name is Nimrod, It means ‘the rebel,’
and is evidently meant to designate the nature
of the man. He was the first specimen of giant
tyranny after the flood. His Defiance of Jehovah
was perpetrated in wickedness and ambition under
the very eye of Jehovah. Nimrod’s assumptions were
religious as well as political. Nimrod presented
himself not only for obedience but also for worship.
His awful greatness was of ambitious rebellion,
apostasy and defiance of Jehovah. And as it was Babel
that was the beginning of his empire, so is ‘Babylon the great’
its consummation and close.”
-Nimrod
by Horatius Bonar
1808-1889
“As the people increased in number,
the Way of Jehovah was corrupted
and a principal figure in those days was Nimrod,
the grandson of Ham described as a mighty hunter
before Jehovah. The word ‘before’ used in this
sense means, ‘totally antagonistic to Jehovah.’
We celebrate Christmas on a date which coincides
with the birthday of Nimrod – the villainous king
of ancient Babylon.”
-The Ensign Trust
VOLUME I No.2 – JUNE 1999
‘NARROW IS THE WAY’
By Harry Lancaster
in open revolt against God. This confederacy is described
in Genesis eleven and that it was an organized revolt
against Jehovah God is very clear. From this point
onward – Babylon in Scripture always stands for that
which is in opposition to God “
–Fundamental Baptist Institute
Gleanings In Genesis; chapter 16
Nimrod And The Tower Of Babel
by Author W. Pink
“Shinar is the land where Nimrod built his five cities,
of which Babylon was the capital. Babylon continued to be
the seat of pagan hate for Jehovah from Nimrod onward.”
– Prophecy–Babylon
The Woman in the Ephah
by Steve Van Nattan
“Nimrod, who began to prevail in wickedness,
for he shed innocent blood, and rebelled against Jehovah.”
–The Companion Bible
E.W. Bullinger;(Appendix 28, pg. 29)
The Influence of Nimrod Continues
“The wine of old Babylon’s fornication was a debauching
system of idol worship and carnal self-exaltation, over
and against the revelations and institutes of Jehovah.
We find it (the teachings of Ancient Babylon) to this day
among all the nations of the earth, affecting and
controlling their thinking, their policies, their faith,
and their worship. Two-thirds of the population of the
earth – at this hour – are Pagan idolaters,
drivelling under the same old intoxication which came
forth from Nimrod and Babylon.”
– THE WINE OF OLD BABYLON
Excerpt from ‘The Apocalypse’ by J. A. Seiss
in the city of Babylon during the time of Nimrod.
Ancient traditions show that he rebelled against God,
and in so doing, created a worldwide apostasy.”
–The Bible as History (p.331)
by Werner Keller
not far from where Nimrod, under Satan’s motivation,
built Babel, which was the beginning of Babylon.
The Babylonian spirit is invading the world.
Its influence is breathtaking…and spreading its idea
to the entire world. There is no other proper description
of Babel and the evil intent of this first expression of false religion.”
–Babylon: The Axis of Evil
by Joseph Chambers
the gods and religions of the countries over which it
ruled. Since Babylon was the source of this paganism,
we can easily see how Rome’s early religion was a form
of Babylonish worship that had developed under different
forms and different names in the countries to which it
had gone.”
-Source –Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity
By Roderick C. Meredith
“Not only has the original Babylonian religious system
served as the source of all the world’s non-Christian religions,
hut it has also infiltrated and corrupted Christendom to an
alarming degree.”
–Babylon – Source of False Religion
“Babylon, Mystery Religion” by Ralph Woodrow
BAAL and NIMROD – ( The same ? )
till this very day; and there are so many points
of similarity between him and Baal that it is
reasonable to suppose that the heathen god Baal
is no other than the Babylonian Nimrod.”
–BAAL; Babylon;
and The Second Coming of Christ
CHAPTER XXVI. Taylor/Taylor
contraction of the word “Babel.” Bel is mentioned
many times in connection with the history of Babylon
and it is folly to think that he is any other than Baal.
The monuments of ancient Babel testify that the founder
of Babel was worshipped as “Bilu Nipru,” or Bel Nimrod,
i.e., “the god of the chase.” In course of time the
cognomen “Nimrod” was dropped, and he became known as
only “Bel.” This makes it clear that Nimrod, Baal, and
Bel are all one and the same.”
–BAAL; Babylon;
and The Second Coming of Christ
CHAPTER XXVI. Taylor/Taylor
aberrant sexual behavior and religious rites of
sexual union in disobedience to the commandments
of Jehovah. They would sacrifice their sons with
fire for burnt offerings unto Baal. This would
explain why Elijah was so opposed to the prophets
of Baal and hated them so much.”
— The Latter Rain Page
under article, “BAAL”
by Jay Atkinson
other than the God of Israel (Jehovah).”
–Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary
of Old and New Testament Words:
“The whole picture seems to indicate a slow change over
from the worship of Jehovah, derived originally from
Abraham and Isaac…to an exaltation of Baal. Just the
same drift would have taken place in Israel more than
once except for the strenuous opposition of the prophets.
The prophets brought about revivals in which the people
returned to the worship of Jehovah.”
–The Hyksos, Kings of Egypt and the land of Edom
CHAPTER VII – Religion and Date of the Edomite Empire
The Nabataens, Builders of Petra
Nameless “LORD” Worship
Started with “BAAL” and Nimrod
Lord and baal are interchangeable in meaning.”
-Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (Miller)
the commandments of Jehovah and worship Baal,
make idols of him and kiss his image.
The name Baal means Lord.”
— The Latter Rain Page
under article, “BAAL”
by Jay Atkinson
that means “LORD”. “
-Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (Miller)
and was a term applied to the chief
of the primitive groups of nameless deities ….
the Baal of Heaven was the sun god..
There were as many Baals in Asia as there
were Horuses in Egypt. Baal was a generic term
for “Lord” and encompassed many gods fashioned
after Nimrod.”
–Egyptian Myth and Legend;
Changes in Social and Religious Life
Chapter XXIV; p307
“Baal – Literal meaning: ‘lord’.
In Canaan – the name of many local dieties.”
–The Oxford University Press
Dictionary of World Mythology
by Arthur Cotterell
(the ancient “queen of heaven”) were confirmed by
their priests as gods and given homage as Marduk
and Astarte. Numerous other gods were patterned and
fashioned after Nimrod and his mother.
BEL/BAAL – was the primary name by which other
nations were introduced to the worship of Marduk.
Baal means “lord” or “master”. Under this name he
was worshiped by the Canaanites, Phoenicians,
Syrians and to some extent by the Egyptians.
BAAL worship is sometimes associated with
“Baal-zebub”, and is still known today as one
of the name or “epithets” of Satan.”
–Nimrod, Mars, and The Marduk Connecty
by Bryce Self
against Jehovah God –
Jehovah is Reduced into a Nameless LORD
not only in paganism, but also in Apostate Christianity.
Jehovah’s Name was removed from the Bible and replaced
as a “Nameless” LORD.
“‘Seek not a name for God – His Name is God.’
In view of this statement, the appearance and
persistence of ‘anonymous gods’ – is one of the
most puzzling problems of religious history.”
–Anonymous Gods ; E. Bikerman
Journal of the Warburg Institute, Vol. 1, No. 3
(Jan., 1938), pp. 187-196 doi:10.2307/750004
“The great prophet Jeremiah explained that
the objective of the false prophets was to
cause people to forget the Name of Jehovah
(Jr 23:27), an attempt nevertheless dedicated
to be defeated (Ps 44:21); because God reserves
his Name for his servants (Is 52:6) and naturally
for those who appreciate it (Mal 3:16). ”
–Paradox of the anonymous name
The Divine Name of God;
Gertoux; Hebrew Scholar
“They think they….will make my people forget
my name, just as their fathers forgot my name
through Baal worship.”
(Jeremiah 23:27)(NIV)-BibleGateway
the Roman Catholic church and then the later appearance
of dozens of protestant “Daughter” churches has certainly
brought about a spiritual malaise of conflicting
denominations, doctrines, creeds and practices—all
supposedly “Christian.” Yet none of them corresponds
remotely to the Christianity that the original Apostles
and the early Church of God followed for decades after
the death of Jesus of Nazareth. They all have retained dozens
of pagans ideas, and practices, that would have
been utterly foreign to the early Church! Satan has
indeed done a masterful job of creating a counterfeit
Christianity.”
-Source –Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity
By Roderick C. Meredith
rather than having it hidden by such an epithet as ‘the Lord’.
–Yahweh – the God of Christian Theology;
The Name of God On the Way to the Postmodern:
Old Testament Essays 1967-1998, Volume 2; pp. 498-507
(JSOTSup, 292; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998)
and embraced the Big Lie, that so-called god Baal. “
(Jeremiah 13:25)(MSG)-BibleGateway
took pleasure to proclaim the name, Jehovah, according
to Genesis 12:8, and initiated a respectable biblical
custom. Furthermore, according to the prophet Joel,
it is even obligatory to proclaim this Name in order
to be saved during the great and formidable day of God
(Joel 2:32). According to Exodus 23:13, refusal
to pronounce a god’s name is a refusal to worship
the god in question, so to refuse to pronounce the
True God’s name means a refusal to worship him
(Jos 23:7).”
–Paradox of the anonymous name
The Divine Name of God; Gertoux; Hebrew Scholar
“it is impossible to have a deep relationship
with a nameless God.”
–Maimonides;
EASTER REPLACED PASSOVER
“They replaced the nighttime Passover
service – that was a commemoration of
Christ’ death – with the pagan Easter
Resurrection. Not only had the date
and time been changed but the whole
meaning of the festival was changed. “
— J.L. Hurlbut
Story of the Christian Church, pg. 79
“Easter – *Ôstara) was a goddess in Germanic
paganism whose Germanic month has given its
name to the festival of Easter. Ôstarmânoth
is attested as the month-name equivalent to
‘April’ that was decreed by Charlemagne,
but as a goddess Eostre is attested only
by Bede in his 8th century work De temporum
ratione. Bede states that Ēosturmōnaþ
was the equivalent to the month of April,
and that feasts held in Eostre’s honor…
replaced the “Paschal” observance of
Passover.”
— Einhard, Life of Charlemagne, §29.
“Some scholars have debated whether or not
Eostre is an invention of Bede’s, and
theories Einhard, connecting Eostre with records of
Germanic Easter customs (including hares
rabbits and eggs).”
— Einhard, Life of Charlemagne, §29.
“Easter is a date on the Wiccan Wheel
of the Year (Ostara, 21 March).[18}
–Hubbard (2007:175).
“In some forms of Germanic Neopaganism,
Eostre is venerated. Regarding this veneration,
Carole M. Cusack comments that, among adherents,
Eostre is “associated with the coming of spring and
the dawn, and her festival is celebrated at
the spring equinox. Because she brings
renewal, rebirth from the death of winter,
some Heathens associate Eostre with Idunn,
keeper of the apples of youth in
Scandinavian mythology”.[20]
— Cusack (2008:354—355
Cusack, Carole M. (2008).
“The Return of the Goddess: Mythology,
Witchcraft and Feminist Spirituality”
as published in Pizza, Murphy.
Lewis, James R. (Editors).
Handbook of Contemporary Paganism.
Brill Publishers. ISBN 9004163735
THE PAGAN RABBIT
“Eostre is connected with hares
rabbits and eggs).”
— Einhard, Life of Charlemagne, §29.
“The name Easter derived from the Saxon
Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). The ancient Saxons
in Northern Europe worshiped the Goddess
Oestre at the time of the Spring Equinox.
The Goddess Easter represents the sunrise,
spring-time and fertility.”
–“Eostre” from The Goddess Oracle
by Marashinsky and Janto
Pagan Anglo-Saxons made offerings of colored
eggs to her at the Vernal Equinox. They
placed them at graves especially,
probably as a charm of rebirth.
(Egyptians and Greeks were also known
to place eggs at gravesites).”
–“Eostre” from The Goddess Oracle
by Marashinsky and Janto
“Only later did the Christians pilfer
the name for themselves and graft their
religion onto a pagan celebration.”
–The Rite of Spring
How the Christians stole the Easter holiday,
by Jim Walker
The name “Easter” has its roots in ancient
polytheistic religions (paganism). On this,
all scholars agree. This name is never used
in the original Scriptures, nor is it
ever associated biblically with the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Ancient origin
Most reference books say that the name
“Easter” derived from the Eastre,
the Teutonic goddess of Spring.
Although this relationship exists,
in reality, the origin of the name
and the goddess are far more ancient –
going all the way back to the Tower
of Babel. The origin begins not long
after the biblical Flood.
THE EASTER EGG
This woodcut above was found in Ancient Babylon,
Where “Easter” has its roots – in the Fertility
Rites of the very first Fertility goddess –
Semiramis – the mother and wife of Nimrod.
“The idea of a mystic egg spread from
Babylon to many parts of the world.[12]
–James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough,
Vol. 12, 3rd Edition (1907-15,
reissued 1935-36 and 1955);
Maria Leach, editor,
Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary
of Folklore, Mythology and Legend,
Vol. 1 (1949). [up] —
“In Rome, the mystic egg preceded
processions in honor of the Roman
Mother GODDESS.. The egg was part of the
sacred ceremonies of the Mysteries of Bacchus.
The Druids used the egg as their sacred
emblem. In Northern Europe, China and Japan
the eggs were colored for their sacred
festivals.[13}
–James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough,
Vol. 12, 3rd Edition (1907-15,
reissued 1935-36 and 1955);
Maria Leach, editor, pg 155.
Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary
of Folklore, Mythology and Legend,
Vol. 1 (1949). [up] —
“The egg was a sacred symbol among
the Babylonians. They believed an old
fable about an egg of wondrous size which
was supposed to have fallen from heaven
into the Euphrates River. From this marvelous
egg – according to the ancient story –
the Goddess Astarte (Easter) [Semiramis],
was hatched. And so the egg came to symbolize
the Goddess Easter.”[11]
— Ralph Woodrow,
Babylon Mystery Religion; p152,153
(Riverside, California:
Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Assn., 1966)
“Modern symbols of Easter, such as the egg
and the bunny, have their origins in paganism.
Rabbits were the most potent symbol of fertility
and the egg, the start of all life, was often
thought to have magical powers.”
-Delving deep into Easter
TeacherNet’s editorial team
“Basically, almost every vile, profane
and idolatrous practice you can think of
originated at Babel with Queen Semiramis,
the Mother Goddess and Nimrod. As the people
scattered from Babel with their different
languages, they, of course, used different
names for Nimrod (Tammuz) and Semiramis.
Some called the Mother Goddess “ISHTAR”
(originally pronounced “Easter”).[9]
– pg 152 — Ralph Woodrow,
Babylon Mystery Religion;
(Riverside, California:
Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Assn., 1966)
‘In other lands, she was called Eostre,
Astarte, Ostera, and Eastre. Other names
for Semiramis, the Mother Goddess include:
Wife of Baal, Ashtaroth or Ashtoreth,
and Queen of Heaven.[10]”
–10.The names Ashtaroth or Ashtoreth,
and Queen of Heaven where used for Semiramis
by the Israelites and the ungodly peoples
around them, see Judges 2:13, Jeremiah 44:17-19,
etc. Other names for Semiramis include
Astarte (Cyprus), Diana (Ephesus and
throughout Asia Minor), Cybele (Asia Minor),
Isis (Egypt), Aphrodite, Ceres (Greece),
Venus or Fortuna (Romans), Shingmoo (China),
Disa (Scandanavia), Nutria (Etruscans),
Virgo-Paritura (Druids), Isi or Indrani or
Devaki (India).
“The Mother goddess was frequently worshipped
as the goddess of fertility – and as a sort
of Mother Nature and goddess of Spring
and sexual love and birth. She was also
worshipped as a mediator between god and man.
Sexual orgies and temple prostitutes were
often used in her worship and in attempting
to gain her favor.”
“The rabbit is well known as a sexual symbol
of fertility. In various parts of the world,
religions which developed from Babel also
associate the rabbit with fertility rites.”
The egg was also a symbol of fertility;
Semiramis (Easter) was the goddess of
Fertility. The Easter egg is a symbol
of the pagan Mother Goddess, and it even
bears one of her names.
“the pagan festival of ‘Easter’ was introduced
into the apostate Western religion, as part of
the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to
Christianity…”
– Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary
of Old and New Testament Words
(1985, p. 192, “Easter”)
“Does the name Ishtar sound like Easter ?
Well it should. It is the same.
The celebration of Ishtar included coloring
eggs, an ancient symbol of fertility.
The ancients even hid eggs for their children
to find. Also, rabbits, known for their
prolific reproduction, were part of the
pagan celebration.”
— Resurrection Sunday
and the Babylonian Connection;
By Errol Hale
“Easter – She was the goddess of love,
fertility, and maternity for the Phonicians,
Canaanites, Aramaeans, South Arabs,
and even the Egyptians. Her name was
Ishtar in Babylonia and Assyria…”
-World Book, Vol. 1, 782.
Easter – “In Babylonia Ishtar was the goddess
of erotic love and fertility. Her chief seat
of worship was Uruk (Erech), where prostitution
was practiced in her name and she was served with
immoral rites by bands of men and women.”
– The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,
1979, Volume 1, pages 319-320
Easter -“Ishtar was goddess of physical love (sex).
She was patron of the temple prostitutes.
Throughout Mesopotamian and Babylonian history
she was worshiped under various names in many cities…”
-Collier’s Encyclopedia,
1980, Volume 15, page 748
Easter – “the goddess of sensual love, maternity
and fertility. Licentious – debased sexual worship
was conducted in honor of her.”
– Unger’s Bible Dictionary ;
( pages 412-413 )
Easter -“She and her colleagues specialized in sex…
and her shrines were temples of legalized vice and
prostitution. Her degraded cult offered…sordid
depths, as lust and murder were glamorized in
Babylonian and Canaanite religion.”
– (W. F. Albright,
Archaeology and the Religion of Israel,
Baltimore, John Hopkins Press,
1942, pages 68-94).
“As at Christmas, so also at Easter,
popular customs reflect many ancient pagan
survivals…connected with fertility rites..”
– The Encyclopaedia Britannica
(15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. IV, p. 605,
“Church Year”).
“Saint Augustine…simply re-dressed paganism
with Christian nomenclature. Thus ancient pagan
Babylonian religion had replaced apostolic
teaching and practice.”
– Augustine’s Poisoned Chalice
by Peter Nathan
“There is NO trace of an “Easter” celebration
in the New Testament. The Jewish Christians in
the early church continued to celebrate the
Passover, regarding Christ as the true paschal lamb.”
-(International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia,
Electronic Database Copyright(c)1996)
“On that day of judgment,”says the Lord,“
I will punish…all those following
pagan customs.”
(Zephaniah 1:8)
Babylon, mentioned six times by name in the book of Revelation (Rev. 14:8‣; 16:19‣; 17:5‣; 18:2‣, 10‣, 21‣), plays a significant role in the events prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As with almost all other aspects of the book of Revelation, in order to understand what Babylon is and what it is not, it is important to recognize that the book of Revelation is the capstone of many streams of prophecy which find their source elsewhere in Scripture, and especially in the OT. In a similar way that Genesis and Revelation serve as bookendsaround God’s written revelation, Babylon also has great significance both in the beginning and end of God’s plan in history.
4.1.1 - Babylon of Old 
The earliest mention of Babylon and the region it occupies, the land of Shinar, is found not long after the global flood:
Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Caleh and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city). (Gen. 10:8-12 cf. 1Chr. 1:10)2 [emphasis added]
It was Nimrod who established a kingdom at Babel. In fact, this is the first mention of the concept of kingdom in Scripture. In a very real sense, Nimrod was the first king. And in order to be a king, one needs to have subjects and a realm. This implies centralization in a way which ran counter to God’s command following the flood: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1, 7 cf. Gen. 1:22, 28). Reading between the lines, we can already see the seeds of rebellion.
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake themthoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (Gen. 11:1-9)
Although Scripture is not overtly negative concerning Nimrod, his involvement establishing the first kingdom and initiating a building project which resulted in a severe judgment from God (the introduction of languages) clearly indicates his sinful ambitions.
Babylon has from its inception symbolized evil and rebellion against God. It was founded by Nimrod (Gen. 10:9), a proud, powerful, God-rejecting ruler. Babel (Babylon) was the site of the first organized system of idolatrous false religion (Gen. 11:1-4). The Tower of Babel, the expression of that false religion, was a ziggurat; an edifice designed to facilitate idolatrous worship. God judged the people’s idolatry and rebellion by confusing their language and scattering them over the globe (Gen. 11:5-9). Thus the seeds of idolatry and false religion spread around the world from Babylon, to take root wherever these proud rebels and their descendants settled.3
There is also abundant tradition concerning the rebellion of Nimrod:
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah,— a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny,—seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!4
According to the Sages, Nimrod was the primary force behind this rebellion. The Midrashim explain his sinister motive. He planned to build a tower ascending to Heaven and, from it, wage war against God.5
The Targum of Jonathan says, “From the foundation of the world none was ever found like Nimrod, powerful in hunting, and in rebellions against the Lord.” The Jerusalem Targum says, “He is powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a hunter of the sons of men, and he said to them, ‘Depart from the judgment of the Lord, and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod!’ Therefore as it is said, ‘As Nimrod is the strong one, strong in hunting, and in wickedness before the Lord.’ ” The Chaldee paraphrase of I Chronicles 1:10 says, “Cush begat Nimrod, who began to prevail in wickedness, for he shed innocent blood, and rebelled against Jehovah.”6
In the founding of Babel was the foundation for what would later flower as Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar and figure so highly in the events of Scripture, especially the book of Daniel which we have seen is key to understanding much of the book of Revelation.
Another negative connotation concerning Babel may be seen in the proverb taken up by Isaiah concerning the king of Babylon:
Take up this proverb against the king of Babylon . . . How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?’ (Isa. 14:4, 12-16)
The connection between Satan (here Lucifer) and Babylon is seen in this proverb which begins with the human king in view, but soon goes far beyond what could be said of the human king to identify the spiritual power motivating the king (cf. Eze. 28:12). Since Satan has been active in the affairs of the world since the creation of mankind, it is no surprise to find his influence in the realm of corrupt kings and kingdoms extending far back in history. Portions of the proverb, “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms”, appear to speak of the ultimate king of Babylon at the time of the end, the Antichrist:
Isaiah thus makes the Babylonian monarch speak according to the ideas of his people . . . and at the same time reflects the satanic spirit of self-deification to appear in fullest development in the last king of Babylon, the Antichrist (Rev. 13:8‣).7
Prior to the introduction of languages by God, the majority of mankind refused to disperse across the globe, but gathered in the region of Shinar instead. The result of the introduction of language was the scattering of different language groups over the face of all the earth (Gen. 11:9). This initial centralization, followed by the global distribution, is the primary mechanism by which Babylon became the central influence in all cultures and civilizations which followed. This is how she came to sit on “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues”(Rev. 17:15‣).
In the record of Babel, as minimal as it is, we see the first human king and kingdom in direct rebellion to the commands of God resulting in judgment. In Babylon of the end, we will see the last human king and kingdom in ultimate rebellion to the commands of God resulting in the final judgment of all human kingdoms to be replaced by the Millennial Kingdom ruled by Messiah. See The Beast. See #16 - Beast.
4.1.2 - The Destruction of Babylon
A point of disagreement concerning the interpretation of Scripture involves how to handle passages which predict events and circumstances which evidently have not come to pass. For those who uphold the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture, there are only two alternatives:
- Dramatic Hyperbole - Prophetic passages must be understood to employ extensive use of figures of speech such as hyperbole for dramatic effect. They should not be understood in a literal way, but must be seen as a form of dramatic exaggeration emphasizing the harshness with which God views sin and its related judgment. They were fulfilled in an approximate way by events of the past or are statements of spiritual principles.
- Literal Prediction - Unfulfilled prophetic passages make limited use of hyperbole, but in such a way that it is obvious where it occurs (e.g., 1S. 5:12). In the main, prophetic passages are accurate predictions of catastrophic judgments which have not yet occurred.
Depending upon which of these two views one holds when reading the OT, unfulfilled passages will either be loosely applied to the immediate circumstances or they will be seen as extending beyond the immediate circumstances and speaking to an ultimate fulfillment in the distant future. Futurist interpreters are of this latter persuasion because they understand previously fulfilled prophecy to indicate a pattern of literal fulfillment. See The Art and Science of Interpretation.
This is of great importance when we come to the matter of Babylon in Scripture because all interpreters are aware that extensive prophecies concerning Babylon, and especially the manner of her destruction, have never been fulfilled as they were stated. Those who favor dramatic hyperbole as an explanation tend to believe the passages were fulfilled in an approximate, but suitable way. Those who favor literal prediction believe these passages have never been fulfilled, even approximately, and continue to speak of the future destruction of Babylon at the time of the end. We are in this latter group.
4.1.2.1 - Babylon’s Historic Fall
When one examines the historical record concerning the fall of the city of Babylon in 539 B.C. to Persia (Dan. 5:30-31‣), it is clear that the term “destruction” is much too strong a word to describe what actually transpired. Babylon has never been destroyed at the hands of a catastrophic attack as prophesied in the OT (see Babylon’s Predicted Destruction).
On the night that Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain and the city came under the control of Darius the Mede, it “fell” politically, but not physically. There was no large-scale attack upon the city. In fact, many within the city were not even aware for quite some time afterwards that the city had been taken. The city was taken by diverting the waters of the Euphrates. This allowed armed forces to wade under her defenses without much of a fight:
The city fell by complete surprise. Half of the metropolis was captured before the rest of it was “aware” of the fact, according to Herodotus. Cyrus diverted the waters of the Euphrates and by night entered the city through the dried up channel (Dan. 5:30-31‣).8
Rather than being physically overthrown, as predicted by Isaiah (Isa. 13, 14, 47) and Jeremiah (Jer. 50, 51), the city and its occupants were treated with considerable respect:
On . . . Oct. 29, 539 B.C., sixteen days after the capitulation, Cyrus himself entered the city amid much public acclaim, ending the Chaldean dynasty as predicted by the Hebrew prophets (Isa. 13:21; Jer. 50f). Cyrus treated the city with great respect, returning to their own shrines the statues of the deities brought in from other cities. The Jews were sent home with compensatory assistance. He appointed new governors, so ensuring peace and stable conditions essential to the proper maintenance of the religious centers.9
Babylon generally flourished under the Persians, although there is record of a revolt against Xerxes I which resulted in a harsh response:
Under the Persians, Babylon retained most of its institutions, became capital of the richest satrapy in the empire, and, according to Herodotus, the world’s most splendid city. A revolt against Xerxes I (482) led to destruction of its fortifications and temples and the melting down of the golden image of Marduk.10
In subsequent campaigns which took control of Babylon, rather than being violently overthrown, the city slowly decayed due to competition and neglect:
On October 12, 539 B.C., Babylon fell to Cyrus of Persia, and from that time on the decay of the city began. Xerxes plundered it. Alexander the Great thought to restore its great temple, in ruins in his day, but was deterred by the prohibitive cost. During the period of Alexander’s successors the area decayed rapidly and soon became a desert. From the days of Seleucus Nicator (312-280 B.C.), who built the rival city of Seleucia on the Tigris, queenly Babylon never revived.11
Even when Greece, the great leopard beast of Daniel’s night vision (Dan. 7:6‣) came calling in the person and empire of Alexander the Great, the city was not destroyed:
[On] Oct. 1, 331 B.C., Alexander marched to Babylon, where the Macedonian was triumphantly acclaimed, the Persian garrison offering no opposition. He offered sacrifices to Marduk, ordered the rebuilding of temples that Xerxes allegedly had destroyed, and then a month later moved on to Susa.12
Alexander subsequently returned to Babylon with great construction plans to make it his capital, but these were interrupted by his death in 323 B.C. After Alexander, the city was ruled by a series of kings including Seleucus I (323-250) during which Babylon’s economic—but not religious importance—declined sharply due to competition with the establishment by Antiochus I of a new capital at Seleucia on the Tigris (274 B.C.). Later, the city remained a center of Hellenism, supporting Jews in Palestine who opposed Herod.13 After the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome in A.D. 70, many Jews left Jerusalem for the area of Babylon. This trend increased after the Bar Kokhba war.14 The region of Babylon became an important center for Jewry outside Israel:
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., and especially after the war of Bar Kokhba (132-35 C.E.), some scholars went down from Palestine to Babylon. The arrival of “Abba the Tall,” Rab, in approximately 219, brought about a period of prosperity in the study of the Law in Babylon. Rab in Sura and Shmuel in Nehardea gave public instruction in the Law and trained many pupils. In this period academies were established, and they continued to exert an influence on Jews, not only in Babylon but throughout all the lands of their dispersion, as late as the 12th century.15
Although the city still stood when Roman emperor Trajan entered it in A.D. 115, by about A.D. 200 the site of the city was deserted.16 Thereafter, the city was mostly forgotten until the 1800s when archaeological expeditions began to investigate the site. In the mid-1960s, the Iraqi Department of Antiquities carried out further work at the site. “The Ishtar gateway . . . was partially restored together with the Procession Way . . . The Ninmah temple was reconstructed, and a museum and rest house built on the site, which is also partially covered by the village of Jumjummah.”17
In more recent times, Saddam Hussein built himself a palace on a man-made hill beside the footprint of the original city. Then, in 1987, he ordered construction of a replica of Nebuchadnezzar’s vast palace on the original site. Museums were also built. But since his fall from power in 2003, his private palace was ransacked by mobs and two museums at the site were looted. During almost this entire time, there have been people occupying the site or living nearby—in stark contrast to the predictions of Scripture concerning the uninhabitable wasteland it is predicted to one day become.19
4.1.2.2 - Babylon’s Predicted Destruction
History records that although Babylon “fell” numerous times at the hands of different invaders, it never suffered anything like a complete destruction. Instead, it continued to be inhabited hundreds of years after its initial fall to Persia and eventually, through neglect more than anything else, became insignificant on the stage of world history. Yet the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and John indicate a completely different scenario for her destruction. One that is sudden, swift, and absolutely catastrophic. We have gathered a number of these predictions together below so the reader may see for himself what the Holy Word of God predicts concerning the severity and permanence of her destruction:
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean’s pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. (Isa. 13:19-20)
“And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.” Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you. (Isa. 21:9-10)
Therefore evil shall come upon you; you shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; you will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know. (Isa. 47:11)
Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified and hiss at all her plagues. (Jer. 50:13)
Come against her from the farthest border; open her storehouses; cast her up as heaps of ruins, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left. (Jer. 50:26)
“Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, and the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,” says the Lord, “So no one shall reside there, nor son of man dwell in it.” (Jer. 50:39-40)
“They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever,” says the LORD. (Jer. 51:26)
And the land will tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. (Jer. 51:29)
Her cities are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land where no one dwells, through which no son of man passes. (Jer. 51:43)
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; the people will labor in vain, and the nations, because of the fire; and they shall be weary.” (Jer. 51:58)
And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, then you shall say, ‘O LORD, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ ” (Jer. 51:61-62)
And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. (Rev. 17:16‣)
And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!” (Rev. 18:2‣)
Therefore her plagues will come in one day-death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, “Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” (Rev. 18:8-10‣)
For in one hour such great riches came to nothing. Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “What is like this great city?” They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, “Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.” (Rev. 18:17-19‣)
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.” (Rev. 18:21‣)
Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” (Rev. 19:3‣)
Her destruction is said to be literal and catastrophic like that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Her walls will be completely destroyed and her gates burned with fire. There will be nothing left of her, no person shall ever reside there, nor will any building material be taken from her ruins. This destruction will be sudden, complete, and permanent. It seems clear that Babylon has yet to suffer in the way which God has so extensively foretold.
Not only are the OT prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah unfulfilled in the history of Babylon, but John’s vision recorded in approximately 95 A.D. reiterates and even extends these predictions. Either God is a God of wholesale and extensive exaggeration or a literal destruction remains pending. It is impossible, unscriptural, and irreverent to believe that such an extensive portion of God’s word is to be spiritualized or taken as hyperbole.
4.1.2.3 - The Timing of Babylon’s Destruction
Having seen the severe manner in which Babylon is to be destroyed, we now examine the timing of Babylon’s destruction. When are these prophecies of her destruction to take place? The most obvious starting point is to understand that her destruction is future to John’s day, for the book of Revelation contains an extensive prediction of her destruction. This places her destruction sometime after 95 A.D. (See Date.) Yet we saw that Babylon’s Historic Fallwas actually a relatively slow demise because she continued to be inhabited for several decades after the writing of the book of Revelation before fading into obscurity. Within not many years after John’s dramatic predictions there was no significant city of Babylon left to be destroyed.
If Babylon is to be destroyed as predicted by the prophetic word, and she is not a spiritual symbol representing a non-literal city or movement, then she must be reconstructed prior to the time of the end. And this we expect. (See Babylon is Babylon!) From God’s word, we know that her prophesied destruction comes in The Day of the Lord. One of the most significant passages describing that day is found in Isaiah 13, “ground zero” of an extensive passage concerning Babylon:
Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, every man’s heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger. (Isa. 13:6-13)
In another key passage concerning the destruction of Babylon, Jeremiah relates that the time is to be connected with the national regeneration of Israel: “ ‘In those days and in that time,’ says the LORD, ‘The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve’ ” (Jer. 50:20). This is the time when the Deliverer comes out of Zion and turns ungodliness from Jacob (who is Israel, Rom. 11:26-27), as prefigured in Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones (Eze. 37). This connects the destruction of Babylon with the time of Jacob’s trouble—the Tribulation which precedes the Millennial Kingdom. This is confirmed by the book of Revelation where the destruction of Babylon is found under the very last judgment, the seventh bowl of God’s wrath (Rev. 16:19‣).
4.1.3 - The Identity of Babylon
Having established that historical Babylon never faced the destruction predicted in Scripture and that such destruction will occur during the time of the end, we now turn to the question of the identity of Babylon.20 It must be observed that this question does not arise primarily from Scripture, but from unbelief. For an examination of Scripture shows no confusion as to the identity of Babylon. Babylon is simply Babylon! Yet, the divergence between what history records and Scripture predicts concerning this city has caused many to question whether “Babylon” is really to be understood in its literal sense or whether it might not be symbolic, denoting some other physical location or even an abstract spiritual or political movement—not a city at all. The collision between God’s word and history to date has caused many to abandon the literal interpretation of the identity of Babylon in search of other solutions.
Five prominent approaches for identifying Babylon in Revelation 17‣-18‣ [include]: the world, Jerusalem, Rome, an end time religious system, and futuristic, literal, rebuild Babylon. Other interpretive options exists, such as viewing Babylon as the Roman Catholic Church or as an eclectic amalgamation of two or more of these views.21
We will attempt to acquaint the reader with the most popular views together with what we believe to be their weaknesses in comparison with the literal view. There is considerable overlap between some of the views so our treatment is general and intended mainly to serve as background information for understanding why we believe Babylon is best understood as the literal city on the banks of the Euphrates River. For a more thorough treatment of the alternative views, see [Woods, What is the Identity of Babylon In Revelation 17-18?].
4.1.3.1 - Babylon is the World?
This view holds that Babylon of the time of the end represents a world-spanning global, anti-God system. Usually, the system is partitioned into ecclesiastical and commercial elements which are associated with the Harlot (Rev. 17‣) and the city (Rev. 18‣), respectively:
Babylon stands for all that is the world, as over against the call of the heart of God. . . . There is a form of Babylon which is political, and there is a form which is religious.22
What is before us now is the mystic Babylon, that huge system of spiritual adultery and corruption which holds sway over the whole prophetic scene. It is scarcely possible [writing before 1860!] to conceive of a huge system of wickedness eagerly embraced by the nations once called Christian. It will nevertheless be so.23
[Isaiah 13:6 is a] prefigurement of the final destruction of Babel (Babylon), connoting prophetically the disordered political and governmental system that characterizes the earth during “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24; Rev. 18:1-24‣). This political Babylon, together with ecclesiastical Babylon . . . shall be destroyed at the second advent of Christ. Political Babylon stands in contrast to the divine order (Isa. 11:1-12:6) with Israel in her own land, the center of spiritual blessing and the divine world government of the King-Messiah (Isa. 2:1-5).24
In this view, the term Babylon is not to be associated with any physical location, but denotes the practices which originated in Babylon and then spread throughout the world. Thus, to destroy “Babylon” is to destroy these religious and commercial systems, wherever they may be found.
The ancient Babylon is better understood here as the archetypal head of all entrenched worldly resistance to God. Babylon is a trans-historical reality including idolatrous kingdoms as diverse as Sodom, Gomorrah, Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, Nineveh, and Rome. Babylon is an eschatological symbol of satanic deception and power; it is a divine mystery that can never be wholly reducible to empirical earthly institutions. It may be said that Babylon represents the total culture of the world apart from God.25
We believe this view, while having some measure of truth, is inadequate. It properly accounts for the global influence clearly attributed to Babylon (Rev. 17:5‣, 15‣, 18‣; 18:24‣), but in doing so it also overlooks many aspects which are difficult to interpret as pertaining to anything other than a specific physical location. Babylon is called a city and is associated with the Euphrates River. She is destroyed at the hands of the Beast and his ten kings (Rev. 17:16-18‣), but they themselves are not destroyed by this same event. Yet they represent worldly ungodliness in the extreme. At her destruction, she becomes a dwelling place for demons (Rev. 18:2‣). Mention is made of merchants, ships, musicians, and craftsmen. Furthermore, she is differentiated from the nations which she influenced (Rev. 14:8‣; 17:2‣; 18:2‣, 23‣). If she deceived the nations (Rev. 18:23‣), how can she be those ungodly systems whom she herself produced by her deception? Another weakness of this view, which is shared by other views, is the artificial distinction which is made between The Great Harlotand the city Babylon. We believe this distinction is brought to the text, but not derived fromthe text which indicates they are one and the same (Rev. 17:18‣; 18:21‣-19:2‣).26
A variation of this view takes Babylon to be a literal city, but as any commercial center at the time of the end which God chooses to judge, wherever located: “As far as we are concerned, the ‘city’ that represents commercial Babylon could be any great port city in the world to which the commerce of the world should be transferred, and which should thus head up the whole idea of commerce to be brought into judgment and sudden destruction.”27Thus Babylon could have been Liverpool when it was a great shipping port or New York today or any ungodly city of tomorrow. The “city” represents the concept of commercialism, wherever God happens to decide to judge it when the time is right. But contrary to Barnhouse and others, Scripture knows of no commercial Babylon as opposed to any other noncommercial Babylon. See One or Two Babylons? See The Great Harlot See Babylon is Babylon!
4.1.3.2 - Babylon is Ecclesiastical?
Another quite popular view sees Babylon primarily as an ecclesiastical system (Rev. 17‣), but also having commercial attributes (Rev. 18‣). This view takes the word mystery written upon her forehead (Rev. 17:5‣) as part of her title rather than an indication that there is a mystery associated with John’s vision concerning her role in the time of the end. See the discussion of the identity of The Great Harlot. See Mystery Babylon?
4.1.3.3 - Babylon is Rome?
Perhaps the most popular view concerning the identity of Babylon is that she represents the city of Rome.
Tertullian, Irenaeus, and Jerome use Babylon as representing the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages Rome is frequently styled “the Western Babylon.” The sect of the Fraticelli, an eremitical organization from the Franciscans in the fourteenth century, who carried the vow of poverty to the extreme and taught that they were possessed of the Holy Spirit and exempt from sin—first familiarized the common mind with the notion that Rome was the Babylon, the great harlot of the Book of Revelation.28
This interpretation goes back at least to the time of Tertullian (AdvMarc iii.13). It was adopted by Jerome and Augustine and has been commonly accepted by the Church. There are some strong reasons for accepting it. (1) The characteristics ascribed to this Babylon apply to Rome rather than to any other city of that age:(a) as ruling over the kings of the earth (Rev. 17:18‣); (b) as sitting on seven mountains (Rev. 17:9‣); (c) as the center of the world’s merchandise (Rev. 18:2‣f 19:2‣); (d) as the persecutor of the saints (Rev. 17:6‣).29
Because Rome, with the Vatican, is home to the global system of Roman Catholicism, the identity of Babylon as the city of Rome has often gone hand-in-hand with the view that The Great Harlot represents Roman Catholicism, possibly wed with other religious systems. See Mystery Babylon?
The identity of Babylon with Rome has been bolstered by three events of history:
- The fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 - In a similar way that Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple under Titus. This established Rome as a key enemy of Israel and Jerusalem prior to the time of John’s writing. Thus it is thought to be only natural that Babylon would be used as a code name for Rome.30
- Christian Persecution - For the early church (remembering that John wrote from exile on Patmos during the reign of Domitian), the modern-day persecutor of the saints was Rome. Although John’s prophecies concerned the time of the end, those who have sought to restrict fulfillment to his immediate audience can find no other viable candidate outside of Rome. At that time, she was indeed “the center of the world’s merchandise [and] the persecutor of the saints.”31
- The Reformation - When the reformers broke away from Roman Catholicism, the prophecies concerning Babylon and the Beast provided ready ammunition against Rome. By identifying the papal system and Rome with the Beast and Babylon, it could be clearly seen that Roman Catholicism was the predicted enemy of the true faith and destined for eventual destruction. Due to its great utility, this view has dominated Protestant interpretation for many years. “The Romish Church is not only accidentally and as a matter of fact, but in virtue of its very PRINCIPLE, a harlot, the metropolis of whoredom, ‘the mother of harlots’; whereas the evangelical Protestant Church is, according to her principle and fundamental creed, a chaste woman; the Reformation was a protest of the woman against the harlot.”32 See Relation to the Pope.
Although evidence for the identification of Babylon with Rome may initially appear convincing, upon careful examination it becomes clear that Babylon cannot mean Rome.
Those who propose that Babylon be understood as a code name for Rome often point to evidence of such use in early extra-biblical writings: “For the early church the city of Rome was a contemporary Babylon. [In II bar. 11:6; 67:7 and Sib. Or. 5:143, 159, 434 (possibly 1Pe. 5:13 as well) Rome is called Babylon.]”33 However, such evidence is inconclusive because these other writings date much later than the book of Revelation: “Often supporters of the symbolic view use the Sibylline Oracles (V. 143, 159, 434) and the Apocalypse of Baruch (11:1; 67:7) to prove that Babylon was a code name for Rome (Swete, Charles, Ladd), but the composition of these two works came in the second century, quite a while after John wrote Revelation.”34 Some assert that Peter’s use of the term Babylon (1Pe. 5:13) must point to Rome. But this is an argument from silence. It is also possible to take Peter’s mention of Babylon as denoting the city on the banks of the Euphrates, which served as a center of Jewry beyond the time of Peter’s writing (see Babylon’s Historic Fall).35
The Babylon is Rome view also fails to explain passages in the OT which designate Babylon as the place of final judgment. Identifying Babylon as Rome implies that God gave numerous prophecies utilizing a code name which would not obtain its true meaning until hundreds of years later. Thus, the prophecies given to the original recipients could not be understood using the normal meaning of terms with which they were familiar. Such a view violates the rules of historical-grammatical interpretation and turns the interpretation of prophetic passages into a guessing game. See The Importance of Meaning.
The mention of “seven mountains” (or hills) in conjunction with the Harlot (Rev. 17:9‣) is often seen as an allusion to seven hills known to be associated with Rome:
The Rome view is also built upon the assumption that the seven hills of Revelation 17:9‣identify the topography of the ancient city of Rome. Because literature of the ancient world contains dozens of references to the seven hills of Rome, the ancient city of Rome was universally known as the city of the seven hills. Thus, such a topographical reference would immediately suggest Rome in the minds of John’s original audience. This suggestion is especially true given the fact that the seven hills were the nucleus of the city on the left bank of the Tiber River and given the fact that an unusual festival called the septimontium received its name because of this topographical feature.
In addition, the notion that John’s audience would have understood the imagery of Revelation 17‣ as referring to the topography of Rome seems strengthened by the discovery of the Dea Roma Coin minted in A.D. 71 in Asia Minor. One side of the coin contains the portrait of the emperor. The reverse side of the coin depicts Rome, a Roman pagan goddess, sitting on seven hills seated by the waters of the Tiber River. There are obvious similarities between the Dea Roma Coin and the imagery of Revelation 17‣. In both cases, the goddess and the harlot are seated on seven hills and are seated either on or by the waters (Rev. 17:1‣). In addition, the name of the goddess was thought by many Romans to be Amor, which is Roma spelled backwards. Amor was the goddess of love and sexuality. Thus, both the woman on the coin and the woman in Revelation 17‣represent harlotry (Rev. 17:5‣). Furthermore, the coin equates Roma with the power of the Roman Empire, which was active in persecuting Christians of John’s day. The placement of Vespasian on one side of the coin and Roma on the other makes this connection. . . . The goddess is also pictured as holding a sword, which may depict Rome’s imperial power. This imagery parallels with the woman in Revelation 17‣ who is said to be drunk with the blood of the saints [Rev. 17:6‣].36
This association sounds convincing until one studies the text of Revelation 17‣ more closely. Unfortunately, the KJV translation is misleading here in its inference that the seven mountains are different from the seven kings: “And there are seven kings.” This leaves the interpreter with the notion that the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits and there are (also, NKJV) seven kings which are not to be identified directly with the hills. As we show in our commentary on Revelation 17:10, the Greek actually says that the “seven heads are seven mountains . . . and they are seven kings.” Thus, the mountains are to be understood in their typical Scriptural usage as denoting kingdoms (Jer. 51:25; Dan. 2:35‣; Zec. 4:7) and may not be related to topography at all. The Great Harlot is said to sit on these mountains. She is also said to sit on peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. Thus, her sitting probably speaks of the scope of her influence and control rather than a physical location.
Another problem with taking Babylon to be Rome is her relatively late appearance as a major empire. The Great Harlot is said to be “that great city” (Rev. 17:18‣). She is also said to be the “mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth” (Rev. 17:5‣). She is the source and origin of harlotry (spiritual idolatry) and abominations. Rome can hardly be said to occupy this role because harlotry occurs in the biblical record far in advance of the time of Rome. Those who identify Babylon as Rome often point to the undeniable similarities between the history and practices of Roman Catholicism and what is said concerning The Great Harlot. But does this mean that Babylon is Rome? Might it not simply reflect the truth that Rome is one of the Harlot’s most influential daughter harlots of history?
The points of correspondence between Rev. 17‣ and the history of Romanism are too many and too marked to be set down as mere co-incidences. Undoubtedly the Papacy has supplied a fulfillment of the symbolic prophecy found in Rev. 17‣. And therein has lain its practical value for God’s people all through the dark ages. It presented to them a warning too plain to be disregarded. It was the means of keeping the garments of the Waldenses (and many others) unspotted by her filth. It confirmed the faith of Luther and his contemporaries, that they were acting according to the revealed will of God, when they separated themselves from that which was so manifestly opposed to His truth. But, nevertheless, there are other features in this prophecy which do not apply to Romanism, and which compel us to look elsewhere for the complete and final fulfillment. We single out but two of these. . . . In Rev. 17:5‣ Babylon is termed ‘the Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.’ Is this an accurate description of Romanism? Were there no ‘harlot’ systems before her? . . . The Papacy had not come into existence when John wrote the Revelation, so that she cannot be held responsible for all the ‘abominations’ which preceded her. . . . Again; in Rev. 17:2‣ we read of ‘the great Whore’ that ‘the kings of the earth have committed fornication’ with her. Is that applicable in its fulness to Rome? Have the kings of Asia and the kings of Africa committed fornication with the Papacy? It is true that the Italian pontiffs have ruled over a wide territory, yet it is also true that there are many lands which have remained untouched by their religious influence. It is evident from these two points alone that we have to go back to something which long antedates the rise of the Papacy, and to something which has exerted a far wider influence than has any of the popes. . . . Papal Rome, was only one of the polluted streams from this corrupt source [Babel] - one of the filthy ‘daughters’ of this unclean Mother of Harlots.37
The biblical accounts from the OT give greater attention to Babel, Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and Greece because they were great powers far in advance of Rome. Thus, Rome cannot be a mother in the sense required of the Harlot on the Beast. Nor can Rome provide the necessary support for the ride of the Harlot throughout history as implied by the seven heads on the Beast she rides (Rev. 17:3‣ cf. Rev. 13:1‣) which are associated with the dragon (Rev. 12:3‣) who has ruled kingdoms throughout history (Luke 4:5-6; John 12:31; 1Jn. 5:19).
Those who identify Babylon as Rome often place great emphasis upon the similarities between what is said of the Harlot and what history records of Roman Catholicism. Yet, taking the Harlot as Rome also conflicts with the Roman connection which Scripture records concerning the Beast (Dan. 7:8‣, 20‣; Dan. 9:26‣ ):
The identification of the harlot as Rome is problematic because one ends up with two images for Rome; the beast and the harlot. . . . If these two characters represent the same entity, why are they depicted as two separate entities in [Rev. 17:11‣ and 17:18‣]? Why is the beast punished in Revelation 19‣ after the harlot has already been destroyed in Revelation 18‣? If these two characters represent the same entity, how are they able to interact with one another? Revelation 17:3‣ depicts the woman as riding on the beast. How can Rome ride upon Rome? Revelation 17:16-17‣ depicts the beast destroying the woman. How can Rome destroy Rome? Perhaps it is possible to propose that the imagery could be satisfied through Nero’s burning of Rome in A.D. 64. However, the destruction of Rome portrayed in Revelation 17:16-17‣ cannot be a picture of Nero burning Rome because Nero did not destroy Rome in its entirety. Rather he only wanted to destroy part of Rome in order to make room for a building project. In sum, the imagery makes more sense if Rome destroys a rival power. This fact should prevent interpreters from identifying the woman with Rome.38
Although the idea that Babylon is Rome may seem intriguing at first, we believe there are significant liabilities attending the view. Chief among them are the problem of language—making OT passages which speak of Babylon be reinterpreted hundreds of years later to denote an entirely different city—and the lack of the necessary historical significance in Rome’s early history to account for her as the mother of harlotry and abominations. See Old Testament Context.
4.1.3.4 - Babylon is Jerusalem?
Some preterist interpreters, such as Chilton, believe that Babylon is a code name for Jerusalem:39
The primary thrust of the prophecy has been directed against Jerusalem . . . John gives us no indication that the subject has been changed. As we shall see in Chapters 17 and 18, the evidence that the prophetic Babylon was Jerusalem is nothing short of overwhelming.40
In his first epistle, presumably written before the Revelation, St. Peter described the local church from which he wrote as “she who is in Babylon” (1Pe. 5:13). Many have supposed this to be Rome, where St. Peter was (according to tradition) later martyred, but it is much more likely that the apostle was in Jerusalem when he wrote these words. Based on data from the New Testament itself, our natural assumption should be that “Babylon” was Jerusalem, since that was where he lived and exercised his ministry.41
Preterists find support for this surprising claim in the great similarity between passages concerning apostate Jerusalem and what is said concerning the Harlot. But if the Harlot is the mother of all harlots, this is to be expected. It is important to recognize that the Harlot influenced all nations, including Israel. For “in her [the Harlot] was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Rev. 18:24‣). Thus, similarities between apostate Israel and the Harlot are certain to occur. But, as we have seen before, similarity does not make identity! An impressive array of OT Scriptures can be lined up in an attempt to prove that the Harlot is Jerusalem or Israel. However, this fails to account for another extensive list of passages which prove otherwise (often omitted by the Babylon is Jerusalem proponents).
Identifying Babylon as Jerusalem completely contradicts the OT foundation upon which the destruction of Babylon set forth within the book of Revelation stands (Isa. 13, 14, 47; Jer. 50, 51). When we examine these OT passages, we find a consistent distinction between Babylon, the subject of God’s wrath, and Jerusalem and Israel, whom God will avenge:
For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the LORD; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors. It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “How the oppressor has ceased, The golden city ceased!” (Isa. 14:1-4) [emphasis added]
Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand up together. All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans. (Isa. 48:12-14) [emphasis added]
“Israel is like scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. But I will bring back Israel to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; for I will pardon those whom I preserve.” (Jer. 50:17-20) [emphasis added]
Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, a destroying wind. And I will send winnowers to Babylon, who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom they shall be against her all around. Against her let the archer bend his bow, and lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and those thrust through in her streets. For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, the LORD of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. Flee from the midst of Babylon, and every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; He shall recompense her.” (Jer. 51:1-6) [emphasis added]
“And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight,” says the LORD. (Jer. 51:24) [emphasis added]
“Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,” the inhabitant of Zion will say; “And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!” Jerusalem will say. (Jer. 51:35) [emphasis added]
As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. (Jer. 51:49) [emphasis added]
If language means anything, the interpreter cannot simply reverse the meaning of numerous passages of Scripture to suit his own predilection! But this is exactly what the preterist does. Between the OT and the NT, he completely reverses the meaning of words. Israel no longer means the nation of Israel, but now is to be read Church. Babylon no longer means the city on the banks of the Euphrates River in the land of Shinar, but now is to be read as Jerusalem!
This illustrates some of the many dangers of Replacement Theology as fueled by the preterist interpretation:
- Scriptural Confusion - Words are elastic and their meanings can be changed after-the-fact and even be completely inverted. God’s numerous OT prophecies and promises concerning Jerusalem and Israel are now reinterpreted to mean something else entirely. If we were to adopt the preterist interpretation, we could only conclude that in their original context such prophesies were misleading and even downright misrepresentations, for the way they were understood in the common language of the prophet and his listeners was not their true meaning.42
- Dangerous Teachings - The inversion of meaning associated with various passages results in all sorts of unscriptural beliefs which can lead the believer, without even being aware of it, into a position in opposition to God’s will. For example, those who believe that the Church is the new Israel are likely to stand opposed to the true Israel in her claims based on God’s OT promises. Such believers stand opposed to God’s heritage (Jer. 50:11; Joel 3:2)!
- Denial of God’s Word - God’s promises no longer are reliable. If promises concerning the literal city Babylon and the literal nation Israel in the OT no longer apply to these same entities, but now are to be understood in an entirely new way—not just broader, but in a way which denies the meaning of the original context, then what confidence can we have in God’s promises to us? How do we know that eternal life is really eternal? How do we know the New Jerusalem is in fact a real city and as glorious as the NT describes? If we use similar interpretive techniques as the preterist, we may just find when we get to heaven that what God said in the NT—based upon the common rules of language and the context of the recipients—is not at all what He meant. Assigning such malleable meaning to the words of Scripture undermines the promises of Scripture and maligns the nature of God. It is no small matter!
The confusion of the preterists results in their denial of other things which are revealed concerning Babylon, such as the permanence of her destruction:
If the Babylon = Jerusalem hypothesis is correct then Jerusalem will never be rebuilt again. Revelation 18:21-23‣ describes the permanent destruction of Babylon. . . . according to the Babylon = Jerusalem view, Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 and will never be rebuilt again. Yet, how can this be a description of Jerusalem when scripture repeatedly speaks of its return to prominence during the millennial reign (Isa. 2:3; Zec. 14:16; Rev. 20:9‣)? Scripture is quite plain that God still has a plan for ethnic Israel and yet the Jerusalem view seems to teach the opposite.43
We also saw that at her destruction, Babylon will never be inhabited again. Clearly, Babylon cannot be Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is currently inhabited and has never been—nor shall ever be—destroyed in the manner which Scripture describes of Babylon. See The Destruction of Babylon.
There is also a problem of pedigree when an attempt is made to identify Jerusalem as Babylon. Babylon is said to be, “the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth”(Rev. 17:5‣). Scripture indicates the Jerusalem, at her worst times, is merely a daughterharlot:
Thus says the LORD God to Jerusalem, . . . “Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter!’ You are your mother’s daughter, loathing husband and children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children; your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.’ ” (Eze. 16:3, 44-45) [emphasis added]
Son of man, there were two women, The daughters of one mother. They committed harlotry in Egypt, They committed harlotry in their youth; Their breasts were there embraced, Their virgin bosom was there pressed. Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah. (Eze. 23:2-4) [emphasis added]
God, through Ezekiel, goes on to describe how Oholiah (Samaria, the northern kingdom) derived her harlotry from Egypt (Eze. 23:8) and was given into the hands of her lovers, Assyria (Eze. 23:9). When her sister, Oholibah (Jerusalem, representing the southern kingdom) saw her fate, rather than repenting she became even more corrupt. Then, her eyes lusting after the equivalent of pornographic images:
She increased her harlotry; She looked at men portrayed on the wall, Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, Girded with belts around their waists, Flowing turbans on their heads, All of them looking like captains, In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, The land of their nativity. (Eze 23:14-15) [emphasis added]
In this significant passage of Ezekiel, Israel’s harlotry is repeatedly said to derive from Egypt (Eze. 23:8, 19, 27). Thus, she is a daughter harlot. In this same passage describing Jerusalem’s harlotry, Ezekiel links the nativity of her partners to Babylon. Like Rome, Jerusalem lacks the necessary antiquity to bear the dubious label of mother of harlots. See commentary on Revelation 17:5.
Beale notes that evidence is lacking that “Babylon” has ever been a symbolic name for Israel: “There is not one example of ‘Babylon’ ever being a symbolic name for Israel, either before or after 70 A.D. . . . the burden of proof rests on those maintaining the Babylon = Jerusalem identification.”44
Another major weakness of the view that Babylon is Jerusalem is found in the dating of the book of Revelation. Unless John wrote the book before the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, then it becomes impossible to assign the destruction of Babylon in the book of Revelation to that event:
The view that Babylon is a code name for Jerusalem derives from a worldview that requires the writing and fulfillment of the Apocalypse before A.D. 70. Besides an impossible date for the book’s writing, this view goes against the historical fact that Jerusalem is related to the people of God and Babylon to the world at large (Lee).45
Nor does it make sense for Jerusalem to be Babylon when the earthly Jerusalem is a type or pattern for the New Jerusalem which is contrasted at every point with Babylon. See Babylon and the New Jerusalem.
The view that Babylon means Jerusalem has almost nothing to recommend it and represents a most serious distortion of the word of God.
4.1.3.5 - Babylon is Babylon!
It is our view that Babylon simply means . . . Babylon! The only problem with taking Babylon in its literal sense is one of timing and faith. Because the modern site of Babylon in no way resembles what is described in the book of Revelation, there is opportunity for doubt concerning what God has said. This is nothing new: “Has God indeed said . . ?” (Gen. 3:1).
What is the explanation for this reluctance to believe that John meant Babylon when he wrote “Babylon”? Even at the time John was writing, Babylon was still a viable city, with a substantial colony of Jews (the famous Babylonian Talmud originated in or near there, about 500 years after the time of Christ) and there was a significant Christian church there as well (1 Peter. 5:13). At the very least, it would be confusing to John’s first century readers, as well as to later generations, for him to write so much about Babylon when he really meant Rome . . . or “the false church.”46
The current situation in regard to the literal city of Babylon reminds us of the position of many earlier interpreters concerning the predictions of the OT in regard to Israel. Prior to her reestablishment in 1948, it was difficult for many to believe that unfulfilled passages concerning a people who had been dispersed for nearly 2,000 years could ever be taken in a literal fashion as pertaining to a physical nation yet future. Today, we thrill to read those interpreters who held to a literal understanding of Israel over the many years when Israel seemed but a dusty recollection of history. May we be found among a similar cadre of interpreters in our own time concerning the city of Babylon!
4.1.3.5.1 - Old Testament Context
It is our view that the identity of Babylon ultimately rests on the proper interpretation of God’s word. We must examine the meaning of words in their historical context. What did they mean to those who spoke them, heard them, and wrote them down? When the OT says “Babylon,” the promises and predictions are made meaningless if they can mean any other major commercial city in some future age. This is akin to redefining “Israel” after the fact, to make it mean “Church” or “people of God.” It is fair game for God to add to His revelation, expand its inclusiveness by way of progressive revelation, but He is not permitted to change the original meaning. “Not permitted?,” you say. Yes! God is limited by His own character. The reason God cannot change the original meaning is found in His character: He cannot tell a lie (Num. 23:19; Rom. 3:4; Heb. 6:18; Tit. 1:2). For God to say “Babylon,” hundreds of years before Rome is even a factor in the minds of his people and then later have the same word mean “Rome” is simply unacceptable. How is such action essentially any different than telling a lie? At the very least it is extremely misleading, something we would dare not accuse God of. God’s promises and predictions are only as good as language. If Babylon in the OT predictions can be Rome, London, New York, or Tokyo, then what hope have we of knowing our promises are reliable. What if physical resurrection really doesn’t mean physical? Or eternal life isn’t quite eternal?
There are two parties in any communication: an originator and a recipient. Communication involves the participation of both. The originator expressing meaning and the recipient understanding that meaning in the current context based upon common rules of language and the accepted meaning of words. Therefore, the understanding of the recipient is a significant factor in establishing the meaning of communication. Although a purposefully deceptive communicator may purposely express his communication in a way in which he knows that the recipient will incorrectly interpret his words, this is not our God. It is His intention and pleasure to communicate to His creatures in a reliable manner. Moreover, His very character and the character of His Word are at stake. How could He possibly elevate His word over His own name (Ps. 138:2), the expression of His very character, and at the same time package it in words which don’t mean what they appear to mean, but take on entirely different meanings later on?
This is especially important in the matter before us because the term Babylon is not isolated to the book of Revelation. Proving that some have used the term to denote Rome in extra-biblical writings is totally irrelevant when we consider God’s word. Even if it could be shown that Babylon in the NT is supposed to mean something else (and it can’t),47 there is still the insurmountable difficulty of making extensive OT passages concerning Babylon mean something entirely different after-the-fact. The problem for interpreters who would attempt to reinterpret Babylon (and the blessing for those of us who do not) is that the meaning and use of the term is anchored in the context of the passages in the OT.48
This is exactly what is foretold in Jer. 1. There the destruction of Babylon is foretold; for it is “the word that the LORD spake against Babylon” (Jer. 1:1). We have not yet heard of any commentator who thought Jeremiah prophesied this of Rome, or of any other city except the literal Babylon.49
Although we believe there are numerous reasons why Babylon in the book of Revelation designates the literal city on the banks of the Euphrates, this issue alone is determinative. The proper historical-grammatical interpretation of the OT passages in their original context precludes all other meanings. As with all passages of Scripture, there will be many different applications, but only a single meaning based on the original context.
4.1.3.5.2 - A Literal City
Beyond the interpretive issue mentioned above, which we feel is conclusive, there are many other reasons for taking Babylon in the book of Revelation to denote the literal city. One such reason is the mention of the Euphrates River in conjunction with what is said concerning Babylon.
The best solution is to assign Babylon its literal significance of the city on the Euphrates by that name. Mentions of the Euphrates River at other points (Rev. 9:14‣; 16:12‣) corroborate this which is the natural way to understand it. Place names have their literal significance in Revelation 1:9‣; 2:1‣, 8‣, 12‣, 18‣; 3:1‣, 7‣, 14‣ and the writer is very clear to point it out when he intends a figurative meaning as in Revelation 11:8‣. A reference to a literal city does not exclude further implications regarding political and religious systems connected with the city (Walvoord).50
If Babylon in the book of Revelation is to denote something other than the literal city, we should expect to see significant differences in what is said concerning her. But we do not. Both OT and NT speak in concert on the matter of Babylon. It would seem these passages are in agreement concerning their subject—the literal city on the Euphrates:
The imagery of many waters (Rev. 17:1‣, 15‣) is reminiscent of the waters of Babylon (Ps. 137:1; Jer. 51:13). . . . The boast of Babylon, “I sit as queen and am no widow, and will not see sorrow” (Rev. 18:7‣) echoes that of ancient Babylon (Isa. 47:7-9). John also employs imagery from the Tower of Babel. When Revelation 18:5‣ says, “her sins have piled up as high as heaven,” the allusion is possibly to the use of bricks in building the Tower of Babel. . . . Revelation 17‣-18‣ also repeatedly draws imagery from the description of Babylon and its destruction given in Jeremiah 50-51. For example, both passages describe Babylon as holding a golden cup (Jer. 51:7; Rev. 17:3-4‣; 18:6‣), dwelling on many waters (Jer. 51:13; Rev. 17:1‣), involved with the nations (Jer. 51:7; Rev. 17:2‣), and having the same name (Jer. 50:1; Rev. 17:5‣; 18:10‣). Moreover, both passages illustrate Babylon’s destruction the same way (Jer. 51:63-64; Rev. 18:21‣) and depict Babylon’s destruction as sudden (Jer. 51:8; Rev. 18:8‣), caused by fire (Jer. 51:30; Rev. 17:16‣; 18:8‣), final (Jer. 50:39; Rev. 18:21‣), and deserved (Jer. 51:63-64; Rev. 18:21‣). Furthermore, both passages describe the response to Babylon’s destruction in terms of God’s people fleeing (Jer. 51:6, 45; Rev. 18:4‣) and heaven rejoicing (Jer. 51:48; Rev. 18:20‣). Other commentators have also noticed how frequently John in Revelation 17‣-19‣ draws from the imagery of Jeremiah 50-51. For example, Thomas observes ten parallels between the two sections of Scripture. Aune also observes at least ten parallels between Jeremiah 50-51 and Revelation 18‣.51
Another piece of evidence in favor of a literal Babylon is a literal Israel. As we saw in our discussion concerning Babylon is Jerusalem?, the OT passages dealing with the destruction of Babylon compare and contrast her with Jerusalem. This was one reason why Babylon cannot be Jerusalem. It also provides strong evidence that Babylon is to be taken as the literal city because Jerusalem is taken that way in the same passages. The restoration of the literal, earthly city of Jerusalem (Isa. 62) and the future rule of Messiah from her midst (Jer. 3:17; Zec. 14:16) are as sure as God’s word. If Babylon is consistently contrasted with Jerusalem in OT passages, then it is inconsistent to take Jerusalem literally, but Babylon figuratively. If Jerusalem is the literal city on Mount Moriah, then Babylon cannot be said to be New York or merely a commercial or religious system.
Without any spirit of dogmatism, and without entering into the question of the identity and significance of the Babylon in the Revelation—whether mystical or actual—we would express our conviction that there are Scriptures [e.g., Zec. 5] which cannot, according to our judgment, be satisfactorily explained except on the supposition of a revival and yet future judgment of literal Babylon, which for a time will be the centre and embodiment of all the elements of our godless Western “civilisation,” and which especially will become the chief entrepôt of commerce in the world, . . . To this conviction we are led chiefly by the fact that there are prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the literal Babylon which have never in the past been exhaustively fulfilled, and that Scripture usually connects the final overthrow of Babylon with the yet future restoration and blessing of Israel.52
One reason some reject a literal interpretation is the picture of “mystery” and harlotry associated with Babylon in the book of Revelation (Rev. 17:5‣). As we shall see in our discussion of Mystery Babylon?, the “mystery” is not related to the identification of the city, but her relationship with the beast upon which she rides. The angel who explains the mystery to John devotes most of the passage talking about her relationship with the seven-headed beast with ten horns (Rev. 17:7-14‣) and relatively little to the Harlot herself (Rev. 17:15-18‣). Even then, he concludes by saying, “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18‣). He makes sure John understands that the Harlot is a city—the literal city of Babylon. The use of harlot imagery does not preclude a related literal meaning, for the angel is showing John that she is both a city and a worldwide polluting influence:
The Old Testament uses harlot imagery to depict the Gentile cities of Tyre (Isa. 23:16-17) and Nineveh (Nah. 3:4) while never hinting that these cities are not meant to be understood literally. . . . The same sort of harlot imagery that describes the city in chapter 17 is also employed in chapter 18 (Rev. 18:3‣, 9‣). Yet, despite these similarities, Walvoord interprets the city in Revelation 17‣ non-literally while simultaneously interpreting the city in Revelation 18‣ literally.53
First, [Babylon] signifies a literal city, which shall yet be built in the Land of Shinar, on the banks of the Euphrates. Proof of this was furnished in our last chapter so that we need not pause here to submit the evidence. Six times (significant number!) is ‘Babylon’ referred to in the Apocalypse, and nowhere is there a hint that the name is not to be understood literally. In the second place, the ‘great city’ (unnamed) signifies an idolatrous system - ‘mother of harlots’ a system of idolatry which originated in the Babylon of Nimrod’s day, and a system which is to culminate and terminate in another Babylon in a day soon to come.54
Another reason in favor of taking Babylon as a literal city rather than a symbol or figure is found in its representation as the Harlot: “The Whore represents a City. . . . Babylon, must therefore be understood literally, otherwise we should have the anomaly of a figure representing a figure.”55
The literal view of Babylon has numerous proponents and was held well in advance of the circumstances of our own time (the Gulf War and the overthrow of Iraq by the United States). The literal view is not a reaction to these events, as if an attempt to pour prophecy into the politics of our day. In fact, the literal view has just the opposite characteristic: it is far less susceptible to reinterpretation as the movements and situations of history change with time:
The Babylon view has been criticized as being the product of reading current events regarding the present Iraqi crisis back into the text rather than being the product of sound exegetical principles. . . . However, this accusation seems unfair in light of the fact that numerous interpreters held the view long before Saddam Hussein rose to power. Such commentators include Newell (1935), Jennings (1937), Cooper (1942), and Lang (1948). Other commentators held the view even before Iraq became a nation in 1932. Such commentators include Seiss (1909) and Larkin (1919). It is true that Dyer released his book advocating the literal Babylon view on the eve of the Gulf War and recently on the eve of the present war with Iraq. However, it should also be noted that the content of these books is based upon Dyer’s master’s thesis that was completed in May of 1979 long before Hussein’s rise to power and escalating tensions between America and Iraq.56
In my limited library, I have found a number of men who taught a future [literal] Babylon from Rev. 17:1-18‣ and 18‣. They include the following: B. W. Newton (1853), G. H. Pember (1888), J. A. Seiss (1900), Clarence Larkin (1918), Robert Govett (1920), E. W. Bullinger (1930), William R. Newell (1935), F. C. Jennings (1937), David L. Cooper (1942), G. H. Lang (1945). I am sure that more could be added to the list.57
Further evidence for taking Babylon as the literal city is found in the way in which her destruction is illustrated by an angel in the book of Revelation. The angel takes up a stone and throws it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore” (Rev. 18:21‣). This is an intentional allusion to a similar prophetic enactment found in Jeremiah:
The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, then you shall say, ‘O LORD, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ ” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. (Jer. 51:59-64) [emphasis added]
The angel virtually duplicates the pronouncement and activity of Seraiah in Jeremiah’s day. Of particular import is the fact that Jeremiah sent Seraiah with Zedekiah to Babylon in order to make his pronouncement of judgment. This is similar to how Jonah was sent to Nineveh. In both cases, the pronounced judgment concerned a specific geographic location which God would judge. Morever, the pronouncement by Seraiah was that of a permanent destruction where neither man nor beast would ever remain there. As we have seen, the historical record of literal Babylon does not match the seriousness of this prophecy.
The question proponents of a non-literal Babylon must answer is why did Jeremiah go to the trouble of instructing Seraiah to make such a pronouncement at the specific geographical location of literal Babylon if the fulfillment is to be found somewhere else? Either at a different city (e.g., Rome, New York) or in the destruction of a generic system? It would seem that the actions of Jeremiah, entrusting the message to Seraiah who was traveling to Babylon, point to God’s intention to judge the specific city over which the pronouncement was made. See commentary on Revelation 18:21.
4.1.3.5.3 - Back to Shinar
Another passage which is often overlooked in establishing the identification of Babylon is the puzzling passage which occupies the last half of Zechariah chapter 5. An angel shows Zechariah a basket containing a woman covered with a lead disk. The angel identifies the woman: “This is Wickedness!” (Zec. 5:8). The basket is then transported away by two winged figures.58 When Zechariah asks where the basket is bound, the angel responds, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”
First, the prophet sees as “ephah” (or bath) which was the largest measure for dry goods among the Jews. It would, therefore, be the natural symbol for Commerce. Next, we note that twice over it is said that the ephah “goeth forth” (Zec. 5:5, 6). As the whole of the preceding visions concern Jerusalem and her people, this can only mean that the center of Jewish commerce is to be transferred from Palestine elsewhere. Next, we are told that there was a “woman” concealed in the midst of the ephah (Zec. 5:7). We say “concealed,” for in Zec. 5:5 and Zec. 5:6 the “woman” is not seen - the leaden cover (cf. Zec. 5:8) had to be lifted before she could be beholden. The writer is satisfied that this hidden woman in the ephah is “the Woman” which is fully revealed in Revelation 17‣ and 18‣. Next, we are told that “wickedness” (lawlessness) was cast into the ephah, before its cover was closed again. Then, in what follows, we are shown this ephah, with the “woman” and “wickedness” shut up therein, being rapidly conveyed from Palestine to “the land of Shinar” (Zec. 5:11). The purpose for this is stated to be, “to build a house,” i.e. a settled habitation. Finally, we are assured, “it shall be established, and set there (in the land of Shinar) upon her own base.” This vision or prophecy contains the germ which is afterwards expanded and developed in such detail in Rev. 17‣ and 18‣, where it is shown that “the house” which is established for this system of commerce is “Babylon the great.”59
When the woman attempts to escape, she is thrown back into the ephah, which becomes, so to say, the chariot in which she is carried away as something which is defiled and defiling, from the land in which God shall dwell; and the talent with which she carries on her unrighteous trace becomes the heavy weight by which she is held down till she is landed safely “in her own place,” where, after a season of lawless liberty in which she will allure men to their own destruction by her seductive attractiveness and luxury, she will be judged and destroyed, together with him who is pre-eminently styled “The Wicked One,” by the brightness of the Lord’s parousia (2Th. 2:8).60
One of the helpful aspects of this passage is the mention made of the destination: “the land of Shinar.” This locale is mentioned only a handful of times (Gen. 10:10; 11:2; 14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2‣; Zec. 5:11) and is clearly established as the region of Babel and Babylon. It points to the geographical location of Babel and, later, Babylon:61
Shinar: the ancient name of the great alluvial tract through which the Tigris and Euphrates pass before reaching the sea—the tract known in later times as Chaldea or Babylonia. It was a plain country, where brick had to be used for stone and slime for mortar. Gen. 11:3. Among the cities were Babel (Babylon), Erech or Orech (Orchoe), Calneh or Calno (probably Niffer), and Accad, the site of which is unknown. It may be suspected that Shinar was the name by which the Hebrews originally knew the lower Mesopotamian country where they so long dwelt, and which Abraham brought with him from “Ur of the Chaldees.”62
We believe the transport of “Wickedness!” back to the land of Shinar is another piece of evidence that Babylon of the end is a rebuilt literal city in the same geographic location as Babel, the site of man’s original rebellious city ruled by Nimrod. The history of man is to be brought full circle: in the same place where the first king rebelled against God, so too will the last king rule before his demise and the institution of the Millennial Kingdom:
It shows from actual facts and events which are before us the very strong probability that “the land of Shinar”—which in the past was so “prominent in connection with the manifestation of evil on the part of man, and of judgment on the part of God, that it stands peculiarly as a memorial of proud ungodliness met by the visitation of righteous vengeance from above”—will yet, as Scripture forecasts, play a very important part in the consummation of human “wickedness” in the final anti-Christian apostasy, in which a godless Judaism and a corrupt, unbelieving Christianity will be united for the sake of the false peace, and pomp, and luxury, and a humanitarianism dissociated from God and the truth, which the system, outwardly symbolized by the ephah, will for a time minister to them, but which, as Scripture also warns us, will end in the most terrible judgment which has yet befallen man upon the earth.63
There are significant similarities between the woman in the basket and what John sees concerning Babylon in Revelation 17‣ and 18‣. We believe these similarities are intentional and that the two are to be connected. The transport of the basket to the land of Shinar establishes the location of end-time Babylon. She will be right where God said! The correlation between Zechariah’s vision and that of John is more than uncanny:
| Zechariah 5:5-11 | Revelation 17‣-18‣64 |
| Woman sitting in a basket. | Woman sitting on the beast, seven mountains, and many waters (Rev. 17:3‣, 9‣, 15‣). |
| Emphasis on commerce (a basket for measuring grain). | Emphasis on commerce. |
| Woman’s name is wickedness. | Woman’s name is Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. |
| Focus on false worship (a temple is built for the woman). | Focus on false worship (Rev. 17:5‣). |
| Woman is taken to Babylon. | Woman is called Babylon. |
It is our view that the only obstacle to taking Babylon in the book of Revelation as the literal city on the banks of the Euphrates River is one of timing and faith. Obviously, if Babylon is the literal city, then the events of the book of Revelation are still some distance off from the time of our writing. It will take time for events to conspire such that the city will be rebuilt to become a global hub for world trade. This is really the only obstacle between the Scriptural passages before us and a literal fulfillment. Fortunately, the One Who wrote the predictions also has all the time in the world and is faithful to keep His word!
And the LORD answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. (Hab. 2:2-3) [emphasis added]
4.1.4 - The Great Harlot
Having examined some of the views concerning the identity of Babylon in the book of Revelation, we now turn our attention to the identity of the Harlot whom John is shown in Revelation 17‣.
4.1.4.1 - Her Harlotry
The woman which John sees riding the Beast of seven heads and ten horns is called a harlot, indicating certain practices and priorities which stand opposed to God. She is not just aharlot, but is said to be the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth (Rev. 17:5‣). Thus, she has an originating role in the harlotry and abominations which God so hates.
As early as the Law of Moses, certain practices of the Israelites were prohibited and identified by God as abominations (Lev. 7:18; 11 cf. Deu. 18:9-12). Many of these practices (e.g., homosexuality, Lev. 18:22) were obviously considered as abominations from the very beginning—far in advance of Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar’s day or even the kingdom of Egypt. Since the Harlot is considered the mother of the abominations of the earth, she must predate both Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.
This is also reflected in her ride upon the seven-headed beast (Rev. 17:3‣) who is empowered by the seven-headed dragon (Rev. 12:3‣) which we saw was Satan exercising authority over all the kingdoms of history (Luke 4:5-6). Since Satan’s dominion began when man forfeited his at the rebellion in the Garden of Eden, we should expect that the seven heads denote a group of kingdoms spanning a sufficient period of history to reach the earliest kingdom. As we saw in our discussion of Babylon of Old, the first king was Nimrod who presided over the kingdom of Babel, the precursor to Babylon. See #4 - Seven Heads/Kings.
These facts argue against any primary identification of the Harlot as a system, city, or government which is a relative newcomer from a biblical perspective upon the stage of world history. Roman Catholicism is one such candidate. To be sure, the Harlot can be identified in a secondary way with such systems because she is their mother and they are her daughters. As in any family relationship, we expect great similarity between a mother and her daughters. Therefore, in any exploration of the identity of the Harlot, it is insufficient to make the case on similarity alone. All this proves is a mother-daughter relationship. To be the true mother requires a historic pedigree that many suggested candidates lack.
Was there no idolatry before Pagan Rome? Whence then came the worship of “Moloch” and “Remphan,” and “Chiun,” in the wilderness (Acts 7:43; Amos 5:25-26); and the worship of Ashtoreth, the abomination (i.e., idol) of the Zidonians, and Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and Milcom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, which were introduced by Solomon (1K. 11:5; 2K. 13:11). Was Rome the mother of these?65
Now we turn to the matter of her harlotry. Harlot (Rev. 17:16‣) is πόρνης [pornēs], denoting a prostitute66 and used of Rahab (Jos. 2:1; 6:17, 23, 25—LXX; Heb. 11:31; Jas. 2:25). Harlotry often describes spiritual idolatry—forsaking the One True God:
Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images ’(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. You shall make no molded gods for yourselves. (Ex. 34:12-17) [emphasis added]
And the LORD said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.” (Deu. 31:16) [emphasis added]
And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech. (Lev. 20:4-5) [emphasis added]
But come here, you sons of the sorceress, You offspring of the adulterer and the harlot!Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth And stick out the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of falsehood, Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? (Isa. 57:3-5) [emphasis added]
“But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. You took some of your garments and adorned multicolored high places for yourself, and played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor be. You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images and played the harlot with them. You took your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense before them. Also My food which I gave you-the pastry of fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you-you set it before them as sweet incense; and so it was,” says the Lord GOD. “Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Wereyour acts of harlotry a small matter, that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire? And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood. Then it was so, after all your wickedness-‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord GOD- that you also built for yourself a shrine, and made a high place for yourself in every street. You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry. You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger.” (Eze. 16:15-26) [emphasis added]
As the mother of Harlots, she is the originator of an idolatrous influence which was passed on to her daughters. Her priorities and intent are such that she distracts those she influences away from a right recognition of God and suggests that they turn their attention to other things, any other thing than the one true God.67
The figure of harlotry, expressing forgetfulness of God in selfish preoccupation with worldly gain, appropriately describes covetousness, which was the besetting sin of Tyre, and is closely allied with idolatry and licentiousness (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5). . . . [Such] operate upon the principle of “do anything for worldly gain,” which is what, in a spiritual sense, harlotry is [Isa. 23:16-18].68
She is said to sit on many waters (Rev. 17:1‣). The many waters are said to be “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” The woman is also said to be a great city (Rev. 17:18‣). These two characteristics of her description are in tension. How can she be sitting on (supported by or influencing and controlling) a global community—including diverse nations spanning separate geographic regions—and at the same time be a great city? The answer would seem to be found in recognizing her primary identity as a single city, yet one that historically has influenced the global community, much like Nineveh: “Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations through her harlotries, And families through her sorceries” (Nah. 3:4). Her global influence is also seen in her global guilt, for “in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Rev. 18:24‣ cf. Rev. 17:6‣).
As the celebrated worldly Harlot, she is to be contrasted with the persecuted virgin of Revelation 12‣ who brought forth the male child (see A Virgin and a Harlot) and the Lamb’s Wife (Babylon and the New Jerusalem).
4.1.4.2 - Mystery Babylon?
The primary issue among interpreters in regard to the Harlot is whether she is to be understood as being a separate but related entity to Babylon, the city. Many interpreters take her to be a separate ecclesiastic system at the time of the end which undergoes a separate judgment and destruction than Babylon, the city. This view is based on a number of points:
- “Mystery” is written on the woman’s forehead (Rev. 17:5‣). Some take this as part of her title, denoting her mysterious nature and identity.
- Religious aspects of the harlot are thought to be more strongly emphasized in Revelation 17‣, whereas Revelation 18‣ emphasizes commercial aspects.
- If modern ecumenical liberalism continues, then it seems likely that disparate religious systems will eventually amalgamate into a one-world global religion at the time of the end.
We discuss the merits of each of these points below.
One other matter which we should mention regarding the identification of the Harlot: the tendency of unevenly emphasizing interpretive clues provided by the text. Scripture gives us some clear and definite sign-posts to help guide us in our task of interpretation. When we fail to heed those sign-posts, but drive right by them, we miss the main fork in the road leading in the proper direction and drive down the wrong road which takes us miles from the proper destination. It does not matter how many small back-alleys we investigate in the local neighborhood if we are already in the wrong city! Ignoring very clear and definite statements, interpreters often spend great effort analyzing other less-clear passages in attempting to identify her.
In the case of the Harlot, several definitive statements are given to us about her identity. She is explicitly said to be a city: “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18‣). The phrase, the great (Rev. 17:3‣), is reminiscent of the great city, Babylon (Rev. 16:19‣; 17:4‣; 18:2‣, 21‣; 19:2‣), although the phrase is also used of Jerusalem (Rev. 11:8‣; 16:19‣) and the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10‣). We are not left to wonder which city is meant, whether Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem, Babylon (or even Rome, New York, or Tokyo!). It is Babylon which is explicitly identified with “the great harlot” (Rev. 19:2‣ cf. Rev. 18:21‣). Whatever else the Harlot denotes, we must not lose sight of these simple, clear sign posts: she is a city and that city is Babylon.
4.1.4.2.1 - Mystery as a Title?
The question as to whether the word mystery is to be understood as describing what is related concerning the woman or whether it forms part of her title cannot be dogmatically settled by the underlying Greek. However, evidence is in favor of excluding mystery from her title:
Although translators disagree, it seems best to understand the word mystery as describing what is related about the woman and not being part of her title:
The first question is whether musterion should be interpreted as being in apposition with onoma? If not, John would be saying that the name on the woman’s forehead is “Mystery Babylon the Great.” If so, John would be saying that the name “Babylon the Great” written upon the woman’s forehead is a mystery. . . . The repetition of the woman’s title as “Babylon the Great” (Rev. 14:8‣; 16:19‣; 18:2‣) rather than “Mystery Babylon the Great” favors the appositional relationship.69
By printing (on its own authority) the word “mystery” in large capital letters, the AV. has made it appear as part of the name. The Revisers have followed this example, printing the name in small capitals instead of large. But they have, in the margin, said “or, a mystery, BABYLON THE GREAT,” as though the word “mystery” did not form part of the title. We believe this to be the case.70
We also observe that in the immediate context, the angel offers to tell John “the mystery of the woman and of the beast which carries her” (Rev. 17:7‣). This provides further evidence against taking mystery as her title for the mystery pertains to understanding the vision, not her character. Moreover, the mystery extends beyond the woman herself to include the seven-headed beast with ten horns. In fact, an examination of the remainder of the chapter will show that the angel spends more time discussing the mystery of the heads and horns (Rev. 17:8-14‣) than the woman (Rev. 17:15-18‣). Although the Beast predominates in the explanation of the mystery, he has no such title.
Thus, we disagree with the terminology “Mystery Babylon,” which is often used to define a second Babylon of sorts which bears little, if any, relationship to the city. This we believe is a misreading of the text and an unfortunate side-effect of how several translations have chosen to render Revelation 17:5‣.
4.1.4.2.2 - One or Two Babylons?
Many conclude that the Harlot (Rev. 17‣) represents a religious system, whereas the city (Rev. 18‣) represents a commercial system. This view holds that what is said concerning the Harlot, and the very fact that she is said to be a Harlot, necessitates a purely religious role for her. Conversely, the commercial emphasis of Revelation 18‣ speaks more of a commercial system and a city. An unfortunate contributor to this separation into two parts is the chapter division between Revelation 17‣ and 18‣ which masks the unity of the entire passage. Since chapter divisions are not part of the inspired text, we need to be cognizant of their placement and the implicit effects they have on our interpretation. In the case of Revelation 17‣ and 18‣, it is true that Revelation 17‣ speaks more of the spiritual aspects of the Harlot. Similarly, Revelation 18‣ emphasizes commercial aspects. But this is not the full story because both chapters emphasize both aspects and overlap to a much greater degree than many interpreters are willing to admit.71
| Attribute | The Harlot (Revelation 17‣) | The City (Revelation 18‣, 19‣) |
| Named “Babylon the Great.” | Rev. 17:5‣ | Rev. 18:2‣ |
| Called “The Great Harlot.” | Rev. 17:1‣ | Rev. 19:2‣ |
| Holding a cup. | Rev. 17:4‣ | Rev. 18:6‣ |
| Fornicating with kings. | Rev. 17:2‣ | Rev. 18:3‣ |
| Drunk with wine of immorality. | Rev. 17:2‣ | Rev. 18:3‣ |
| Persecuting believers. | Rev. 17:6‣ | Rev. 18:20‣, 24‣; 19:2‣ |
| Destroyed by fire. | Rev. 17:16‣ | Rev. 18:8‣, 18‣ |
| Destroyed by God. | Rev. 17:17‣ | Rev. 18:5‣, 8‣ |
| Clothed with purple, scarlet, gold, precious stones, pearls. | Rev. 17:4‣ | Rev. 18:16‣ |
| Wealthy. | Rev. 17:4‣ | Rev. 18:3‣, 7‣, 12-14‣ |
| Sitting. | Rev. 17:1‣, 7‣, 15‣ | Rev. 18:7‣ |
| Global influence. | Rev. 17:1-2‣, 15‣, 18‣ | Rev. 18:3‣, 9‣, 11‣, 19:2‣ |
| Spiritual wickedness. | Rev. 17:5‣ | Rev. 18:23‣ |
Revelation 17‣, while speaking of her harlotry, abominations, and being drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, also relates her great commercial wealth: “arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup” (Rev. 17:4‣). Moreover, Revelation 18‣ speaks of her spiritual aspects: “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her” (Rev. 18:3a‣) and “for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Rev. 18:24‣). When the city of Babylon is finally overthrown, as predicted by the angel (Rev. 18:21‣), it is said, “He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her” [emphasis added] (Rev. 19:2‣).
The question is, how different from the Babylon of chapter 17 is the Babylon of chapter 18? Undoubtedly the city is the same in both instances. Both have the name “Babylon the great” (Rev. 17:5‣; 18:2‣). Both are guilty of fornication (Rev. 17:1‣, 2‣, 4‣, 5‣, 16‣; 18:3‣) and of causing the kings of the earth and the earth-dwellers to imbibe of the wine (of the anger) of the city’s fornication (Rev. 17:2‣; 18:3‣). The destiny of both is to be burned with fire (Rev. 17:16‣; 18:8‣, 9‣, 18‣) and to become an utter desolation (Rev. 17:16‣; 18:17‣, 19‣). In both chapters Babylon is “the great city” (Rev. 17:18‣; 18:10‣, 16‣, 18‣. 19, 21) and wears the apparel and adornment of a harlot (Rev. 17:4‣; 18:16‣). Both are responsible for the martyrdom of the faithful (Rev. 17:6‣; 18:20‣, 24‣ [cf. 19:2‣]).72
We also note that in the prediction of Babylon’s demise by the flying angel there is not the slightest intimation of two systems or two destructions. Moreover, in the angel’s description of Babylon, he calls it a “great city” (commercial) which is guilty of “fornication” (spiritual idolatry) (Rev. 14:8‣). There the self-same Babylon is described using both commercial and spiritual attributes. This unity is also evidenced under the seventh bowl where “Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath”(Rev. 16:19‣). Only one Babylon is in view and its destruction is associated with a single judgment—the pouring forth of the last bowl of the wrath of God. We see no evidence of a separate judgment for the Harlot and a subsequent judgment of the city—as if they were two different entities.
Another factor favoring the unity of Revelation 17‣ and 18‣ is the announced mission of the angel sent to John: “I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters” (Rev. 17:1‣). This angel is with John from Revelation 17:1‣ throughout both chapters and speaks to him again in Revelation 19:19‣.73 The act of showing John the judgment (singular) of the great harlot (singular) spans Revelation 17:1‣ through Revelation 19:4‣. The same event is in view the entire time. The angel gives not the slightest indication that John is being shown two entities and two destructions.
If we look at these two chapters carefully [Rev. 17‣ and 18‣], we fail to find the distinction so persistently affirmed. Some one states a thing as a fact; and then others think they see it. There is no such thing as “Mystic Babylon.” The Babylon mentioned in chapter 17‣ is the same as that in chapter 18‣. It is the “Woman” which is a secret symbol or sign. But that means only that we are not to take it literally as a woman, but as “that great city,” as is explained in [Rev. 17:18‣].74
The idea that the Harlot is something other than the city of Babylon is difficult to maintain if Scripture alone is our guide. The Harlot is called a city (Rev. 17:18‣) while the city is described as a harlot (Rev. 18:3‣, 9‣, 23-24‣) and called “the great harlot” (Rev. 19:2‣). The Harlot is that great city Babylon!
4.1.4.2.3 - An End-Time Religious System?
Although the Harlot includes both commercial and religious aspects, many have minimized her commercial aspects and placed greater emphasis on her religious aspects. The Harlot is then seen to be the end-time religious system which precedes the rise of the Beast as sole object of worship.
What is found in these verses is the final form of religious apostasy, ending in a one-world super-church. It is the final form of the woman Jezebel cast into the Great Tribulation (Rev. 2:20-22‣) and united with the Laodicean Church. This is the counterfeit bride of messiah, presented as a prostitute, in contrast with the true Bride of Messiah, presented as a pure virgin (2Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 19:6-8‣).75
During the Tribulation, all the world’s diverse false religions will be reunited into one great world religion. That ultimate expression of false religion will be an essential element of Antichrist’s final world empire, in holding together his military, economic, and political structure. Only religion can unite the world in the most compelling way.76
The current trend of ecumenical liberalism, which places unity and relationship above doctrinal distinctions, is seen as evolving into a one-world super church. This global system of unified worship is suggested as the source from which the False Prophet arises (Rev. 13:11‣).
The modern ecumenical movement, active first among apostate Protestant churches in the first half of the twentieth century, then essentially combining (or at least fellowshiping) with the Catholic and Orthodox churches in the second half of the twentieth century, will eventually amalgamate with all other world religions, especially after the departure of all true churches to be with Christ. The second beast, or false prophet, will most likely emerge as the patriarch (or pope, or ayatollah, or guru or, more likely, simply “prophet”) of this universal religion.77
At a critical juncture, probably the revival of the Beast from the dead, the one-world “worship-what-you-will” system of religion is thought to be put down in order to direct all worship to the Beast (Rev. 13:15‣). The Beast, elevating himself over all that is called god (2Th. 2:4) and empowered by the worship-hungry dragon, will not allow competition so the worldwide ecumenical movement which rode him as the Harlot will then be viciously turned upon and destroyed (Rev. 17:16-18‣).
Having used the false religious system to help him gain control of the world, Antichrist will discard it. In his rampant megalomania, he will want the world to worship only him. He will also no doubt covet the vast wealth of the false religious system. Thus, he will turn on the harlot.78
Thus, the religious state of the end-time is thought to be characterized by two phases. During the first phase, ecumenical globalism is pervasive. During the second phase, only the Antichrist is worshiped.
Just as there will be two political systems during the Tribulation, one during the first half (the ten kings) and one during the second half (the Antichrist), there will also be two religious systems, one for each half of the Tribulation. This passage describes the religious system of the first half of the Tribulation.79
As plausible sounding as such a scenario might be, the Scriptures themselves provide precious little detail to support such ideas. If Scripture speaks for itself, the Harlot is seen to be one-and-the-same as the city Babylon. Just as Tyre and Jerusalem are described as harlots, so too is Babylon. If the Harlot is a city (Rev. 17:18‣) and the city is a harlot (Rev. 19:2‣) and their characteristics overlap as we’ve shown above, then there is little room for making the Harlot a separate ecclesiastical system.
It is indeed surprising how any mistake could have been made in the identification of this woman. For the Holy Spirit first shows us her very name upon her forehead. Then in [Rev. 17:18‣], He tells us as plainly as words can tell anything that “the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth”; and [Rev. 16:19‣], as well as [Rev. 17:5‣] identifies this city with Babylon. God says it is a “city.” He does not say a system or a religion, but a “CITY.”80
The woman is identified as the great city (Rev. 17:18‣) whose fall is described in chapter 18‣. From internal evidence, the identity of Babylon the woman (ch. 17‣) with Babylon the great city (ch. 18‣) is so unmistakable that it would be inappropriate to make them different entities.81
We believe a better solution is to recognize the essential unity concerning all that is related about Babylon. The Harlot and the city are one. But the city has two aspects: both a religious aspect and a commercial aspect. Both of these date back to the time of Nimrod and the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4). These streams of influence have spanned both history and geography: she “sits on many waters” which are “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues”(Rev. 17:1‣, 15‣). Therefore, what Scripture relates concerning her harlotry we should expect, and indeed do see, in any number of the centers of civilization of our age. In that sense, there is some truth and overlap between the views that Babylon is the World? and Babylon is Babylon!
It is certainly possible that an ecumenical one-world religion will unite the people of the world prior to the rise of Antichrist. Such a movement would be a valuable tool for the forces of globalism which will prevail prior to the ten-horn kingdom out of which the little horn eventually arises. Although Scripture does not preclude such a development, neither does it predict it. For it is equally possible that a single repressive faith, such as Islam, could gain ascendancy and bring a forced unity by the sword—Scripture simply does not say.82
What is most important to recognize is the dual aspect of Babylon of the end, that it will unite both commercial and religious aspects into a powerful force which has always proven too great a temptation in the hands of fallen men:
Various astute rulers in the long history of human government, rightly estimating the tremendous power of religion over the minds of men, have been greatly intrigued with the idea of some kind of union between church and state, in which the government would establish and support some widely accepted religion and this religion in turn would lend its influence to the state. All such alliances thus humanly originated have been based on selfish motives and opportunist policies on both sides, and hence must always break down in the end. Since each side pays a price for the unnatural union, and the price is ever increasing, the break becomes inevitable (cf. Rev. 17:1-18‣). A union between church and state is safe only when inaugurated and controlled by the one true God in a kingdom of His own (Zec. 14:9, 14:16-21).83
This is why Scripture relates that only when Messiah comes will the function of both priestand king be safely united in a single person as predicted by Zechariah.
The ancient Babylonians were deeply religious. Their religion was a mixture of superstition, astrology, Chaldean traditions, the occult, and revelations from their gods. Magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers conveniently “cooked up” these revelations when they were needed. (Daniel 2:2; Jeremiah 50:2) The Babylonians believed their god, Marduk (also called Bel), was the most-high god, superior to all the gods whom other nations worshiped. The notion that Marduk was superior was derived from Nebuchadnezzar’s amazing wealth and prosperity. His capital city, Babylon, had no equal in the ancient world and his military was believed to be unbeatable.
In ancient times, military prowess was more than a matter of ego. The ancients believed that repeated military victories proved that the god (or gods) of the victor was greater than the god (or gods) of the defeated. From its beginning as a nation, Israel believed this concept. Moses told Israel, “When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. . . . For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”(Deuteronomy 20:1,4, italics mine)
About 600 B.C., Jesus gave the king of Babylon a disturbing vision. Nebuchadnezzar saw the image of a metal man. The image had a head of gold, chest of silver, thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. As the king gazed at the metal man, a stone came from the sky and destroyed it. When the king awoke he was disturbed because He sensed the dream was important but he could not recall it. Nebuchadnezzar was certain that Marduk had given him an important prophetic message.
Nebuchadnezzar summoned the experts: his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers. He had a simple request, “tell me the dream and its meaning.” The experts were alarmed by the king’s demand and he was infuriated by their response. They had to admit that his request was impossible. For years, King Nebuchadnezzar had relied on these men. They claimed to be intimately connected to Marduk, the great god of the Babylonians, and convinced Nebuchadnezzar that Marduk had revealed unknown things to them. Nebuchadnezzar had won many victories, just as they predicted, so He believed these “experts.” However, their problem now was more complicated. They had to reveal what the dream was! They had to confess that they (and by extension, Marduk) could not reveal what was dreamed. The disillusioned king felt betrayed and bitter. Angrily, he ordered that all of Marduk’s priests and prophets be put to death if they could not tell him the vision and its meaning.
After the king’s confidence in Marduk and his religious experts had been shattered, Jesus revealed the vision of “the metal man” to a young Jewish captive. (Daniel 2:23) Daniel was about 20 years old when he was brought before King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel told the king there was a God in Heaven who reveals mysteries. Daniel did not speak disparagingly of Marduk or Babylon’s clergy. Instead, he told the king “the Most High God” had revealed the dream so that the king could understand some of the plans of “the Most High God.” The metal man represented six kingdoms that would follow in succession. Daniel explained that when the time came for the seventh kingdom, the God of Heaven would destroy everything that remained of the man-made kingdoms to establish His own eternal Empire.
Nebuchadnezzar was deeply moved because Daniel revealed every detail the king saw. The king stepped down from his throne and bowed before Daniel, a Jewish captive, because the king knew without doubt that Daniel’s God was genuine. He was the Most High God! In his joy, the king did something that exasperated everyone in the king’s administration; He elevated Daniel over the whole province of Babylon! If you understand the Babylonians despised the Jews, and Daniel was barely 20 years old, you can appreciate that the clergy of Marduk were greatly incensed with Daniel’s promotion. For them, to bow to a Jew (or the God of the Jews) and obey Daniel’s future directives was outrageous.
During the months that followed Daniel’s exaltation, the clergy of Babylon connived to eliminate him from his position. Since everyone in Babylon wanted to know why the king had promoted a “Jew,” of all people, to the highest position over the province of Babylon, and everyone wanted to know about the king’s dream, the clergy were delighted to repeat the vision and its meaning. They thought that if everyone knew about the dream it would motivate Nebuchadnezzar to remove Daniel from office. However, the clergy’s efforts backfired.
The clergy knew that a monarchy can only exist for as long as people are loyal to the king. In ancient times, maintaining loyalty to a weak king was a recipe for death because arising kings typically destroyed everyone who reserved the slightest loyalty to the former king. Before long, Nebuchadnezzar’s satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the other provincial officials, learned about the vision and its meaning. They did not know what they should do or to whom they should direct their loyalty. When Nebuchadnezzar learned of this vulnerability spreading throughout his empire, he had to move quickly to cover up the truth. He could not allow his subjects and administrators to think that Babylon would fall to another king!
A Golden Image Setup
Nebuchadnezzar was clever. Since the contents of his dream had been widely told, the best thing he could do was to obfuscate the truth. In his dream, the metal man’s head was made of gold, the chest silver, the thighs bronze, the legs iron, and the feet and toes of iron and clay; each metal represented succeeding empires. The king chose to change one detail hoping to convince his subjects to remain loyal. The king made a metal man entirely of gold! One golden man meant one golden empire, enduring forever!
Because thousands of administrators were involved, Nebuchadnezzar issued an order to erect a golden image that stood about ninety feet tall and nine feet wide! After the image was completed, the king called his administration together on the Plain of Dura. Thousands of men gathered. After much boasting about Babylon’s victories, great prosperity, and military might (something like a state of the union address in the United States), King Nebuchadnezzar announced that when the music sounded everyone must bow down and worship the image to show loyalty to the king and his enduring kingdom. This, the king assumed, would resolve any questions about his dream and the future of Babylon. Moreover, it would isolate anyone who was not loyal. In the Babylonian culture, if someone showed any sign of disloyalty, people were encouraged to tattle on them, and if the information proved true, the king would richly reward the informer (something like corporate whistle-blowers or confidential informants). Nebuchadnezzar encouraged spying because every seed of rebellion had to be detected and terminated before it could affect the empire.
Three young Jews were in the crowd that day. Bible students believe that Nebuchadnezzar excused Daniel for obvious reasons, but given the time necessary to build the image and the many details involved with arranging the event, the king overlooked the presence of Daniel’s three friends. When the moment came for everyone to bow down and worship the golden image, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego defied the king’s order. Spies in the crowd hastily reported the three young men’s defiance and the king summoned them to appear before him. The ceremony abruptly ended as thousands watched an even more interesting drama. The golden image was upstaged! The faithfulness of three young men who defied the great king of Babylon eclipsed the towering statue of the metal man.
Nebuchadnezzar was embarrassed and frustrated because he knew these young men. He knew that, like Daniel, they were upright and trustworthy servants. He generously offered the three Jews another chance to save face (and their lives), but they refused. The king of Babylon became furious, no one would refuse his sovereign authority in public and live. He ordered the smelting furnace be made seven times hotter! With the furnace roaring and every eye watching, a startling event occurred!
First, the intense heat killed the soldiers who bound and threw the three young men into the furnace. The soldiers’ deaths confirmed to every onlooker that an inferno was burning in the furnace. This fact would be needed in days ahead to keep anti-Jewish sentiment from changing the story. Then, as everyone watched, a fourth person suddenly appeared inside the flames standing with Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. When the king saw four men walking around in the furnace, the Holy Spirit came upon him; He realized the fourth person in the furnace was a “Son of the gods.” In the presence of thousands of administrators who believed that Marduk was Most High God, the king called out, “servants of the Most High God come out.” Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego walked out without injury or the smell of smoke in their clothing. Everyone was flummoxed. The God of the Jews had plainly shown Himself to be superior to Marduk. No god had ever done such a thing! While the golden image was supposed to be the object of awe and adoration that day, the story carried to the far-flung corners of the empire was the miracle inside the furnace.
Faith that Saves (Salvific Faith)
Three young men demonstrated their faith in God. Salvific faith means obeying God, doing what is right in His sight and leaving the consequences with Him. Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego believed God when He said that bowing down to idols was wrong; and when Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to worship the golden image, they chose to do right in God’s sight and leave the consequences with Him. At Mt. Sinai the Lord proclaimed: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the Earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6) When man’s laws conflict with God’s laws, faith means obeying God rather than men! Centuries later, Peter and the apostles would say to the Jewish leaders who were persecuting them, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29)
Once we understand the story of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, we can better grasp the coming war over worship. The 144,000 will proclaim the testimony of Jesus, which is everyone must worship the Creator, Jesus Christ, on His holy seventh day Sabbath; the basis for this demand is found in the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, the seven-headed beast will make a series of demands regarding worship and will punish everyone who chooses to disobey. (2 Timothy 3:12; John 16:1-4) The good news is that every saint who obeys the gospel and suffers for Christ will be blessed by Jesus’ presence within the furnace.
After the Antichrist appears (the devil and his angels will physically appear at the fifth trumpet) the world will be forced to worship an “image” which the devil will set up. All who refuse are to be killed. “Because of the signs [and miracles] he [the devil, the modern king of Babylon] was given power to do on behalf of the first beast [that is, miracles done on behalf of the seven-headed beast], he [Lucifer, the Antichrist] deceived the inhabitants of the Earth [into thinking that he really is Almighty God]. [When his deception is widespread] He [the Antichrist]ordered them [the inhabitants of Earth] to set up an image in honor of the [seven-headed] beast who [had a head that] was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He [the Antichrist] was given power to give breath [life, authority, power] to the image of the first beast [the seven-headed beast], so that it could speak [make laws] and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.” (Revelation 13:14,15, insertions mine)
At this point, we have not discussed the coming Antichrist (modern king of Babylon) or the image of the beast which he will set up. Even if you do not understand these matters, you can easily gather from the text that some beastly authority will impose a death decree upon all who refuse to worship the image that he sets up.
Parallels between Ancient Babylon and the Babylon to Come
The book of Revelation sometimes refers to the seven-headed beast as “Babylon.” This title is used for several good reasons! First, after Noah’s flood, God considered the construction of the tower of Babel to be an act of defiance; so, He ended the project with confusion by suddenly making the builders appear to “babble,” that is, speak different languages. When the seven-headed beast is formed, it will be totally confused. We are a world of many languages, religions, cultures, and politics, and this diversity will plague the seven-headed beast with endless babble.
Second, because of the Babylonians amazing prosperity and military achievements, they believed their god, Marduk, was the Most High God, superior to all other gods. When the Great Tribulation begins, the religious leaders of the world will be compelled by circumstances to admit there is one angry God, even though he is worshiped and called by different titles. This convenient falsity will simplify the mission of the seven-headed beast, which is to appease God’s wrath so that His judgments will cease. This situation will play into the hands of the 144,000 who will deliver the testimony of Jesus! The “gottcha” will be a contest over worship. Will people bow down and worship the imaginary god of the seven-headed beast (represented as the imaginary god, Marduk) or will they worship the God of the 144,000 (the living God who walked in the furnace with Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego)?
Finally, the story about the fiery furnace parallels an end-time event. A time is coming when everyone on Earth who refuses to worship “the image” established by the modern king of Babylon (the Antichrist) will be killed. Because of these three parallels, the book of Revelation sometimes refers to the seven-headed beast as “Babylon.” For example, “A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great [meaning, the seven-headed beast is advocating lies and blaspheming the Creator with insults, there is no truth in its claims], which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.’ ” (Revelation 14;8)
Full Cup Principle
Another key parallel between ancient and modern Babylon merits attention. While the ancient kingdom of Babylon was in its prime, God revealed to Jeremiah that He would destroy the empire because of its sin and guilt. (Jeremiah 25:12) About 60 years later, God’s patience ran out. During a great party celebrating Marduk, the “Most High God of the Babylonians,” King Belshazzar insulted the God of Heaven with insolence and blasphemy. Belshazzar instructed his servants to retrieve the sacred vessels Nebuchadnezzar took from God’s temple in Jerusalem. He did this to elevate Marduk in the eyes of his nobles. Thinking there would be no consequence, Belshazzar wanted to show contempt for the God of the despicable Jews.
Belshazzar had a problem. Nebuchadnezzar exalted the God of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego when they came out of the fiery furnace; and later, before he died, Nebuchadnezzar again said the God of the Jews was above all other gods. (Daniel 4:34-37) Belshazzar wanted to erase the memory of Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion and confession. It was a matter of national honor and religious pride. Belshazzar’s servants delivered the golden vessels, and the king ordered the vessels filled with alcohol and served to his guests. This was an outrageous act of blasphemy because no alcohol was permitted the sacred vessels. When the king, along with a thousand nobles, lifted his hand in a toast to the great god of Babylon, another hand was also lifted; this hand wrote a cryptic message on a large wall so that everyone could see it, but no one could read or explain the message. The toast was forgotten and after some awkward silence, Belshazzar summoned Daniel (who was an old man) to explain the handwriting on the wall.
He said to Belshazzar, “You have set yourself up against the Lord of Heaven. You had the goblets from His temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in His hand your life and all your ways. Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription. . . God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. . . You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. . . Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain.” (Daniel 5:23-28,30) That night, the prophecy God gave Jeremiah sixty years earlier was fulfilled.
This story will have a parallel with modern Babylon. A day is coming when the king of modern Babylon (Lucifer, the devil, the Antichrist) will set himself up against the Lord of Heaven and convince many, with his miracles and promises, that his theocracy will last forever. For a few months it will appear that the devil and his kingdom are invincible, but the God of Heaven has numbered Lucifer’s days. The kingdom established by the Antichrist will surely come to its end, but not by human power. (Daniel 8:25) A Divine Destroyer will abolish it in a single day.
The prophetic sequence given to Nebuchadnezzar 26 centuries ago (the vision of the metal man) is still unfolding. A day is coming when Jesus (the rock cut out of the mountain) will destroy the whole world at His appointed time. Jesus is the Rock that will destroy the kingdoms of men. His appearing at the Second Coming will be overpowering and frightening! Because of the bold and unflinching ministry of the 144,000 prior to the great day of the Lord, everyone will anticipate His arrival. When they see Him, the wicked will frantically run for cover. “Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the Earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)
The 144,000’s Second Message: Babylon Has Fallen
When Jesus steps into mankind’s affairs during World War III, everyone on Earth will realize that something extraordinary has occurred. There will be awesome signs in the Heavens and all over the Earth; a global earthquake will follow which will destroy much of the world’s infrastructures. Life on Earth will dramatically change. The 144,000 will begin their ministry on that day. I call this day, “Day 1” because there will be 1,334 days to follow.
I anticipate world leaders will create the seven-headed beast 30 to 60 days after the global earthquake. I believe the seven-headed beast will begin to function during the darkness caused by ejecta from many volcanoes during the fourth trumpet. The seven-headed beast will move quickly to outlaw any behaviors that religious leaders determine offensive to God. Because the nations will be governed by martial law, law enforcement personnel will essentially become “religious police.” They will brutally do their jobs, enforcing Babylon’s laws and persecuting those who do not comply.
Babylon’s leaders will require God be worshipped. Muslim dominated countries will enforce laws regarding worship on Friday. Israel will implement laws regarding Saturday worship. Catholic and Protestant countries will enforce laws regarding the sacredness of Sunday. The seven-headed beast will dictate that businesses cannot operate on days reserved for worship. It will force nations, which do not have a traditional holy day each week, (Hindus, Buddhists, Communists, and tribal nations) to set aside a day of the week to worship God. Of course, after some of the dust settles and fear wears off, many people will rebel against the religious demands imposed by the seven-headed beast. When Babylon’s authority is challenged, the furnace of persecution will be made seven times hotter. The leaders of Babylon will meet each challenge to its authority with stiffer penalties.
Circumstances created by such a hostile atmosphere will divide people into three groups. Many people will comply with Babylon’s laws because they are sheep-like followers. Their religious leaders and experts endorsed the formation, purpose, laws, and mission of Babylon so the followers accept Babylon without question. This group will avoid persecution because they will do whatever Babylon’s leaders want. A second group of people will resist Babylon’s laws because they refuse to be controlled by religious laws or religious authorities. Nothing is more galling and detestable than to have one man force his religious views upon another. Communists and atheists will comprise a large segment of this group. A third group of people will also defy the laws of Babylon, but for moral and spiritual reasons. This group of people will consist of people who love and worship Jesus on the Sabbath and follow His testimony which the 144,000 share.
The differences between rebels will not deter Babylon’s leaders. Babylon will not care whether a person disobeys its laws for religious or nonreligious reasons. Anyone who disobeys its laws, for whatever reason, must be severely punished or “God’s wrath will surely continue!”
When Babylon begins to persecute people for refusing to obey its laws, the 144,000 will add a second message to their proclamation (“Worship the Creator”). When these two messages are combined, the people of Earth will be further alienated and polarized. The 144,000 will say, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great [meaning, the seven-headed beast is advocating lies and blaspheming the Creator with insults, there is no truth in its claims], which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” (Revelation 14:8)
Life in Babylon
During Israel’s 70 years in Babylonian captivity, Jewish families multiplied. Some families experienced the birth of three generations! Many young Jewish people intermarried with the Babylonians and embraced the Babylonian religion. When the 70 years of Jewish captivity ended, many Jews born and raised in Babylon did not want to return to Jerusalem. Babylon was their life, religion, culture, and language. Moreover, Jerusalem was a heap of ruins and Judea was a lawless desert overrun by warlords and squatters. Therefore, many of the Babylon-born Jews did not want to give up the abundance of Babylon and their jobs. For them, it made no sense to leave home and live in deplorable conditions 700 miles away.
Of course, God knew this situation would develop when He placed the Jews in Babylonian exile; He gave this warning through the prophet Jeremiah long before Babylon would fall to the Medes and Persians: “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves. Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole Earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her!” (Jeremiah 51:6-8)
Jeremiah’s message to the Jews in ancient Babylon has a very interesting parallel with which the second message given by the 144,000, requires a decision. Consider my paraphrase: The 144,000 will say words to the effect, “Flee from modern Babylon, separate yourself from it and run for your lives. Do not join Babylon and be destroyed because of its sins. Babylon is comprised of seven false religions and its mission is a false endeavor. Babylon’s leaders have blasphemed and insulted the Creator. Jesus will repay modern Babylon double for every crime. (Revelation 18:6)
The seven-headed beast was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand at one time (meaning, it was valuable and important to Him). He brought about circumstances so that mankind would create the seven-headed beast. The Lord did this to bring the religious and political leaders of the world together in one accord and to simultaneously expose all religious systems of the world as false. The maddening wine of Babylon is the doctrine that mankind can appease God’s wrath so that His judgments will end. This is a lie. God’s wrath cannot be appeased; a total of fourteen plagues will occur! Moreover, God will not accept forced repentance or worship. Babylon’s laws are an insult to the Creator! The religious systems of the world are fallen and corrupt. People who drink in Babylon’s wine cannot worship God in spirit and truth. The leaders of Babylon do not know God’s character, purposes, or plans. Even though Babylon will appear to be great and powerful, God promises it will surely fall after forty-two months. All who remain loyal to Babylon will wail over its destruction and their own doom. Have nothing to do with the seven-headed beast! Run for your life!”
A Painful Awakening
The Father will fulfill several objectives during the Great Tribulation. One objective is to reveal Jesus Christ as the Creator of everything in the Universe. Another revelation is that Jesus is an Almighty God just like the Father. Another revelation is that all the religions of the world are false and corrupt. Another purpose is to separate the sheep from the goats. The Father will meet all of these objectives through a war over worship. Even though we cannot currently see this development, the subject of worship will soon become an inflammatory matter. Jesus will speak through the 144,000 and those who love truth will embrace it. Those who love religion, family, culture, and possessions more than Jesus, will reject the truth. “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life [by compromise] will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39, insertion mine) Paul wrote about the wicked saying, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
But it is in fact a counterfeit, doomed to be exposed by God in the final judgment. Especially instructive is the cargo list in Revelation 18:11–13 (see Bauckham, “Economic Critique,”[1] which describes the luxury goods flowing into Babylon). The list is modeled on Ezekiel 27:12–22 and the fall of Tyre, but it has been updated to include the luxury goods popular in Rome in John’s day.
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore—cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.
The final note about “human lives” likely relates to the slave trade, and it is the final nail in the coffin of Babylon’s exploitative empire: she will stop at nothing, not even trafficking in human flesh, in pursuit of sensual self-indulgence.
The lesson that God would judge a city for its economic practices is a sobering thought. Economics is clearly a moral issue in the book of Revelation. The fact that much of the condemnation appears to stem from its self-indulgence should hit with particular force at modern consumer culture, where the constant search for more and better can lead to a myopic focus on satisfying real or imagined material needs. But the most worrisome thing of all is that Babylon looks so close to the New Jerusalem. God did create a good world; we are meant to enjoy life; God does delight in the beautiful things of earth. If the world system were a self-evident cesspool, the temptation for Christians to fall to its allures would be small. It is precisely the genuine benefits of technological advance and extensive trading networks that constitute the danger. Babylon promises all the glories of Eden, without the intrusive presence of God. It slowly but inexorably twists the good gifts of God—economic interchange, agricultural abundance, diligent craftsmanship—into the service of false gods.
At this point, one might feel that any participation in the world economy—or even any local economy—must be so fraught with idolatry that the only solution is to withdraw completely and live alone in the wilderness. But Revelation offers an alternative vision of life together: the New Jerusalem. This is “the city that comes down from heaven,” and as such it is the consummate representation of God’s grace. It stands in stark contrast to the self-made monstrosity that is Babylon.[2]
At one level, the New Jerusalem is a return to Eden—there is a river flowing through its midst, with the tree of life standing by with fruit-laden branches and leaves for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:2). Humanity can once again walk in peace with God. Indeed, it outstrips Eden, since the glory of the Lord itself provides the illumination for the city (Rev. 22:5).
But the New Jerusalem is not simply a new and better garden: it is a garden-city, the urban ideal that forms the counterweight to Babylon. There is, for instance, still meaningful human participation in the life of the celestial city come to earth. Central to this, of course, is the worship people bring to God and the Lamb. But there seems to be more than this in the note that “people will bring into [the New Jerusalem] the glory and honor of the nations” (Rev. 21:24–26). In the ancient world, it was desirable to build a temple with the best materials from all over the world; this is what Solomon did for the temple in Jerusalem. More than that, people would bring gifts from far and wide to adorn the temple after its completion. It is probable that the image of kings bringing their gifts to the New Jerusalem flows from this background. It does not seem too much of a stretch to imagine that these gifts are the products of human culture, devoted now to the glory of God.[3]
We must also consider the implications of Old Testament visions of the future, which see it in meaningful continuity with present-day life. Isaiah 65, for example, is a critical background text for Revelation 21-22 and provides its foundational teaching, “I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind” (cf. Rev. 21:1). Yet this same chapter says of the future blessings of God’s people, “They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands” (Isa. 65:21–22). We can certainly argue that Isaiah is pointing, in ways suitable to his times, to something much greater than mere agricultural abundance—but he can hardly be pointing to less. Yet less is precisely what is typically offered in a vision of “heaven” consisting of nothing more than clouds, harps, and white robes.
Parsing out precisely how this works is not easy. Will there still be farming in the new heavens and new earth? Will a godly computer programmer’s 1.0 software be consigned to the flames while version 2.0 enters the heavenly city? The Bible does not answer these types of questions directly, but we may once more look at the big picture. God created humans to exercise dominion over the earth, which entails creativity. Would it be sensible for such a God to then turn and regard work done in faith as useless and cast it aside? On balance, it seems far more likely that he would raise it up and perfect all that is done for his glory. Likewise, the prophetic vision of the future envisions people engaged in meaningful activity in the creation. Since God does not go into detail as to how this transfer of products from the now-world to the new-world works, or what exact things we might be doing in the future state, we can only guess at what this means concretely. But it does mean that we can be “always excelling in the work of the Lord, because [we] know that in the Lord [our] labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
In 1933 the Humanist Manifesto I was published. Here are 15 key points.
- It begins with there is no Creator.
- Man is an animal and all life is a product of evolution.
- Man has no immortal soul so there is no future judgement.
- Religion is a by-product of evolution and social development. Secular humanism must replace outdated concepts as in Chrisitanity and Judaism.
- There are no absolute values
- Humanism rejects all religious morals and concepts of “right and wrong.”
- Humanism is a religion.
- Humanists are social engineers out to remake the world in their image.
- Humanists want to create a heaven on earth through collectivistic (communist) socialistic utopia.
- In that socialistic amoral utopia there is no room for traditional religion of any kind.
- There is no faith or hope beyond this present world.
- There can be no restraints put on humans in their pursuit for sensual pleasure (hedonism).
- There is an emphasis on living for the moment.
- Traditional religion and religious expression must give way to a global humanistic one world religion.
- Humanists have a collectivistic/Marxist view of economics.
In 1973 the Humanist Manifesto II was published with an updated blueprint for a new One World Order. Even though the manifesto was updated, not much has changed because Humanism was founded upon principles of self-empowerment, critical thinking, reason, curiosity, and doing good for the sake of the other. Humanism requires no authoritarian figures to control one’s thinking or motivate one’s actions because what is right for me may not be right for you.
Global Humanism
Today in the 21st century we now have a Global Secular Humanist movement. With social media and the digital age it has caused the Humanist movement to explode. Its creation resembles a semi-constitution, which enables those who participate to actively engage within the community. The understanding is that this religion (Secular Humanism) has been a powerful force in the world because it gives people a sense of contributing to something larger than themselves. However, the difference here is the shift from supporting a deity to supporting ourselves, based on our own common humanity. The model is as follows:
- God does not exist: human beings do.
- If we contribute to what actually exists, all of us will benefit.
- Helping others will allow others to help each other.
- Humanism is a self-preservation system as well as a system that moves us forward.
Today all restraints are off, and the Humanist feels empowered and free. The global effort has begun to control governments and laws and even has affected modern day religious thought. The years of pushing their ideas in the world of academia and the media with Hollywood at its side, about this new age of “the Human Right” and “Social Justice” and basically this: “All for one and one for all.” Socialism and even Communism that they have been pushing for decades has begun to pay off. Even if we realize it or not, Secular Humanism, or should I say the religion of Babylon, has played a part throughout history. We have seen the breakdown of every area of our lives. History has been repeating itself over and over again, but with greater influence as the population has exploded over the centuries. We see Paul’s words to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:1-4) about how the people will be in the end times is totally correct. Our walk with God has become cold. We see, in Revelation 2-3, Yeshua telling the 7 churches that they need to come back to their first love and do the things they did at first. He tells them they are holding on to the teachings of Baal and the Nicolatians (Humanism) and committing acts of immorality. They were tolerating the false prophetess Jezebel (Humanist teachings) who was leading them astray to commit immorality. Yeshua calls it Satanic teaching. He tells them that they are soiling their garments. They thought they were alive, but actually they were dead. Yeshua calls it all a lie. He tells them that they are lukewarm and that He will spit them out. They think that they are rich, but they are poor, miserable, and naked. He tells them that they need to repent. This was for the church then, and this is for the church now.
So let us say this is not something that we can take lightly. The Bible tells us to beware in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Messiah. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.’ Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”
We see that even with all the miracles and the mighty hand of God that moved in the lives of the Israelites, they still fell. Just like Adam and Eve who walked with God still fell, we can not take for granted such a great salvation. Satan’s counterfeit religion has come through the ages, and he has taken down so many before us because he is so crafty. Today, the world has a lot to offer, especially here in America. The church is not even close to what it was in the previous centuries. We have fallen into humanism if we realize it or not. So many people believe that they no longer need the Ten Commandments. So many people are into Social Justice that they believe that they, and not God, need to bring about an equal world. Today the church is seeker-friendly and so politically correct that sin and repentance are no longer preached. We believe that we can not fall from grace, even though we see in the parables of Yeshua that that is not correct. The door will be closed to many who think they are standing but are not. Yeshua tells us in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”
We may go to church or to Bible studies, but do we seek God out for His will in our lives? Do we pray when we need to make a decision to find out what God thinks about it? I have known people who prayed for God to open a door and when several doors opened they believed that it was God opening every door, and so they chose whichever job had the better pay, never considering to ask God His will. This is all Humanism. We must learn to seek God out and to pray things through, and that takes time and even perseverance, waiting upon God and trusting Him. But if we do not, then we rely on our own intuition or our own resources, and that is all Humanism. Whenever we leave God out of our lives or He is not the center of our lives then it is Humanism. When we live outside of His word, it is Humanism. When we start to think that something is owed to us, that is Humanism. We cannot earn anything, because God is the one who gives us everything, and when we start to think differently, that is Humanism.
So we must beware lest we fall. We do not examine ourselves to see if we are still in the faith as 1 Corinthians 13:5 tells us, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Messiah Yeshua is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”
So now that we have seen how Mystery Babylon and its religion began, let’s go to the Book of Revelation and see just how this false religion will coexist with the Antichrist.
Revelation 13:1-10 tells us this about him: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”
This beast is Babylon, a powerful one world government system by which its people are ruled by Humanism. Their king, who is worshiped and considered as God, is the antichrist, Satan himself.
Revelation 13:11-18 tells us this: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had the power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six-hundred, sixty, and six.”
There will be a time of persecution like none other, a darkness upon the earth like never before. We have seen the beginning of this even today with hundreds of true believers suffering persecution and martyrdom every day all around the world. Antisemitism is also on the rise, and more and more Jewish people are finding their Messiah Yeshua as the Gentile age comes to a close. But one day Babylon the Great will come to an end with all those who worshiped the beast and took part in her sins.
Revelation 17:3-7 goes on to say, “Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Yeshua. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me: ‘Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns.'”
Who is Babylon that the kings and the inhabitants of the earth will have this adulterated affair with her? And second, what are these waters by which she sits? God’s Word always interprets the Scriptures, and so we should not go outside of that interpretation. The Scripture gives us a riddle.
Revelation 17:8-18 explains, “‘The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come. This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with Him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.’ Then the angel said to me, ‘The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.'”
Many people over the years have thought that the ten horns were ten nations and those ten nations made up the return of the Roman Empire. It is not so important to understand or to know who these ten kings are, or where these seven hills are, or who the antichrist is. These things will be revealed in due time. But what is important is the call to come out from Babylon, because this one-world government along with its humanistic false religion will be judged with everyone who has fallen into her trap.
Revelation 17:1-2 tells us, “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.'”
Revelation 18:1-8, “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.’ Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given, pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, “I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.” Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.'”
Revelation 20:11-15 tells us, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
In Conclusion
You may think that all of this won’t happen in your life time, and yet we already have a global system in place. We have a world court, and agriculture, and a world bank, and a global stock market, and a world army in the UN, and with the internet we have global commerce, and I could go on and on. All we need is for one person to rise up and rule it all.
Humanism is now in the church. Today there are many preachers who do not even believe what they preach. They believe in same-sex marriage, they beleive in abortion, they do not beleive in a final judgment. They believe that God is only love and that He will not judge us or condemn us. Every denomination has made concessions and compromises to their creed of faith. Yes, every denomination. The heads of faith from all over the world have signed agreements, and heads of universities also.
Does your life bring glory to God? Do you walk in holiness as He is holy? Do you live a godly life reflective by the keeping of God’s commands according to His Word? Yeshua tells us in Matthew 12:36, “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.” The only way that you can know if you are not under the trap of Secular Humanism is if you have made God the center for your whole life, as He tells us in Matthew 6:19-21, 24, 31-33: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. . . . For no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. . . . Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
If you have fallen into the trap of Humanism, repent and come back to your first love, or else as God tells us, “Flee, Flee Babylon,” for she will fall, and you will fall with her.
Tale of Two Kingdoms
The Bible reveals that everything in world history falls into two kingdoms. One good, and one evil. The Kingdom of God (also referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven) and the Kingdom of Babylon (also part of the anti-Christ kingdom). So biblically, Babylon is not only Nebuchadnezzar’s ancient physical kingdom in 600 B.C. located in modern day Iraq, but it is also the symbolic collection of all the Kingdoms of the earth throughout history that were run in the pride and sin of men. We see this in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2) of the hybrid statue representing Babylonian empires throughout history (Head of gold=Ancient Babylon, Silver torso=Medo-Persian Empire, Bronze thighs=Greek Empire, Iron legs=Roman Empire, and the feet and toes partly iron partly clay=final anti-Christ kingdom).
That prophetic statue in his dream ends up being smashed by the “rock hewn without hands”, which grew into a “great mountain” representing the Kingdom of God, who’s king is Jesus.
The “Tower of Babel” of Genesis 11 was the beginning of Babylon, as it was the first city, and it was built on the notion that it’s leaders could build a tower to the heavens and be “like God”. A similar mistake was made by Lucifer, who in his pride trafficked God’s worship unto himself. He was cast out of Heaven for this (see Isaiah 14:12–14 and Ezekiel 28:12–18), becoming Satan.
Is the strongman of Bel/Ra/Baal (the chief deity of ancient Babylon/Egypt/Canaan) holding the United States and God’s people in economic slavery today?
Who was Baal? In essence, Baal was and is simply the all-time chief deity of self-interest. Worshiping Baal is just a vehicle of worshiping what one selfishly wants out of life. Fear and control. “Looking out for number one”. Money, pleasure, control, fame, vanity, power. When we attempt to manipulate, cajole, sacrifice, or control things and people to achieve our objectives (to get what we want), we are in effect worshiping a type of Baal – just as the ancient peoples did (though today it would likely be guised in an intellectual wrapper and not necessarily be considered “spiritual”).
Mammon and the Golden Calf
Closely tied to Baal worship is the god of mammon (Matt 6:24 – called mammōnás in the Greek, having origins in Chaldea-Babylon as a god of wealth) and the “Golden Calf” of Egypt. The Israelites molded a golden calf at Mt. Sinai in defiance of the true God. Aaron and the people said:
These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
EXODUS 32:4
Sadly, this golden calf was made from the gold and silver gifts given by the Egyptians to the Israelites out of righteous fear of Jehovah – the God of the Israelites. The perverse irony is that the Israelites decided to make a golden calf in the image of one of the very Egyptian gods Jehovah judged through Moses and Aaron with the 10 plagues. Why would the Israelites make such an idol and worship the gold and silver?
Opposite to this was the intended purpose by Jehovah of this Exodus “wealth transfer” – to create the Tabernacle. It is also interesting to note that all that gold and silver could never be used in the desert. God’s people couldn’t “buy their way out” or “take care of themselves”. They had to trust God for everything – cloud by day, fire by night, water from the rock and manna from heaven. No currency, no gold, no silver was usable for those 40 years. That very generation who forged the golden calf died in the desert and never reached the promise land. They failed the test:
God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments… he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna… that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God
DEUT 8:2-3
Why? The ancient Egyptian kingdom was a great world power, technologically (pyramids), militarily (chariots), essential resources such as food and water (the Nile River). Not unlike the United States today. However, Egypt was not humble. They were prideful. Pharaoh’s believed he was was a god – meaning his rulership provided everything needed for himself and the Egyptian Kingdom: food, resources and power. Not dissimilar to Presidents, Prime Ministers, and billionaire “kings” and “merchants” of the earth today (Rev 17-18). It was this same pride and self-worship that led to the idolatry of “Golden Calf” worship.
Behold, I am against you Pharaoh, the great monster who lies in the river, saying, ‘The Nile is my own; I have made it for myself.’
EZEKIEL 29:3
This same type of mistake (pride, self-preservation) was repeated when Jeroboam erected two Egyptian golden calves for the ten tribes of Israel to worship for their provision and prosperity.
Jeroboam thought to himself, “… these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem… They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam. After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “… Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” … And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other
1 KINGS 12:26-30
Later in Israel’s history, even though God appointed Jehu as king to kill Queen Jezebel and “Destroy Baal from Israel”, he did not walk uprightly in the ways of the Lord, and he did NOT tear down this Egyptian golden calves worship system (read 2 Kings 10:29-31).
Babylon
Babylon is simply that metaphorical “city” or “nation” (Revelation 18) where people worship a type of “Baal” (Bel was the equivalent god to Baal in Babylon – starting with Nimrod’s Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 culminating in its future destruction in Revelation 18). In other words, those who trust in themselves rather than trusting in God. The power of man and desire for self vs. the power of God and desire of His loving kindness.
The woman you saw [harlot Babylon] is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth… When those kings who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her, standing at a distance, fearing her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.
REVELATION 17:18 – 18:10
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and the bodies and souls of men…
For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is has been brought to ruin.
REVELATION 18: 11-19
Do we trust in ourselves and our money, or do we trust in God? Even as believers, if we trust God for our next breath and heartbeat (or going to heaven in the afterlife), why wouldn’t we trust Him in all of our daily affairs too, including providing for us, meeting our needs, and fulfilling our Godly desires?
One of Baal’s names is “Lord of the Harvest”. Do Christians today attempt to worship ‘a little bit of Jehovah and a little bit of Baal?’
Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it.”
JUDGES 6:25
Do we as believers say we trust in God, but we can’t stop worrying about our finances? About our immediate financial needs or our future financial security? Job security? Retirement income?
Or, perhaps we as believers say that we trust in God, but since we have diligently worked to make more than enough money to supply our needs, do we have pride in our work and a wrong image of God?
‘Look, sir. I know that you are a hard man to please and you’re a shrewd and ruthless businessman who grows rich on the backs of others…
MATTHEW 25:24 PASSION TRANSLATION
Meaning, do we take pride in our jobs/position/businesses/careers, income, such that we go back to Jesus saying “look what I did” to provide for myself and my family? Yet, in doing so we are more like the servant who buried his “talent” or “mina” in the ground and says to the master, “you are someone who left me here on the earth with my god-given talents such I could make a way for myself.”
That servant was described by Jesus in the parable as “wicked and lazy” and he is cast into the “outer darkness” because he wasn’t multiplying eternal treasures for the advancement of Jesus’ Kingdom.
Does our image of “god” include such a taskmaster/clockmaker theology: “God helps those who help themselves”?
We explore the possibilities, the deception that masks the problem, as well as our personal and corporate responsibilities of repentance and transformation.
So how does Baal worship tie into Babylon? First, we need to go back to the tower of Babel (Babylon) and the worship of Bel (Baal). The issue was pride in the work of man’s hands and the people trying to make themselves god:
Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves
GENESIS 11:4
Fast forward to Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon. Here is his same mistake:
Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?
DANIEL 4:30
Here is an example from the 1st century church:
You who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”… Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
JAMES 4:13
The issues? Pride. Self-effort. Control. Forgetting about God. Relegating God to a religious system or putting Him in a “box”. This is the essence of Baal worship and at the heart of every type of “Babylon” throughout history (Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome and really any anti-Christ system). This is why God’s people are commanded to come out of this metaphorical “city” and depart from depending on its systems of worshiping self-serving gods and idols:
Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
REVELATION 18:4
Another name for Baal is “Husband”, which implies a false marriage (Jesus being the true groom). If we are so entangled, we should divorce Baal. This is also a type of Ezra’s repentance when the remnant of Israel were called out of Babylon to rebuild the temple. They discovered their sin:
For we have forsaken Your commandments: ‘The land… is an unclean land… do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons; and never seek their peace or prosperity’
EZRA 9:11-12
We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them
EZRA 10:4
May we gain understanding, divorce Baal, divorce Mammon, and come out of Babylon!
In one of Martin Luther’s famous treatises he speaks of the church’s Babylonian Captivity. In his context this was in reference to the way the Gospel (and thus the church) had become conditioned to be what it was, programmed is even better, to imagine that the way people had been told things are by the Church, simply was the way it is. The people, en masse, had no real critical resource to imagine that what they had been told might not be the case; that the Gospel reality, and the Church of Jesus Christ might be much different than what they had been led to believe by their authorities (the magisteria of the Roman church). They simply lived in a world that was shaped by propaganda that led them into a captivity they believed simply was normal life. But Luther, following in the steps of the ad fontes (back to the sources!) movement, largely fostered by Lorenzo Valla et al., began to read the New Testament Greek afresh and anew. In Luther’s case, as he did this, he came to realize that what the church had programmed him to believe about God and the Gospel simply was not the case. As many of us know his story, he was an Augustinian monk living a tortured faith, believing that God could only be angry with him because he was such a dreadful sinner. As the church had taught him, the iustitia Dei (God’s righteousness), and the iustitia Christi (Christ’s righteousness), or the merits won by Christ for those who, by an infusion of faith, through created grace, dispensed by the sacraments of the church, were able to perdue in a way that they might finally merit Christ’s righteousness for them, thus allowing them to meet God’s righteousness, resulting in an eternal reward of beatific vision. This was what Luther agonized under, until at the direction of his spiritual father, Johann von Staupitz, he found the truth of the Gospel held captive in the pages of the New Testament, breaking free as it mediated him to the Mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Christ. Luther had a break through! He was finally able to imagine a conception of God that was outside the walls of the cell the church had built for him, and so many, for the centuries.
We are not unlike Luther back then. As North American (Western) Christians we live in a secular and post-secular world that programs us to think in narrow bounded terms informed by a meta-narrative that proclaims the evangel of humanity’s ability to live like gods; to live the way we want; to live under the dictates of what our desires tell us are the true and the beautiful and the good. The people narrating for us have become our authorities. They are the magisteria for us, just as the Romish religion was for the late mediaeval world that Luther and the people of that time were for them. We might not recognize our ‘social engineers’ this way, indeed, we wouldn’t even want to think, particularly as American Christians, that we might be being programmed by others in a way that comes close to the authorities of Luther’s day. But as Luther once noted: ““It is not unusual in the world for villains and rascals to occupy every office and station in society and to abuse it.” Christians seem to have a hard time admitting that they could be held captive by a cultural conditioning that comes close to resembling the sort of outright programming the mediaeval world had in the ex-cathedra of Rome. If this is you, or if you know of the types I am are referring to, maybe you ought to think again.
Kevin Vanhoozer, to my delight, hits upon these very themes in his new little book: Hearers & Doers: A Pastor’s Guide to Making Disciples Through Scripture and Doctrine. The section we will hear from him is him attempting to convict pastors, and Christians in general, to become alive to the idea that maybe, just maybe, they have become captivated by a type of Babylonian reality that has programmed them, and thus quenched their capacity to imagine that the world and reality of Holy Scripture, could in fact be the more concrete and real world; and that the vanilla status quo world they have come to think of as real and comfortable, or even just manageable, might not be the real world at all. As Vanhoozer notes, people, might be okay with affirming Scripture as God’s Word, but then function in ways that betrays this because they have become ensnared by the secular world that is indeed anti-Christ and anti-thetical to what Christian’s affirm about the Bible. Vanhoozer writes:
Holy Scripture and the Disciple’s Imagination
As I mentioned above, many churches are suffering from malnourished imaginations, captive to culturally conditioned pictures of the good life. Chapter 2 focused on wellness, health, and fitness, but these are only symptomatic of other things that have dominated the social imaginary, like celebrity, wealth, and social power. Christians want to believe the Bible—they do believe it and are prepared to defend doctrinal truth—but they nevertheless find themselves unable to see or feel their world in biblical terms (“I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24). Consequently, they experience a disconnect between the world they actually inhabit and the world of the biblical text whose truth they confess. Their professions of faith are out of whack with their lived practices. If faith’s influence is waning, then it is largely because of a failure of the evangelical imagination to connect the biblical and cultural dots. Pastors can help, especially by reminding their congregations again and again what the Bible is and what it is for: Sola Scriptura is a shorthand way of doing this insofar as it reminds us that Scripture alone should exercise supreme authority over Christian faith and life, including the imagination.
In his essay “The Demise of Biblical Civilization,” historian Grant Wacker claims that during the twentieth century, the average American did not renounce the Bible but simply stopped using it as the primary plausibility structure with which to make sense of the world. People began to understand the meaning of events in terms of this-worldly historical processes rather than in terms of divine providence. The demise of biblical civilization was a failure of the imagination to read our world in terms of God’s word. The demise of biblical civilization is related to the replacement of sola Scriptura in the social imaginary of the West by other stories.
Christian imaginations are captive to nonbiblical stories that do not lead us to Christ and thus fail to nourish our souls. We need to call these stories out and expose their shortcomings, for there is no other gospel (Gal 1:7). We cannot hide behind orthodox theology and pretend that we are invulnerable to the cultural programming that is happening to us 24/7. We need to know that the church is in competition with the powers and principalities that are trying to capture our imagination, and from thence our body, heart, and soul.
The gospel, especially the dramatic announcement that God has raised Jesus from the dead, sets the captive imagination free. What we might call the “evangelical” imagination—an imagination ruled by the story of the gospel—frees us to see, judge, and act in faith, in accordance with the way things really are rather than the way secular science or Madison Avenue say they are. It is all those other words and all that noise in contemporary culture that disorient and deserve to be called vain imaginings. The evangelical imagination alone opens up the real possibility of living along the grain of reality: according to what is really the case “in Christ.”[1]
The Christian mind and heart are largely in captivity to the Babylonian culture we inhabit. This is a real captivity inhabited by real spiritual dark entities (Eph 6:12) who really do shape and condition and inform people who actively inhabit the ‘kingdom of darkness’ (Col 1:13). Their penetration is deeper, broader, and more intimate to our daily lives than we could ever begin to imagine; that is outwith our reliance upon and obedience to the reality of Scripture, Jesus Christ. This is why, currently, I am so shocked by people’s willingness to simply believe, as gospel truth, what the culture-makers are telling them. It is as if we are even suspicious about the depths of the coronavirus, and the numbers used to fear people into a lockdown and economic destruction of the sorts that a globalized economy has never seen before, that we are now “coronavirus truthers” (which I was recently called by a PhD in theology on Facebook).
But this is exactly the point, I think of what Vanhoozer is after. The Bible gives the Christian the “social imaginary” to think that the world we inhabit is indeed intent on conditioning us with messaging that forms us into its image. Once we become captive to this messaging, once we are thoroughly shaped by this world’s kingdom, we no longer have the spiritual capacity to imagine that something very sinister is in control of this ‘evil age’; and that that is not some abstraction, but in fact is something the enlightened civilized West is held captive to in ways that make the Canannites of old look tame. This is how what Vanhoozer is getting impacts me. I look out at a world, a “Christian” world that is consumed by materialism, and its perceived capacity to master the elements for its own purposes and creature comforts. This is the way of the nihilist and the demonic, not the via crucis (way of the cross). I’m afraid that pastors and Christians reading Vanhoozer will walk away from what he has written with no real felt sense of the depth of what the world is up against; and thus we will not have an urgency about just how needed the power of God, which is the Gospel, is needed to confront and contradict the powers and principalities that seek to suck off the world, at all costs, to its final drop.
This is why I have been so vocal about the “coronavirus,” and the messaging promoting it. It is part of the same Deus ex Machina that has been programming us for years. The Bible’s reality allows us to critically, other-worldedly, see things that this world system, and those in its clutches cannot see. But the church has become too much of this programmed world to even begin to see this. This present misinformation scam on the world will result in real life doom and destruction, and the church will simply sit there and bow the knee to its caesars; not Jesus Christ. This is a deep and broad Babylonian captivity. I pray many in the churches will be able to wake up, through the lens of Holy Scripture, and see what is for what it is. Soli Deo Gloria
[1] Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Hearers & Doers: A Pastor’s Guide to Making Disciples Through Scripture and Doctrine (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 109-10.
THE TIME: somewhat more than a hundred years after the Flood. THE PLACE: somewhere in Mesopotamia. A large crowd of people stand, as it were, at the threshold of a vast unpopulated earth. A marvelous opportunity is open before them. Their forefathers, under the leadership of Noah, who is still with them, had been brought by Jehovah God safely through the destruction of a “world of ungodly people” into a cleansed earth. All false worship had been destroyed. True, clean worship had been reestablished by Noah and the other seven Flood survivors as they offered up sacrifices of thanksgiving to Jehovah for his marvelous deliverance.—Gen. 8:20, 21; 9:28.
Chief among this now-expanded population are seventy family heads who have enjoyed the opportunity of living and growing up under the direction of God’s servant and prophet Noah. They have had the opportunity of becoming well acquainted with the righteous God-ordained laws and precedents that Noah has established to govern human society and with the outcome of the disobedience of the pre-Flood world. They are equipped to maintain clean worship in the earth.
Now Noah informs them it is time to carry out an important command of God. They are not to stay in the one vicinity, but must spread out over the earth, people it with righteous worshipers of Jehovah God and establish his worship earthwide. If these seventy family heads act in obedience, they can establish strongholds of true worship all over the earth. Such must serve as centers for the dispensing of knowledge of God and of the requirements of true religion to all the yet-unborn nations. What a fine legacy for their children! These strongholds must stand firm against Satan the Devil, who would, if possible, reintroduce false religion. How wisely Jehovah provided for their protection from the repetition of the pre-Flood condition in which a world was enslaved in false religion and ignorance of the great Creator and Life-giver!—Gen. 4:26; 6:5, 13.
Persons familiar with the Bible account know that the majority of these seventy family heads and leaders lacked faith in God. They did not have God’s name and worship uppermost in their hearts. They did not have in mind the welfare of the children of future generations. They let fear and selfishness lead to opposition to God and to a defeat of the carrying out of their commission. Instead, they had to be forcibly scattered, by a language change, to many parts of the earth. There they established strongholds of false religion through which the nations of earth have been directed away from the true God, bringing great sorrow and distress to mankind.
BABYLON THE CENTRAL STRONGHOLD
As we examine the Bible account, the evidence reveals the adversary of God, the Great Serpent, Satan the Devil, lurking unseen for a chance to instill his spirit into mankind as he had done with Adam and Eve originally. He knew that if he could control this concentrated nucleus of the human race at this point by bringing in false religion he would go far in his effort to control later generations earthwide. He played upon their fear and reluctance to go as pioneers for God’s worship into the vast unpopulated areas of the earth. Moreover, he appealed to their selfishness, inducing in them a desire to make a name for themselves. Nimrod had just the right spirit to be used as Satan’s tool to encourage them in this direction. Under him as self-constituted king they began to make great boasts in their opposition to God and his faithful servants Noah and Shem. They were led to believe that one great stronghold, the city of Babel with its tower, would empower them to break the restraints imposed on their selfish activities by God’s laws and free them from his judgments. They thought that they could, by this united effort, blot out true worship from the earth, along with those who stood for God’s worship.—Gen. 11:2-4; 10:8-10.
Did God command Noah and Shem to engage in warfare and destroy their tower and city? No. As God said, the builders would have been able to do what they had in mind to do, unless he himself took action. Jehovah himself, by confusing their languages, forcibly scattered them in various directions. The language of Noah and Shem, who stood firm for true worship of Jehovah, was not confused and their households were not scattered. Shem’s descendants, for the most part, settled in the general area of Mesopotamia, but the sons of Japheth and Ham moved into other parts of the earth.—Gen. 11:5-9.
Consequently, we find that true religion was practiced by Shem and a faithful line of descendants such as Abraham in the Mesopotamian area, despite much opposition from the Babylonians and others who settled in that vicinity, while false religion was spread to all parts of the earth. So these scattered ones, instead of going out and establishing strongholds of true religion in the earth, from which their descendants would have had great blessings, carried with them the false religion of Babylon (Babel). Although they expressed their thoughts in different languages, they had the same Babylonish ideas, thereby establishing strongholds of false religion wherever they settled. This was the beginning of the worldwide empire of false religion. And while later on it developed variations, yet it was actually one religion in opposition to Jehovah God and under the control of his adversary Satan the Devil.—Gen. 10:32.
As evidence of this spread of false religion into a worldwide empire, exercising tremendous influence on every phase of the lives of the people under it, we quote from The Americana Annual 1962:
The noted Assyriologist, Prof. Samuel N. Kramer of the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that the Indus River civilization of 2500 to 1500 B.C. originated from a more ancient Mesopotamian (pre-Sumerian) civilization which had fled to the Indus Valley when the Sumerians went to Mesopotamia in strength. He suspects that the Indus civilizations were established by the people sometimes referred to as Ubaidians, after Al Ubaid, a site in southern Mesopotamia (Iraq) to which their culture has been traced.
In India, government archaeologists have been excavating the 3d millennium B.C. seaport city of Lothai, on the west coast north of Bombay. . . . Moreover, ties with distant Assyria and Egypt are shown, . . . The city, which was built on brick platforms, reveals an advanced sense of town planning and sanitation.—Under “Archaeology,” page 44, paragraphs 24.
NIMROD MADE A GOD AND FALSE “SEED”
Nimrod remained the first king of Babylon. He would be held in high regard as the great hunter and king in opposition to Jehovah and organizer of the old original Babylonian Empire. Having refused to recognize Jehovah as the true God, the Babylonians would be inclined to worship Nimrod. When he died, they would deify him, making him a god, the guardian god of the city of Babylon.—Gen. 10:9.
More than 1500 years later, when Babylon reached its greatest glory in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar II, who is mentioned in the Holy Bible, the chief god of the imperial city was Marduk. His temple there was called E-sagila (meaning “Lofty House”), the tower of which was called E-teme-nanki (meaning “House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth”). In connection with the god Marduk, who is called Merodach in the Bible (Jer. 50:1, 2), it is interesting to read the following comments:
Nimrod has been identified with Merodach, the god of Babylon . . . He has been identified with Gilgamesh, the hero of the epic which contains the Babylonian Deluge story . . . with various historical kings of Babylonia, . . . The Encyclopaedia Britannica,Volume 19, edition of 1911, page 703.
Two theories are now held in regard to Nimrod’s identity: . . . Those who identify Nimrod with Marduk, however, [say] that . . . the [cuneiform] signs which constitute the name of Marduk, who also is represented as a hunter, are read phonetically “Amar Ud”; and ideographically they may be read “Namr Ud”—in Hebrew “Nimrod.”—The Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume 9, page 309.
Alexander Hislop, author of The Two Babylons, although deriving the name Nimrod from Nimr, a “leopard,” and rada or rad, “to subdue,” does identify Nimrod as the god Merodach. “There is no doubt,” says he, “that Nimrod was a rebel, and that his rebellion was celebrated in ancient myths; but his name in that character was not Nimrod, but Merodach, or, as among the Romans, Mars, ‘the rebel;’ or among the Oscans of Italy, Mamers . . . , ‘The causer of rebellion.’”—Page 44, footnote, of The Two Babylons.
In man’s original garden of Eden God made a promise. This promise is found at Genesis 3:15, where God sentenced to death the Great Serpent, Satan the Devil, for inducing the perfect human couple, Adam and Eve, to join him in rebellion against their Creator. He said: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.” Unlike men of today who claim that the garden of Eden account is only a myth, men back there in the days of Nimrod were well acquainted with this event of history and knew full well that God did make that promise. Therefore, rather than saying that no such promise was ever made, they had to twist the meaning of the promise and apply it to themselves wrongfully. When Nimrod became “a mighty one in the earth,” displaying himself as a mighty hunter and setting himself up as the first king of Babylon, it became easy for the Babylonians to seize upon this circumstance to run ahead of the Edenic prophecy’s actual fulfillment. In harmony with their selfish desire to make a name for themselves, it became patriotic, yes, nationalistic, for them to apply the prophecy concerning the woman’s seed to Nimrod. Such a view would naturally be encouraged by Nimrod, because it would bind the people more firmly to him and his successors in office. Noah’s blessing had shown that the seed would come through the line of Shem and not through the line of Ham, the grandfather of Nimrod. So the application of the prophecy at Genesis 3:15 by the Babylonians to Nimrod would be saying, falsely, that the woman’s seed would be Hamitic, a Cushite. Also, if legends are correct about Nimrod’s meeting a violent death, this would be explained by the Babylonians as the foretold act of the Great Serpent in bruising the heel of the woman’s seed.—Gen. 9:18, 24-27.
“MOTHER AND SON” WORSHIP ORIGINATES
It would follow that Nimrod’s mother would be looked upon as the “woman,” the mother of the seed that was to bruise the Great Serpent in the head, though the Bible does not even mention her. She would thereby share the glory of her son, Nimrod. Almost certainly she would be revered and possibly exalted to a goddess. This would lead to the worship of the mother and son. It may be for this reason that Cush’s wife came to be called Semiramis, or Z’emir-amit. The name means “The Branch Bearer.” The symbolic branch would be Nimrod as the one to bring peace and to make the world calamity pass away.
In regard to this, The Two Babylons,pages 20, 21, says:
The Babylonians, in their popular religion, supremely worshipped a Goddess Mother and a Son, who was represented in pictures and in images as an infant or child in his mother’s arms . . . From Babylon, this worship of the Mother and the Child spread to the ends of the earth. In Egypt, the Mother and the Child were worshipped under the names of Isis and Osiris. In India, even to this day, as Isi and Iswara; in Asia as Cybele and Deōius; in Pagan Rome, as Fortuna and Jupiter-puer, or Jupiter, the boy; in Greece, as Ceres, the Great Mother, with the babe at her breast, or as Irene, the goddess of Peace, with the boy Plutus in her arms; and even in Thibet, in China, and Japan, the Jesuit missionaries were astonished to find the counterpart of Madonna and her child as devoutly worshipped as in Papal Rome itself; Shing Moo, the Holy Mother in China, being represented with a child in her arms, and a glory around her, exactly as if a Roman Catholic artist had been employed to set her up.
The original of that mother, so widely worshipped, there is reason to believe, was Semiramis, already referred to, who, it is well known, was worshipped by the Babylonians, and other eastern nations, and that under the name of Rhea, the great Goddess “Mother.”
Nimrod’s mother, being the wife of Cush, was a granddaughter of Noah’s wife, who survived the great flood, the same as the fishes. Note how the Babylonish pagan religion made use of this fact in deifying Semiramis:
Of this we already have evidence in [the ancient Greek historian] Herodotus, who ascribes to her the banks that confined the Euphrates (i. 184) and knows her name as borne by a gate of Babylon (iii. 155). . . . according to the legends, in her birth as well as in her disappearance from earth, Semiramis appears as a goddess, the daughter of the fish-goddess Atargatis, and herself connected with the doves of Ishtar or Astarte.—The Encyclopœdia Britannica, Volume 24, edition of 1911, page 617.
It is easy to see how false religion further developed and built upon the original Babylonish ideas doctrines that are found in all the religions of the world today. We find an outstanding example of this in the doctrine of the trinity, later made a pillar of the false-religious stronghold of Christendom. Nimrod, as the first mortal man after the Flood to be deified, would become “the father of the gods” in the Babylonian system of false worship. Likewise, the so-called Semiramis would become “the mother of god,” or “the mother of the gods.” So, in the religion of Cush and his wife and Nimrod, more glory and prominence would be given to the son Nimrod, just as in the trinity doctrine of “God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost,” Christendom gives more attention to the Son than to the Father. But in some sections of Christendom more honor and adoration are given to the Virgin Mother than to the Son or the Father; and it is taught that the Mother is the one who will actually bruise the Great Serpent in the head, and she is exalted as the Mother of God.—Gen. 3:15, Douay.
What a bad start was given to the nations! Instead of an inheritance of truth from strongholds of true worship, they inherited falsehood and ungodly practices from false-religious centers, due to the selfish, faithless disobedience of their forefathers. Did this outcome of events thwart Jehovah God in his purpose? Would there be a way by which Jehovah would cope with these false-religious strongholds and eventually deliver righteously disposed persons from their grip? Would he carry out his purpose as originally stated to have his name made great and his worship established throughout the earth without a rival? Listen to what he says: “For just as the pouring rain descends, and the snow, from the heavens and does not return to that place, unless it actually saturates the earth and makes it produce and sprout, and seed is actually given to the sower and bread to the eater, so my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”—Isa. 55:10, 11.
It is most important, since all nations have been greatly affected, to see what steps God has taken to break the power of these strongholds of false religion and to liberate people right out of the midst of them. We shall observe, in succeeding issues of this magazine, the progress of his purposes side by side with the development of false religion.
The Invitation to View the Judgment of the Great Harlot (17:1-2)
17:1-2 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation are dedicated to the description of the final destruction of Babylon in both its ecclesiastical and political forms. It is evident from these chapters that the events described therein, especially those in chapter 17, precede by some considerable period the events represented in the seven vials. In fact, it is probable that the events of chapter 17 occur at the beginning of the great tribulation. The revelation is given to John, however, subsequent to the revelation of the vials. It must be remembered that from John’s point of view all of the events of the book of Revelation were future, and it pleased God to reveal various aspects of future events in other than their chronological order.
Any interpretation of Revelation 17 and 18 is difficult because expositors have not agreed as to the details of their interpretations. In general, however, it is helpful to consider chapter 17 as dealing with Babylon as an ecclesiastical or spiritual entity and chapter 18 as dealing with Babylon as a political entity. It is also helpful in chapter 17 to distinguish the vision in verses 1 through 6 from the interpretation in verses 7 through 18.
John is shown the vision of the destruction of Babylon, as representing false religion, by one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and is invited to behold the judgment of a woman, the symbol of Babylon, described as the great whore (Gr., porne„, usually translated “harlot”), who is seen sitting on many waters. The interpretation of “waters” is that these are the many nations ruled by Babylon.. The woman is further described as having committed fornication (Gr., porneuo„, verb form of porne„). The inhabitants of the earth are declared to have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. The picture of the woman as utterly evil signifies spiritual adultery, portraying those who outwardly and religiously seem to be joined to the true God but who are untrue to this relationship. The symbolism of spiritual adultery is not ordinarily used of heathen nations who know not God, but always of people who outwardly carry the name of God while actually worshiping and serving other gods. The concept of spiritual adultery is frequently used in describing the apostasy of Israel (cf. Ezek. 16 and 23; all of Hosea). Characteristically, the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the husband of Israel (cf. Isa. 54:1-8; Jer. 3:14; 31:32). In the New Testament the church is viewed as a virgin destined to be joined to her husband in the future (2 Cor. 11:2), but she is warned against spiritual adultery (James 4:4).
The alliance of the apostate church with the political powers of the world during this future period of time not only debauches the true spiritual character of the church and compromises her testimony in every way but has the devastating effect of inducing religious drunkenness on the part of the inhabitants of the earth. False religion is always the worst enemy of true religion, and the moral wickedness involved in the union of the church with the world imposes a stupefying drunkenness as far as spiritual things are concerned. The hardest to win to Christ and the most difficult to instruct in spiritual truth are those who have previously embraced false religion with its outward show of a worship of God. The concept here presented, enlarging on the previous revelation in 14:8, makes plain that the apostate church has eagerly sought and solicited the adulterous relation with the world political powers and therefore is primarily to be blamed.
The Vision of the Woman on the Beast (17:3-4)
17:3-4 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.
Accepting the invitation of the angel, John is carried away in the spirit, that is, in a spirit of ecstacy, into a place described as the wilderness or literally “wilderness” (no article in the original). From this vantage point John is able to see the woman previously introduced as the great harlot. She is seen seated on a scarlet-colored beast which is full of the names of blasphemy and which has seven heads and ten horns. The scarlet beast is the same one described in 13:1 where the beast is the revived Roman Empire in its character as the center of the world government of Gentile power in that day. The fact that the woman is riding the beast and is not the beast itself signifies that she represents ecclesiastical power as distinct from the beast which is the political power. Her position, that of riding the beast, indicates on the one hand that she is supported by the political power of the beast, and on the other that she is in a dominant role and at least outwardly controls and directs the beast.
The situation here described is apparently prior in time to that described in Revelation 13, where the beast has already assumed all power and has demanded that the world should worship its ruler as God. The situation, therefore, seemingly is in the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week before the time of the great tribulation which is the second half. While such a relationship has many parallels in the past history of the Roman church in relation to political power, the inference is that this is a future situation which will take place in the end time. The significance of the seven heads and the ten horns is revealed subsequently in this chapter, the seven heads apparently referring to forms of government which are successive, and the ten horns to kings who reign simultaneously in the end time. The fact that the woman, representing the apostate church, is in such close association with the beast, which is guilty of utter blasphemy, indicates the depth to which apostasy will ultimately descend. The only form of a world church recognized in the Bible is this apostate world church destined to come into power after the true church has been raptured.
The description of the woman as arrayed in purple and scarlet and decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls is all too familiar to one acquainted with the trappings of ecclesiastical pomp today and especially of high officials in the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. Purple and scarlet, symbolically so rich in their meaning when connected with true spiritual values, are here prostituted to this false religious system and designed to glorify it with religious garb in contrast to the simplicity of pious adornment (cf. 1 Tim. 2:9-10). Alford states, “I do not hesitate therefore…to maintain that interpretation which regards papal and not pagan Rome as pointed out by the harlot of this vision.”278 The most striking aspect of her presentation, however, is that she has a golden cup in her hand described as “full of abomination and filthiness of her fornication.” The Word of God does not spare words in describing the utter filthiness of this adulterous relationship in the sight of God. Few crimes in Scripture are spoken of in more unsparing terms than the crime of spiritual adultery of which this woman is the epitome. As alliance with the world and showy pomp increase, so spiritual truth and purity decline.
The Name of the Woman (17:5)
17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Upon the forehead of the woman was written her name described as “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” The word mystery is a descriptive reference to the title, not a part of the title itself as implied by the capitalization in the Authorized Version. This can be seen by comparing the name given to the woman in 16:19 and 18:2. It has been commonly held that the title “Babylon the Great” assigned to this woman is not a reference to Babylon as a city or to Babylonia as a nation but a religious designation, namely, that the woman corresponds religiously to what Babylon was religiously. The meaning is made clear by her description as “the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” It has been noted by many writers that the iniquitous and pagan rites of Babylon crept into the early church and were largely responsible for the corruptions incorporated in Roman Catholicism from which Protestantism separated itself in the Middle Ages.
The subject of Babylon in the Scripture is one of the prominent themes of the Bible beginning in Genesis 10, where the city of Babel is first mentioned, with continued references throughout the Scriptures climaxing here in the book of Revelation. From these various passages, it becomes clear that Babylon in Scripture is the name for a great system of religious error. Babylon is actually a counterfeit or pseudo religion which plagued Israel in the Old Testament as well as the church in the New Testament, and which, subsequent to apostolic days, has had a tremendous influence in moving the church from biblical simplicity to apostate confusion. In keeping with the satanic principle of offering a poor substitute for God’s perfect plan, Babylon is the source of counterfeit religion sometimes in the form of pseudo Christianity, sometimes in the form of pagan religion. Its most confusing form, however, is found in Romanism.
In Genesis 10 and 11 it is recorded that Nimrod was the founder of Babel, later called Babylon. In chapter 11 is recorded the rebellion of men against God in attempting to make a city and a tower that would reach to heaven. The history of the ancient world reveals that it was a common practice to build huge mounds (ziggurats) of sun-dried bricks of which the most ancient illustration has been discovered at Erech, a place mentioned in Genesis 10:10 and dated more than 3,000 years before Christ. The tower of Babel was apparently a forerunner of later towers dedicated to various heathen deities. There was no stone with which to build, and therefore bricks were used with mortar binding them together. The tower of Genesis 11 was a monument to human pride and an express act of rebellion against the true God.
In judging this act God confounded the language of the people and gave the city the name of “Babel,” meaning “confusion” (cf. Gen. 11:9). The city, later named Babylon, had a long history. It became prominent under Hammurabi (1728-1686 B.C.) who was the guiding light to the empire during the Old Babylonian period. Babylon’s greatest glory was achieved under Nebuchadnezzar who lived during the Neo-Babylonian period about 600 years before Christ. Daniel the prophet wrote his book at that time. The story of the city and empire has been deciphered from thousands of cuneiform tablets unearthed by archaeologists.
Of primary importance in the study of Babylon is its relation to religion as unfolded in Revelation 17. In addition to materials given in the Bible itself, ancient accounts indicate that the wife of Nimrod, who founded the city of Babylon, became the head of the so-called Babylonian mysteries which consisted of secret religious rites which were developed as a part of the worship of idols in Babylon. She was known by the name of Semiramis and was a high priestess of the idol worship. According to extrabiblical records which have been preserved, Semiramis gave birth to a son who she claimed was conceived miraculously. This son, given the name of Tammuz, was considered a savior of his people and was, in effect, a false messiah, purported to be the fulfillment of the promise given to Eve. The legend of the mother and child was incorporated into the religious rites and is repeated in various pagan religions. Idols picturing the mother as the queen of heaven with the babe in her arms are found throughout the ancient world, and countless religious rites were introduced supposedly promising cleansing from sin. Though the rites which were observed in the Babylonian false religion differed greatly in various localities, there usually was a priestly order which furthered the worship of the mother and child, practiced the sprinkling of holy water, and established an order of virgins dedicated to religious prostitution. Tammuz, the son, was said to have been killed by a wild beast and afterward brought back to life, obviously a satanic anticipation of the resurrection of Christ.
In the Scriptures themselves, though many of these facts are not mentioned, there are a number of allusions to the conflict of the true faith with this pseudo religion. Ezekiel protests against the ceremony of weeping for Tammuz in Ezekiel 8:14. Jeremiah mentions the heathen practices of making cakes for the queen of heaven (Jer. 7:18) and offering incense to the queen of heaven (Jer. 44:17-19, 25). The worship of Baal, characteristic of pagan religion in Canaan, was another form of this same mystery religion originating in Babylon. Baal is considered identical to Tammuz. The doctrines of the mystery religions of Babylon seem to have permeated the ancient world, giving rise to countless mystery religions, each with its cult and individual beliefs offering a counterfeit religion and a counterfeit god in opposition to the true God revealed in the Scriptures. Babylon as an evil woman is portrayed in the prophecy of Zechariah 5:1-11 where the woman of verse 7 is described as personifying wickedness in verse 8.
The Babylonian cult eventually made its way to other cities including Pergamos, the site of one of the seven churches of Asia. The chief priests of the Babylonian cult wore crowns in the form of the head of a fish, in recognition of Dagon the fish god, with the title “Keeper of the Bridge,” that is, the “bridge” between man and Satan, imprinted on the crowns. The Roman equivalent of the title, Pontifex Maximus, was used by the Caesars and later Roman emperors, and was also adopted as the title for the bishop of Rome. In the early centuries of the church in Rome, incredible confusion arose; and attempts were made to combine some of the features of the mystery religion of Babylon with the Christian faith, a confusion which has continued down to the present day. In this chapter in Revelation, the last stage of counterfeit religion is revealed as it will be in existence in the period before the return of the Lord to earth.
It is a sad commentary on contemporary Christendom that it shows an overweening desire to return to Rome in spite of Rome’s evident apostasy from true biblical Christianity. In fact, modern liberalism has far outdone Rome in its departure from the theology of the early church, thus has little to lose by a return to Romanism. Apostasy, which is seen in its latent form today, will flower in its ultimate form in this future superchurch which will apparently engulf all Christendom in the period after the rapture of the church.
The Woman Drunken with the Blood of Martyrs (17:6-7)
17:6-7 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
The woman is pictured not only as the source of all evil in apostate Christendom but also as the one who is actively engaged in the persecution of the true saints. Her wickedness in this regard is demonstrated by the description that she is drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. Here the primary reference is not to ancient Babylon but to Babylon perpetuated in apostate Christendom especially in its future form. The history of the church has demonstrated that apostate Christendom is unsparing in its persecution of those who attempt to maintain a true faith in Jesus Christ. What has been true in the past will be brought to its ultimate in this future time when the martyrs will be beyond number from every kindred, tongue, and nation. The blood shed by the apostate church is exceeded only by that of the martyrs who refuse to worship the beast in the great tribulation. As John contemplates the woman, he records, “I wondered with great admiration,” or more literally, “I wondered with great wonder” (the verb in the Greek, thaumazo„, has the same root as the noun thauma, both meaning “to regard with wonder or astonishment”).
development that is directly related to the tribulation period is the rebuilding of the once renowned metropolis, Babylon, on the banks of the Euphrates River. As the birthplace of the Ancient World’s pagan religion, this city must again emerge as the seat of a false universal religion. Babylon is in Iraqi territory, and since 1978 in a process of reconstruction. The first phase of the rebuilt city was inaugurated amid great festivity between September 22 and October 22, 1987. This festival has become an annual event, and is reported in the media as an international cultural festival.
Included in the first phase of the reconstruction of the old city is the southern palace of King Nebuchadnezzar. This part of the palace includes the famous throne-room where the writing appeared on the wall during the last night of King Belshazzar’s reign. Among the other reconstructed buildings is the gateway to the temple of Ishtar. Hotels and tourist facilities have also been erected on the outskirts of the city.
To correctly comprehend current events in Babylon, cognisance must be taken of the city’s origin and the relentless anti-God tradition it has followed in ancient times. According to Genesis 10:8-10, Nimrod established a kingdom for himself in Babylon. Apart from the fact that it was a political kingdom, it also became a powerful pagan religious centre from where idolatry and other false religious practises spread across the world.
As protagonist of the self-sufficiency of the human race, Nimrod took a firm stand against God. Not only did he offer himself as a king to the people, but also as a god. As a builder of fortified cities in the land of Shinar (one of the earliest names for Babylonia), he was honoured as the God of Forces. He was addressed as the Liberator and Crown Bearer, and regarded as the personification of the Sun-god – the one who gives light and life. After him all Babylonian and Assyrian kings deified themselves. This tradition was imitated by the rulers of other world empires, especially in the Roman Empire. This is a pagan tradition that will be revived during the great tribulation when the Antichrist will declare himself to be God and demand the worship of all people. He will exalt himself above every god and claim to be the supreme God of the universe (Dan. 11:36).
Form of Worship
Since its earliest existence, Babylon was the centre and symbol of an anti-God world power. This tradition is also reflected in the name Babylon, which means Gateway to the gods. (After God confounded their language, the name Babylon was also associated with confusion and disorder). The gateway to the gods consisted of a temple tower (ziggurat) in which the priests ascended to make contact with the gods. The top could be reached by means of a helical stairway that surrounded the tower. Up there the priests meditated to become one with the cosmic world. Observations with a view to horoscopy were also made from that look-out post.
The great tower of Babylon was part of the building complex known as the temple of Marduk. It comprised eight sections built one upon the other. At the pinnacle was a smaller temple with luxurious couches and a golden table. Marduk was the Babylonian city god. As paramount god in the Babylonian pantheon, he was accorded the title King of heaven and earth. The word Lord is Bel in Chaldee, and it is for this reason that Marduk is also called Bel, or Baal in other languages (Jer. 50:2, Is. 46:1). Hence the name the tower of Baal or Bel.
The title of Baal with the general meaning of Lord, Protector god or Possessor was applied to various gods and further qualified by another name, e.g. Baal‑Peor (the god of the mountain Peor), etc. Marduk was thus the Baal of Babylon. Close to him was the most important goddess, Ishtar (also called Astaroth, Ashtoreth or Astarte in other Middle East languages). In the plural form the term refers merely to the goddesses of the pagan nations. In this sense mention is often made in the Bible of the Baals and Ashtoreths of the heathens (see Judges 2:13 and 10:6).
Ishtar (Astaroth) occupied an extremely important position in the Babylonian and Assyrian religions. Temples and open-air places for worship were built for her in all the cities and towns. She is also known as the queen of heaven (Jer. 7:18, 44:19) and is the daughter of the moon-god, Sin. Her symbols are the crescent moon, the morning star (or battle star) and the evening star (the star of passionate love). As the mother goddess she expressed sadness and sympathy for her earthly children in their suffering, particularly when they were ill or struck by natural disasters. Healing rituals were carried out in her name.
She was also the goddess of fertility and love. Unbridled lust was such a strong characteristic on her part that her temples and places of worship became centres for immoral acts. In the service of Ishtar, women belied their chastity and became temple prostitutes. But to them it was a form of devotion to honour Ishtar and as a result they did not forfeit their esteem in society. Ishtar was also the Assyrian’s goddess of war. She was so fearsome that the other armies trembled when the war-minded Assyrians sang her praises.
In the rebuilt part of Babylon the gate of Ishtar has been restored and people can move through it to the king’s throne-room. Should Ishtar’s cult be revived in Babylon, a period of growing idolatry, immorality and wars of conquest awaits that part of the world.
According to Babylonian mythology, Ishtar murdered her lover, Tammuz – the god of spring. Because of this act she developed a sense of guilt and descended to the underworld where she found him and restored him to life. He is therefore the symbol of death and resurrection. A cross-shaped token representative of the T of Tammuz was customary in the pagan world as a symbol and decoration on garments and buildings. In mythological accounts, Tammuz is sometimes depicted as the son of Semiramis who is the personification of the queen of heaven. The religious concept of the Madonna and Child in Roman Catholicism is clearly a perpetuation of this Babylonian tradition. The real motive behind the deification of Mary in 381 AD was to bring a ‘Christian’ queen of heaven and her child into being.
Another god of significance in the Assyro-Babylonian pantheon was Shamash, the sun-god. He despised darkness and evil, and was accredited as the giver of good laws. He was the head of the Babylonian diviners. The cult of sun-worship spread to many cultures and is still rampant in our day. The symbol of the sun-god is familiar in the Mormon Church, and in the Roman Catholic Church the pope is often likened to the sun. In the New Age Movement, the sun with its rays of light is also a very common symbol.
The fall of Babylon
Prophecies that deal with the fall of Babylon are so clearly defined and absolute that no period in the entire history of Babylon and Assyria can be found in which they have been exhaustively fulfilled. Consider the following statements:
Jeremiah refers to the destruction of Babylon in these words:
Dr. J. A. Seiss stated as far back as 1865 in his Letters on the Apocalypse that the city of Babylon will have to be rebuilt, in order that the Lord can finally destroy it like Sodom and Gomorrah, never to be inhabited again. This is clearly an end-time event that will, according to Isaiah 13:6, occur on the day of the Lord, probably coinciding with the battle of Armageddon at the end of the great tribulation. In 1918, Clarence Larkin indicated in his famous book Dispensational Truth that Babylon was never completely destroyed or uninhabited. Jeremiah’s prophecy that after the final destruction no stones from the ruins of Babylon will be used, must yet be fulfilled. Various towns and cities have in fact been built with bricks recovered from the ruins of Babylon. Before the present rebuilding of Babylon started in 1978, thousands of bricks were removed by Iraqis for construction purposes. Since the official building programme started, several impressive structures have risen on the foundations of ancient Babylon. These developments underscore the biblical view that the great fall of the city is yet to occur.
Two Babylons
In Revelation 17 and 18 respectively, John mentions two Babylons that will rise to prominence shortly before the advent of Christ. The one is mystical Babylon, referring to an evil ideology, or false system of religious worship, and the other one a commercial city with all kinds of worldly fun and immoral practices in it. Both these chapters in Revelation are based upon the supposition that there will be a reconstructed Babylon as an end-time manifestation of the ancient Babylonian Empire, and also as a fitting centre of operations for the Babylonian world religion.
The one Babylon is called: “Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth” (Rev. 17:5). Because the city of Babylon is the place of origin of the pagan religions, the apostate end-time alliance of religions with its unbiblical unification of all faiths, is aptly described as mystery Babylon. It is opposed to biblical Christianity and is already in the process of establishing an ecumenical body, or parent organisation, described as the mother of harlots in Revelation 17:5. What appeared to be impossible a few decades ago, that is multi-religious ecumenism, has suddenly become common practice.
Present initiatives by interfaith movements such as the United Religions Initiative enhance the possibility of establishing a unified league of world religions. The reviving of the Parliament for the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1993, a century after its inaugural meeting, provides another religious superstructure from which a universal religious leader, the false prophet, may emerge.
The traditional religious freedom in the West, in which only Christianity was officially recognised has, during the past decade or so, been superseded by a dispensation of religious equality. This means that all religions are regarded as of equal significance and standing, thereby denying the uniqueness of Christianity (Jn. 14:6). The universalistic premise that the same God is worshipped by the followers of all the religions, is currently paving the way for even closer ties between the various religions. The ultimate objective of this movement is religious unity.
The emerging alliance of world religions will constitute a revival of the Babylonian religion, which was characterised by the following institutions and practices:
· The deification of a world leader, as was the case with Nimrod of old. He will rule in close association with religious leaders.
· The establishment of a priestly hierarchy of holy men, among whom some will attain the level of masters of wisdom.
· Worship of the sun-god.
· The adoration of the Queen of Heaven and her Son (the Madonna and Child).
· The adoration of several ‘Baals’ within a pantheon of gods (idolatry and Satanism).
· Meditation and other mystical techniques of holistic healing, and the development of a cosmic consciousness.
· Magic, divination and astrology, accompanied by the extensive use of occult symbols and emblems.
As part of the Babylonian reforms, a feminine principle is also introduced to the concept of God. Various New Age writers make mention of the Planetary Mother as a spiritual presence sensed at the birth of every child. Besides a physical body, the child is also said to have an astral body that makes him part of a cosmic community under the caring control of a heavenly deity, or Planetary Mother. Mention is also made of her as Our Lady.
This feminine principle of divinity existed in different religions under the titles of Isis, Venus, Ishtar and the virgin Mary. Isis is the Egyptian queen of nature, Venus is the goddess of love in the Roman mythology, Ishtar is the former mighty Babylonian queen of heaven whose sanctuary is in the process of being reconstructed in its ancient abode, and the deified Mary is the Christian replica of this communal mother of humanity.
The syncretistic religion of the great tribulation is symbolised by a woman who rides on the back of a beast (Rev. 17:3). This points to a marriage that will be concluded between religion and politics. The bride of the Antichrist will be the alliance of false religions. Her name is Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots.
According to Revelation 17:9-10 and 18, this apostate woman had reigned over past world empires through the strong influence that the pagan religious system had over leaders and governments. Her influence is not to be underestimated, as her capacity to deceive humanity is enormous. She will persuade her millions of followers during the tribulation to associate with the Antichrist as global messiah, and to accept his number. According to Zechariah 5:5-11, her headquarters will be moved to Shinar, that is Babylon. Halfway through the tribulation, her position as a religious body will become redundant. The Antichrist will declare himself as God and demand that he alone be worshipped. The apostate alliance of religions will then be abandoned and destroyed:
The Antichrist will order the execution of his ‘wife’ after an association of 3½ years. That will be the end of mystical Babylon who ruled over the kings of the earth. Only those members of the false religions who abandon their religious affiliation, worship the beast as God and accept his number, will escape the annihilation of the mother of harlots. But they will also be eternally condemned after another 3½ years when Christ will come to destroy the Antichrist and his followers who will attempt to fight against the true Christ in the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:19-21).
An International Centre
In its capacity as economic, political and entertainment centre the rebuilt Babylon will, according to Revelation 18, play an important part in the great tribulation. It can be expected that international organisations will rush to be accommodated in Babylon, and that large building projects will be undertaken and completed in a relatively short time. Very soon the city will assume a cosmopolitan character as the point of convergence for a variety of cultures and civilisations from all over the world. Here the nations were separated when their languages were confused. An attempt will soon be made to reunite them at the same place from where they dispersed 4 500 years ago.
In the days of ancient Babylon, the first united nations conference on record was held on the plains of Shinar:
In modern times, a similar appeal may be as follows:
The ideology of the modern tower of Babylon is rapidly gaining ground in the world. Its final implementation will occur very rapidly. Zechariah says that the woman called wickedness will be transported to Babylon by two women who have the wind in their wings. A house will be built for her in the land of Shinar, which is Babylonia (Zech. 5:9-11).
Wherever the neo-Babylonian organisation for the united religions of the world may initially be based, an urgent decision will soon be taken about her new headquarters. Destination: Babylon!
Satanic gaiety and corruption
At the close of the great tribulation, the evils in the reconstructed city of Babylon will have no limits. Revelation 18 tells us that the sins of Babylon, like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, will reach unto heaven (Rev. 18:5). It will be a place of licentiousness and immoral parties (Rev. 18:7, 9). Music will be an important aspect of the satanic gaiety of Babylon (Rev. 18:22).
The inauguration of the first part of the rebuilt city in September/ October 1987, was celebrated with an international music festival. It is obvious that modern rock music, which leads to enslavement to alcohol and drugs, sexual abuse, rebellion, Eastern cults, magic and Satan worship, will find a home in the new Babylon. No wonder the Bible says that these and other decadent forms of art will be destroyed along with Babylon. The noisy instruments of these musicians will become silent and the voices of the singers will no longer be heard (Rev. 18:22).
The destruction of Babylon
The final fall of Babylon will occur at the end of the great tribulation (Rev. 14:8, 16:17-19, 18:2, 10, 21). From the quoted Scriptures it is evident that there will not be a gradual decay and decline of the city over a long period of time. The destruction of Babylon will occur in one hour. As with Sodom and Gomorrah, it will be consumed by fire (Rev. 18:8-10, 18; Is. 13:19, Jer. 50:40). At the same time a great earthquake with continuous thunder and lightning will occur, then the city will subside into a lake of fire, never to be restored or inhabited again (Rev. 16:17-19; 18:21). The smoke of her burning will form dark clouds across the plains of Shinar and be clearly visible from the ships in the Persian Gulf (Rev. 18:17-18). The merchants and the seamen will weep and mourn over the destruction of this city with its riches, pomp and glory.
Where Babylon once was, will be a desolate crater in which the remains of some of its buildings will still be visible. A frightening atmosphere will prevail midst the scene of destruction, and the silence will be ominous. During the millennium, no one will want to stay or overnight in its vicinity (Is. 13:19-20). This scene depicts the downfall and destiny of a kingdom and a society that revolted against God and scorned His mercy.
Evacuate Babylon!
God calls on His people to leave Babylon:
One of the defining moments in the Old Testament history was the Babylonian exile. The children of Israel were enslaved, and the Exile was one of the toughest experiences for the people of God (Jer. 50:33). Yet God stands up in their defense: “A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror” (v. 38).2 Idolatry was Babylon’s main offense: creating its own religion and seeking salvation without the Creator God. This offense was also true of Old Testament Babylon’s predecessor in the early pages of the Bible, Babel, which had an alliance of people with one goal—building “a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens” (Gen. 11:4) and thus challenging God Himself.
NEW TESTAMENT BABYLON
When the apostle John, in Revelation, uses the term Babylon, he recalls that background. He mentions it for the first time in Revelation 14 but develops the concept in Revelation 17. There we have a picture of a great prostitute who sits on many waters (Rev. 17:1). These waters represent “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” (v. 15) that support the end-time Babylon. Further, that great prostitute is described as “sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns” (v. 3). These seven heads represent seven kingdoms through which God’s people were oppressed and persecuted throughout history.3 The great prostitute is a religious power working in tandem with secular powers and nations of the world that support her. John visually describes her demise as being burned up with fire (v. 16), as was the decree concerning prostitutes in the Old Testament times (Lev. 21:9).
FUTURE FALL OF BABYLON
Revelation 18 presents another picture of Babylon’s fall—a picture of the destruction of the city. In addition, we are confronted with the reasons for her fall. Observing the sins of Babylon may help us identify areas through which she will be active: “With a mighty voice the angel shouted: ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries’ ” (vv. 2, 3).
This text gives three reasons for the fall of Babylon:
- All the nations have drunk Babylonian adulterous wine.
- The kings of the earth have committed adultery with Babylon.
- Merchants of the earth grew rich through the luxuries of Babylon.
What could the drunkenness of the nations represent? The Old Testament Babylon led astray the world of its time with wine: “ ‘Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad’ ” (Jer. 51:7). The wine that leads astray could be false teachings, philosophies, ideologies, or religions. In the background, the political and religious activity of Babylon exists. So, Babylon is accused because it has led astray the inhabitants of the earth instead of pointing them towards the only true Ruler, the Creator God.
What about the second point adultery? In the Old Testament, a faithful wife represents God’s people, while an adulterous wife symbolizes religious unfaithfulness. Going to other gods is presented as an act of adultery: “At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth” (Isa. 23:17). Babylon was also adulterous and had created its own way of salvation without the Creator God. Kings of the earth, as political figures, are adulterous. We are dealing here with the religious dimension, while the political dimension of the kings should not be neglected.
Finally, the third point of condemnation of the end-time Babylon raises the aspect of finances. We might possibly forget about God and rely on our own wisdom when it comes to finances, but this easily leads to pride, as in the case of Tyre: “ ‘ “By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud” ’ ” (Ezek. 28:4, 5). Babylon has created a system that uses others for personal gain. In that financial system are many “merchants” who are getting “ ‘rich from her excessive luxuries’ ” (Rev. 18:3). The sin of Babylon is getting rich on account of the poor and powerless. With this third point, the financial aspect comes into focus.
END-TIME BABYLON
In this threefold condemnation of Babylon we have political, religious, and financial aspects. The financial level is the one with which all of us are confronted on a daily basis. Since we cannot escape financial dealings in today’s world, we all may be easy targets. Interestingly, Revelation 18 emphasizes finances. Babylon uses all these aspects to attract, gain, and lead astray the nations of the earth. The deception will be great. Thus, we can say that the end-time Babylon will be a global alliance with the support of political, religious, and financial powers of today’s world. They will join together to achieve material gain and profit. In their dealings, they will break the commandments of God, be immoral, and work against God Himself.
We are here dealing with an alliance in which many political, religious, and financial powers of the end time join together so that each one of them might achieve some personal gain. When was the world more global and connected than today? Despite all the differences, when has it functioned more as a unit than today? When have events on one end of the earth influenced the events in other parts more than today? In today’s world we have all that is needed for the end-time Babylon to become a reality. Observing the attitude of the political, religious, and financial powers of today, could it be that the Babylonian alliance is a reality already?
FINANCIAL ASPECT OF THE END-TIME BABYLON
The financial aspect of the end-time alliance is the most prominent aspect in Revelation 18. Kings, merchants, sea captains, and sailors all cry because of Babylon’s downfall: “‘ “Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!” Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, “Was there ever a city like this great city?” ’ ” (vv. 16–18).
The financial profit that they have made through their alliance with Babylon is no more. The most interesting detail is that it will all happen in a single day. There were times when global events needed decades to develop, but today we are witnessing the fragility of the global economy. In the last couple of years, we have witnessed the disappearance of large financial institutions like Lehman Brothers, and their downfall happened literally in one day. The fall of the World Trade Center towers resulted in a different political climate within a single day. Today we are painfully aware that economic breakdown in one part of the world influences the rest of the world. That is why the Bible warns us, so that we will not find ourselves together with those who have invested in the wrong bank when it happens.
When the predicted major economic collapse occurs, the kings of the earth, politicians, and merchants “ ‘will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: “Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!” ’ ” (v. 19). They are crying because of the downfall of Babylon, as well as over their own destiny. They are sorry for Babylon, because there is no longer the system that made their immoral gain possible by oppressing the weak and powerless. This will happen suddenly, so whoever was planning to straddle the fence will be taken by surprise by the sudden events. Only those who accept the call to exit that Babylonian system today and practice God’s way are secure.
CALL: “COME OUT OF HER”
God’s people of the Old Testament received a call to exit Babylon (Ezra 1:1–4), but only a small number of people came out. The majority had begun to enjoy it there; they accepted the Babylonian mentality and decided to stay there, and history has devoured them.
Revelation 18:4 sends a call to the end-time people of God to exit Babylon: “ ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.’ ” We are called not to accept the Babylonian mentality that takes advantage of the weak and powerless or to run for unfair gain and profit but to base our dealings on the principles of God’s kingdom. In the end-time crisis, our minds can be in the mentality of Babylon or in the mentality of God. Do we want to invest in the Babylonian bank, or in God’s bank?
CALL OF JESUS
With reference to economic exploitation and mismanagement implied in the concept of Babylon, we should turn to Jesus. On earth Jesus spread the values of His kingdom. He would never join people who were using others for personal gain, who were unjust or immoral. When He was asked concerning financial gains and alliances, He said: “ ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ ” (Matt. 6:19–21).
Can we survive without any treasures on this earth? We need balance in our activities. We must earn our living and take proper care of our families and ourselves. But when we start living only for earthly material, temporary things, we can easily lose sight of God. In such circumstances, we easily start breaking some of God’s commandments. It becomes easy to enter the mind-set of Babylon and join the Babylonian system that brings personal gain and profit by stepping on the weak. God calls us clearly: “Come out of her!” He calls us to invest in His bank. Jesus was very radical in His statements, “ ‘Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ ” (Luke 12:33, 34).
Babylon offers her own way of life and salvation through human achievements. Ever since the tower of Babel, people were tempted to rely on their own achievements and turn away from the Creator God who is the Source of all power. The Babylonian system creates an outlook in which people are arrogant, self-sufficient, immoral, and godless. The Bible clearly predicts a downfall of that system. Whatever people might build in their own power does not have a future without God.
CALL TO GOD’S CITY
The opposite of the city of Babylon in the book of Revelation is God’s city the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21; 22).4 This is the city that God prepares for His faithful, and they will get it for free. While the political, religious, and financial powers of today’s world invest their efforts in building their city and system, leading astray the inhabitants of the earth, God is preparing something qualitatively much better, and He offers it entirely for free. “ ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’ ” (John 10:10).
God invites us to invest in His bank and into life with Him. The downfall of the Babylonian system is a fact, and only a matter of time. The book of Revelation warns those who live in the Babylonian setup that the downfall will be sudden. In today’s world in which political, religious, and financial authorities are afraid for the future, there are important questions: Who do you bank with? How do you invest your time? Where is your mind?
When the end comes, the writer of the book of Revelation does not want us to join the cry of the kings, merchants, and sailors but wants us to join in the song of the redeemed: “ ‘Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed’ ” (Rev. 15:3, 4).
24. The Judgment of Religious Babylon (Rev 17:1-18)
The Description of Religious Babylon
(17:1-6a)
Verse 1. John is called to come and see the judgment of Babylon, but in the process he also gets a description of the woman (Babylon). The subject of this section is the judgment of religious Babylon. The judgment describes her condemnation, sentence, and penalty passed. The emphasis is the particular character and nature of the penalty that God has in store for Babylon.
In keeping with the laws of the harvest, Scripture teaches that whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. The harlot system has seduced men and nations and tried to rule them politically. Nations have bowed and scraped to her for centuries, but a time will come when they will revolt and destroy her.
Babylon’s description as “the great harlot” refers to the spiritual prostitution and fornication that categorizes the apostate church of the Tribulation which is unfaithful and rejects the Lord Jesus Christ as her husband (2 Pet. 2:1-2). “Great” refers to the harlot system which will reach its zenith after the removal of the true church (genuine believers) by way of the rapture. The prostitute exists today in many forms (Roman Catholicism, liberal Protestantism, the cults, etc.), but after the church is gone, or perhaps even before it is gone, they will unite and become one great ecumenical religious system.
“That sits on many waters” refers to world-wide unification and control. “Waters” refers to the “nations” and the many people of those nations. “Sits on” suggests the concept of control as well as unification. The nations are religiously united and politically affiliated with each other through the power and control of this religious system and its head. When the church is raptured, the apostate system which will already have spread its tentacles all over the world, will quickly unite and become the one-world church.
One of the things we should be watching for are tendencies and movements among the religious groups of the world toward a united world church, and we have been seeing this for years. One of the recent “uniting factors” is the present day tongues movement. It seems the tongues experience becomes a uniting force that unites Roman Catholics, Charismatics, liberal Protestants, and even the cults, and this regardless of the divergent doctrinal views, many of which are clearly contrary to Scripture.
Verse 2. “With whom (the harlot) the kings of the earth have committed fornication” is a reference to the leaders of the non-communist block of nations in which the religious system has her tentacles. This is an alliance of church and state which is an unfaithful act for both. This causes both to prostitute (compromise) their responsibility before God. Both state and church were established by God, but must remain separate if they are to carry out their purpose. They are to support one another, but the moment they merge, both liberty and spiritual freedom are lost (at least eventually). By separate, I am not talking about the separation of church and state that is being promoted today where prayer and dependence on God has been removed from the classroom while godless ideologies are being promoted.209
Below is an extended portion quoted from the chapter entitled, “The Myth the Church Should Have No Voice in Government” in the book, Exploding The Myths That Could Destroy America, by Erwin W. Lutzer:
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17).
This statement of Christ’s was revolutionary. To those believers who were under the Roman yoke He said that we can, under certain conditions, have loyalty both to God and to the state. But Christ also knew that conflict between the two spheres would become inevitable when the secular authority would demand for himself honors that belong only to God. Yet, as far as possible, believers should live with loyalty to both authorities.
Church-state conflict goes back to the early days when Christianity was outlawed and was set in opposition to Roman rule. Early Christians died not because the Romans were intolerant (they would accept whatever god anyone wished to worship). What they abhorred was the exclusivism of Christianity. The belief that Jesus Christ was the only Lord galled the Romans and led many Christians to the lions.
Early Christianity was a minority religion in a secular state. But all of that changed under Constantine, who wanted to make Christianity coextensive with the state. In other words, everyone who would be born within the boundaries of the Roman Empire would be a Christian.
As a result of this development, the church and state were united. In the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII struggled with the mightiest king in Western Europe, Henry IV of Germany The question was, Who would have the authority to appoint bishops? The king insisted that that was his prerogative, but the pope maintained that such a conclusion would place the church subordinate to the state and hence corrupt the faith. When King Henry visited the pope’s castle in Italy, he was required to stand barefoot for three days and ask for mercy before receiving the pope’s pardon. It made sense to the pontiff that the church should have authority over the state so that heretics could be punished and doctrinal purity maintained.
Later when the Anabaptists revolted against the unity of church and state, they were put to death and persecuted with the full approval of the Reformers. Men such as Luther believed that if the church were considered to be a segment of society rather than coextensive with society, the social order would be broken up. The Anabaptists who held the strict separation of church and state were therefore persecuted for their belief.
When the Pilgrims came to what today is called the United States it was to escape the tyranny of a state church. They understood that when church and state were united there was not only a loss of individual freedom but the abuse of using civil power to enforce the whim of the religious elite.
In our Constitution these familiar words appear: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Clearly the intention was (1) to limit the power of the federal government by ensuring that it would not establish a state church, then (2) it was not to prohibit the free exercise of religion.
Today this amendment is being deliberately misinterpreted to try to separate God from government. Whenever any religious influence is exerted in government agencies, the secularists cry “Foul!” And if a citizen raises his voice against secularism he is told to be silent because of the supposed “wall of separation” between church and state.
The phrase “wall of separation” does not appear in the Constitution, but had its origin in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to a group of Baptists and Congregationalists in Danbury, Connecticut who had called him an infidel. He then said there should be a “wall of separation between church and state.” Interestingly, the USSR Constitution does use the expression “wall of separation between church and state.” This basic tenet is found in most Communist countries. Churches are permitted to operate in all those areas where the political authorities do not have power, but because the state has supreme authority over all matters, religion is literally squeezed out of existence.
The fathers of this nation never dreamed that separation of church and state meant that God should be separated from government. The government buildings in Washington bear ample testimony to the belief that faith in God is the basis for establishing laws and running the affairs of a nation.
For example, the Ten Commandments hang over the head of the chief justice of the Supreme Court (would that they had been read before the infamous Roe v. Wade decision of 1973). In the rotunda the words “In God we trust” are engraved, and on the Library of Congress we have “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” The Washington monument and other government buildings contain phrases of Scripture.
The Bible has much to say about the Christian’s responsibility in government.
SUPPLICATION
Most letters that congressmen receive are complaints from their constituents. Seldom are they ever affirmed and told that they are doing a good job. Even more rarely do politicians learn that individual believers have been praying for them. And yet, this is precisely Paul’s command. “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
Paul uses four words to stress our intercession for government leaders. We must have entreaties (praying for specific needs); prayers (a more general word referring to the need for wisdom in daily decisions); petitions (a reference to our ability as believers to come before God in behalf of others) and finally thankfulness (gratitude to God for what leadership has been provided).
Because our political leaders are often non-Christians it is easy to think there is no use praying for them. But Paul makes it clear the Christian has a duty to pray that the state will protect its citizens and encourage an atmosphere where man can be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. If we are not constantly in prayer for our leaders we really cannot complain when our freedoms are taken away from us.
Think of what it would mean to a politician to receive letters from Christians without complaints, just to say that they are praying. With such power at our disposal we might be surprised at what God would bring about simply because His people are obedient to this command.
SUBMISSION
When Paul wrote the book of Romans, Christianity was not viewed with favor in the Roman Empire. Yet he exalts the role of government in the economy of God, and says, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves” (Romans 13:1-2).
Why does Paul urge submission? First, because government is ordained of God. This is difficult to believe, particularly when we see the evil governments in existence today. What about China? The Soviet Union? Iran or Libya?
The Scriptures teach an interesting paradox: On the one hand Satan is actively involved in the political process. In fact, he said to Christ, “I will give you all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomsoever I wish. Therefore if you worship before me it shall all be yours” (Luke 4:6-7). The book of Daniel teaches that there are wicked spirits who are assigned to various leaders. There is no question that some world leaders are but tools of the devil.
Yet at the same time the Bible clearly teaches that God rules in the affairs of men. “For not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert comes exaltation; but God is the judge; He puts down one, and exalts another” (Psalm 75:6-7).
Even more vividly, Nebuchadnezzar was driven to insanity and ate grass like the cattle until he learned that “The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes” (Daniel 4:25b).
How shall we understand this apparent contradiction? Satan’s authority is derived, it is not inherent in his own person. God has given him the rulership of the world, but he exercises his authority within the limitations prescribed by God. God controls the ultimate outcome of whatever decisions Satan may be allowed to make. And, of course, God rules everything according to His own will and to accomplish His own ultimate purpose. Yes, Nero along with Hitler and Stalin were “ordained of God.”
Furthermore, government represents God. Paul wrote, “Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” To resist governmental authority is to resist God. Whether we think a law is fair or not, we have no right to disobey simply because of our own preferences. Government is God-ordained.
But should we always obey the government? No, not always. As we shall see in the final chapter of this book, there is a place for civil disobedience. The history of the Christian church is filled with names of those who believed that they must obey God and not the rules of men.210
Verse 2 continued: “They have been made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” The wine refers to the demonic doctrines, ideologies and concepts produced by this religious/political alliance. In ancient Babylon it involved the mysteries of the mother-child cult and the one-world order of Nimrod and later Nebuchadnezzar. In our day the worship of the queen of heaven is still present (a new face for an old concept) namely, one-world order through social reform and the mysticism of the New Age movement. One idea that has been promoted by liberal Protestantism is we are all God’s children and can come to God in various ways; another is the delusion Satan has promoted from the beginning that we can be like God (Gen. 3:5). This has nothing to do with becoming like the children of God through Christ, but becoming like gods through New Age mysticism. So all racial distinctions, religious distinctions, and social distinctions must be removed. Everyone must learn to get along. Social reform and unification will be promoted as the greatest need of man thereby setting aside the real spiritual needs of men as they are found only in Christ who alone provides the basis for true unity and capacity to love one another.
“Drunkenness” in any form is an escape mechanism and the result of negative volition, indifference, apathy, and rejection of God’s revelation to man in Christ and the Bible. Because of the great negative volition that will exist at the time of the Tribulation, the world will be ripe for the wine of the harlot’s system. Lutzer and DeVries give us an excellent overview of the nature of this intoxicating wine of Babylon. In a section entitled, “Where New Meets Old” they write:
Read the Old Testament and you will be impressed with the number of times the name Babylon appears. The city began when men rebelled against God and attempted to build a tower—called Babel in Genesis 11:9—that would reach to the heavens (Here man was undoubtedly attempting to be like God under Satan’s delusion [parenthesis mine]). From those occult beginnings, Babylon eventually rose to become a dominant power with its sorcery permeating the ancient world. The prophets of God condemned it because it represented all that was most evil in man’s attempts to dethrone God.
What did the Babylonians believe that was so perverse? Isaiah 47:8-11 summarizes their religion:
8 Now, then, hear this, you sensual one, Who dwells securely, Who says in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know loss of children.’ 9 But these two things shall come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood. They shall come on you in full measure In spite of your many sorceries, In spite of the great power of your spells. 10 And you felt secure in your wickedness and said, ‘No one sees me,’ Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’ 11 But evil will come on you Which you will not know how to charm away; And disaster will fall on you For which you cannot atone, And destruction about which you do not know Will come on you suddenly.
Take a close look at the text. Ancient Babylon had a spiritual religion built upon blasphemous premises:
(1) The deity of man—“I am. And there is no one besides me.”
(2) A false belief in triumph over death—“I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children.”
(3) Moral relativism—“Hear this, you sensual one.”
(4) Esotericism, or private enlightenment through mystical spiritual experiences—“Your many sorceries . . the great power of your spells.”
Texe Marrs in his book Dark Secrets of the New Age lists nearly 30 rituals and beliefs found in ancient Babylon that are practiced today in the New Age Movement! Everything from reincarnation to occult meditation was commonplace 3,000 years ago.
The New Testament predicts that at the end of this age the religion of ancient Babylon will again stand in opposition to God. A woman clothed in purple and scarlet is described by the Apostle John as having the mystery name on her forehead, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:5).
We may not be certain that the New Age Movement of today is indeed the final Babylon of Revelation. What we do know is that the final Babylon will practice the same occult religion as that of ancient Babylon. That is the religion which is now sweeping the Western world and gaining widespread acceptance among all levels of our society.
The New Age thus is a revival of the Old Age. And the New Age may well turn out to be the Final Age. For as modern Babylon gains in momentum, it will once again assault the heavens and shake its fist in the face of God …211
Verse 3. “The scarlet beast” refers to the Antichrist. He is scarlet because he is blood-thirsty and will at the right time kill the woman (the religious system). As seen earlier (Rev. 13) he is “filled with names of blasphemy,” which refers to his anti-god character and to the blasphemous claims he will later make (2 Thess. 2:4).
In verse 3 we are told John was taken to a “wilderness.” Obviously, this refers to a desolate, desert-kind of place, but it is designed to picture the world which the woman and beast will rule. It will be full of cities and peoples, but it will be a spiritual desert. There will be no true spiritual food or water from this empty religious system. The world will be starving and dying. This is what religion does for man, it leaves him in the desert.
However, in the desert, God has provided an “oasis,” a place where food and water can be found for those who are seeking. This of course is a picture of Jesus Christ and His plan for feeding the hungry. Today it involves local churches where the Word is taught, but in the Tribulation it will involve the ministry of the 144,000 evangelists of chapters 7 and 14, as well as the two witnesses and others who are saved.
This is our responsibility today, to be an oasis holding forth the Word of life. If we are faithful to do this, individually and corporately, the Lord will give us an open door to those who are thirsty. He will lead us to the hungry and them to us (Rev. 3:7-8).
The woman is described as “clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls.” Purple and scarlet have for centuries been the colors of royalty and of the wealthy. In part they stand for her political power, and in part they point to her religious pomp and trappings. The “gold, precious stones and pearls” refer to her immense wealth. These colors have for centuries been the colors of the Roman Catholic Church, and the wealth of this church is immense. Many believe that Papal Rome will somehow be involved in this last time system, at least in the first half of the Tribulation.
“Having a golden cup” refers to her enticing manner of alluring men and nations. She invites men to drink of her deadly and stupefying wine by offering it in a golden cup, while arrayed in all her splendor.
All of this—the gold and religious trappings—appeals to the sensual, material and religious bent of man’s sinful nature. He admires this, he is awed by it, and it blinds him.
“Abominations and unclean things” may refer to the various forms of idolatry involved in the worship of God through images, statues, and medals, etc. “Unclean things” refers not only to the nature of the doctrines taught, but what they lead to in the life, immorality and impurity. Man’s religion offers no solution to the flesh. It’s the flesh seeking to overcome the flesh and it profits nothing (John 6:63; Col. 2:20-23).
First Timothy 4:1-5 emphasizes that not only are such doctrines demonic and satanic, but gives us one of the primary doctrines of latter day Babylonianism, celibacy among the priests. This has led to horrible atrocities in the Roman Catholic Church. In Chiniquy’s book, Fifty Years in the Roman Catholic Church, he says that a young student priest was questioning a superior about this doctrine of Rome and received the following reply: “You have spoken as a true heretic … you speak of the Holy Scriptures just as a Protestant would, do you appeal to them as the only source of Christian truth and knowledge. Have you forgotten that we have the holy traditions to guide us, the authority of which is equal to the Scriptures?” Later he said: “You are not required to understand all the reasons for the vow of celibacy; but you are bound to believe in its necessity and holiness.”
This nullified Scripture on the basis of human tradition (Mark 7:13). Such a position refuses to allow people to carry out their responsibility to function as Berean believers (Acts 17:11). The idea of celibacy as a means to holiness is absolutely contrary to Scripture. As is always the case, false doctrine produces false practice. The Scriptures teach celibacy (remaining single) should not be embarked upon unless one has the gift of celibacy (Matt. 19:10-12; 1 Cor. 7:7-8). It teaches that marriage is good, a blessing and one of God’s means to avoid fornication; that it is an aid to happiness and a means of avoiding temptation (1 Cor. 7:2, 5, 8). Marriage is a blessing in those without the gift, and even allowable in those who do not have the gift (1 Cor. 7:2, 8, 28). Spiritual leaders such as Peter were married (2 Cor. 9:5).
“And on her forehead was written …” The practice of harlots in ancient times was to write their names on their foreheads for easy recognition, which showed the shamelessness of their character. It revealed a seared conscience from continual rejection of God’s truth.
“Mystery” here is not a part of the name but a description of the name, a secret. Initiation into the mysteries of the cult was always a part of Babylonianism and links this harlot with the ancient system. This connects the new and final system with the ancient system.
“Babylon the Great” is the secret name. It is telling us that Babylon the Great refers not only to the city of chapter 18, but to a religious system, the Babylonianism of ancient time, which will reach its peak in the Tribulation.
“The mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.” First, this points to the source. Besides the concept of origin or source of all spiritual idolatry and false religions, the word “mother” indicates the position the harlot will play in the final days. She will gather all the forms of false religions under her wings for the one great world-wide harlot system.
“And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints …” is a reference to the rampant martyrdom of believers during this time. One good way to promote the one-world church will simply be the annihilation of all opposition.
The Description of the Beast
(17:6b-14)
JOHN’S WONDERMENT AND INTEREST
“And when I saw her (the woman sitting on the beast) I wondered greatly.” “Wondered” is the Greek qaumazw, “to be amazed, surprised,” or “to wonder at something with attentive interest.” Should we not see in this the effect that all doctrine or Bible study should have on our hearts? As we open the Word and study and reflect on its marvelous truth, should it not lead to a spirit of wonder, amazement? We should be keenly interested in the details of God’s revelation, its explanation, and application.
When this is true, something always happens. God sees to it that we have an opportunity to learn and to know (John 7:17; Jer. 29:13). He sends along a Philip or one of His servants as here in Revelation 17 (Acts. 8:26f).
THE ANSWER AND PROMISE OF THE ANGEL (7)
“And the angel said to me ‘Why do you wonder?’” In other words, why do you stand there gawking! Perhaps he was reminding John (and us) of the principle of prayer, “ask and you shall receive …” or “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God …” Nothing thrills the heart of God more than the hungry, searching heart of a believer seeking to know God’s Word.
So the angel promises to tell John about the mystery, the secret concerning the woman and the beast. I suppose from the world’s twisted perspective, this is the story of beauty (man’s viewpoint) and the beast. But there is more. By the angel’s question and description of the woman, however, he shows we should not marvel at the woman which appears in such pompous and religious attire because she is so satanic and thereby destructive and deceptive. We should never be deceived by outward form or religiosity no matter how outwardly attractive or influential or powerful as is the case with this ecumenical and godless system.
THE DESCRIPTION (8-14)
This is the same beast as described in Revelation 13. Actually seven things are stated about this beast beginning with verse 8 and continuing down through verse 14.
(1) Verse 8 describes the beast, the antichrist political system in terms of the past, present and future. The beast is the personification of imperial power. “Was” refers to old Rome, the old Roman empire of John’s day; this is her past. “And is not” refers to the fall of Rome. From John’s standpoint and ours, Rome would fall and pass from the scene; this is her present condition. “And is about to come up …” refers to the revived Roman empire in its final form in the days of the Tribulation; this is her future. This future form is related to the abyss, to Satan (it has a demonic source), but also to destruction. This teaches us that we should not to look for the mere revival of earthly power in the sphere of what was once great and then died away as with other countries. This verse is stressing that this revival of Rome is no natural phenomenon. Behind its rise is Satan himself. For some thoughts on the Book of life, see the Appendix 6.
(2) We are then told in verse 9 that the seven heads of the beast are mountains which, as we saw in the study on chapter 13, refers to seven successive world kingdoms represented by seven former kings (verse 10) all of whom supported the religious system of the harlot. The statement, “Here is the mind that has wisdom” in verse 9 is a warning. Only those who know this truth and accept it will be prepared to recognize and stand against the deception of this future system. Understanding God’s truth always gives us the capacity, if we will use it, to recognize the enemy as the enemy.
(3) Verse 10 tells us that “five are fallen.” As mentioned previously, this refers to the past history of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. “One is” refers to Rome of John’s day, the sixth. “The other is not yet come “ refers to the revived Roman empire, or the Ten Nation Confederation of the first half of the Tribulation and will truly be a work of the Devil. This seventh kingdom will continue only for a little while, specifically, 3 1/2 years (the first half of the Tribulation).
(4) Verse 11 then informs us this beast which was, is not, and would come again actually becomes an eighth kingdom; he is one of the seven and will go into destruction. The revived Roman empire will take on the form of an imperial dictatorship and by this change actually become an eighth kingdom, a whole new and vicious form of government, the blasphemous form seen in Revelation 13. This occurs in the last half of the Tribulation and lasts for 3 1/2 years, but then is destroyed by the return of Christ (Rev. 19).
(5) Verse 12 defines the ten horns. The ten horns become the Ten Nation Confederation of nations that will join together under ten kings. These are nations which were once a part of the old Roman empires. Some time before the Tribulation, these European nations will begin seeking a way to confederate together for political, military and commercial reasons. It is a confederation that will take place partly because of pressure from the king of the north and partly because of a world-wide conspiracy led by Satan in preparation for his end time bid to be worshipped by man and to control the world. These ten nations will form the nucleus of the end time kingdom.
Now remember, in prophecy we sometimes have difficulty distinguishing between the kingdom (governmental system) and the king. One verse will speak of the kingdom and the very next verse switches to the king. Such is the case here. The beast is sometimes the empire and sometimes the Satan-controlled man.
“Who have not yet received …” i.e., this is all future and will occur in the Tribulation. “They receive authority … with the beast” means the beast will probably be one of the kings or certainly one who will rise up from one of the ten nations to take control and become the head of this confederation (Dan. 7:23-24).
(6) Verse 13 then tells us of their league with the super-personality, the one called the beast and the white horse rider of Revelation 6. They will give him their authority and power thinking he can solve the world’s problems and provide a leadership which the world needs against the Communist threat of the king of the north, his allies, the Orient, and solve the Arab-Israel dispute.
(7) In verse 14 we are told they will wage war with the Lamb, but that the Lamb will overcome them as the King of kings and Lord of Lords. This is the subject of chapter 19.
The Destruction of the Harlot
(17:15-18)
THE INTERPRETATION OF THE WATER (15)
By its own interpretation, the text tells us the waters are symbolic. They are symbolic in that they refer to the vast majority of the people of the earth, perhaps with the exception of those countries confederated together with the kings of the north, south, and east. Walvoord writes:
The fact that a symbolic meaning is specifically assigned to it here indicates that this is the exception to the usual rule. The situation described here is one of great political power on the part of the beast but a sharing of rule with the woman who controls the multitudes of the world.212
THE DESOLATION OF THE HARLOT (16)
For centuries the kings and the harlot have appeared as lovers, but there has been no real love between them. They each simply used the other to further their own ends. But now the religious system will have served its purpose, so the ten kings banish and completely destroy the harlot (the religious system). Her wealth, buildings, property will be confiscated, her leaders killed, and everything else destroyed.
SUMMARY OF THESE EVENTS
(1) The time of this event will be about the halfway mark in the Tribulation or Daniel’s seventieth week. It will coincide approximately with the events of Revelation 12 (when Satan is booted out of heaven) and with Ezekiel 38 and 39 (when Russia invades Israel and is destroyed, assuming the king of the north is Russia). This will create the vacuum needed for world control.
(2) During the first half of the seven years, apostate Christendom will flower and establish its power all over the world. Because of the treaty with Israel which allows them to have their temple and peace in Jerusalem, there will undoubtedly be a certain amount of religious freedom during the first three and half years, but not necessarily for true believers in Christ.
(3) There will be wide-spread preaching of the gospel, but genuine believers will be extremely persecuted (17:6). The reason for this is that other religious systems won’t pose a threat to the harlot’s system, they will all be eventually amalgamated, but true genuine Christianity will not join their ranks and will pose a threat; they will therefore be persecuted. The same is true today and we will face greater and greater pressure.
(4) With the beginning of the second half of the week, the leader of the revived Roman empire will proclaim himself dictator of the world. He therefore destroys the world church, probably just prior to this declaration. He will then be free to take over everywhere.
(5) So in the absence of the apostate world church he substitutes the worship of himself (Rev. 13:8).
(6) Two key parallel passages are Daniel 11:36-39 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Here the willful king, the man of sin, puts aside all other deities in favor of worship of himself. This includes Daniel 9:27 and the abomination of desolation.
FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PURPOSES (17)
The divine judgment inflicted follows a pattern and principle. Ancient Babylon was used to bring affliction upon the people of Israel as were Assyria and Egypt, but eventually these same nations that God used were themselves the objects of judgment because they did not act for God, but for themselves.
Verse 17 states the principle that God uses the blasphemous actions of world religions and governments to fulfill His own purposes. The plan of the ages unfolds majestically and Scripture shows that God permits the increasing increments of wickedness until the cup of iniquity overflows, then judgment comes.
In the declaration “God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose,” there is another indication of God’s use of the forces of evil as instruments of his own purposes of judgment (Jer 25:9-14; cf. Lk 20:18). Nothing will distract them from their united effort to destroy the prostitute until God’s purposes given through the prophets are fulfilled (cf. 10:7; 11:18).213
FINAL IDENTIFICATION OF THE WOMAN (L8)
The woman can be identified by the great city in which the final form of Babylonianism will reside. At the present time this appears to be Rome, for this is where Babylonianism today has its headquarters though that is not the emphasis here in this chapter.
The city here according to verse 5 is a mystery, not a literal city. The entire context of chapter 17 supports this interpretation, distinguishing as it does between the city identified with the woman and the political power referred to as the beast and the ten horns.214
Yet it is the great city, the mother city, the archetype of the evil Babylonian system that has been opposed to God throughout history.
209 For an excellent work on this issue and what our forefathers meant by separation of church and state, see The Myth of Separation by David Barton, Wallbuilders, P.O. Box 397, Aledo, TX 76008. The Wallbuilders is an excellent resource regarding our godly heritage.
210 Erwin W. Lutzer, “The Myth the Church Should Have No Voice in Government” Exploding the Myths That Could Destroy America, Moody Press, Chicago, 1986, pp. 159-64.
In Daniel 1:2 Babylon is also called “Shinar”. We first learn about this region in Genesis 11:2. The context is the tower of Babel. Following the great war in heaven where Satan and demons tried to set up their own kingdom apart from God, this demonic effort continued as godless people wanted to make a great city and great name for themselves, complete with a high tower that reached up to the heavens so they could act like god. God creates a Kingdom, Satan counterfeits with Babel.
Seeing this evil, God said that if everyone worked together nothing would be impossible with them and evil would only increase on the earth. To reduce evil on the earth, God confused their languages and scattered the people. The principle is that Satan’s team is often more unified than God’s people. Why? Satan attacks the unity of God’s people and blesses the unholy alliance of those opposed to God. For this reason, Jesus took His longest prayer in John 17 to pray for Christians to have unity and not division. The point is that unified unbelievers are more powerful than divided believers.
Babylon is an ancient nation. But, it is important to note that behind Babylon was the demonic spirit of Babylon. God creates a Kingdom that is called His bride. Satan counterfeits with a kingdom that is called Babylon, the “mother of prostitutes” (Revelation 17:5). The spirit of Babylon is at work in every nation and generation. For this reason, the last book of the Bible, Revelation is closely connected to Daniel as they both have prophecy about the end of human history and beginning of eternity with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Long after the nation of Babylon had ceased to exist, Revelation reveals that the demonic spirit of Babylon remains at work in the world. Here are some examples:
- Revelation 14:8 | Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
- Revelation 16:19 | The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
- Revelation 17:5 | And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
- Revelation 18:1-2 | I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.”
- Revelation 18:10 | They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
- Revelation 18:21 | Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more…”
The demonic spirit of Babylon was in Sodom and Gomorrah, Nazi Germany, is in North Korea and Iran, runs drug cartels and human trafficking, is writing curriculum for students from kindergarten through graduate school, is architecting political platforms and cultural narratives in everything from movies to television shows, and enjoys surfing the internet and causing social media trends. No one, no thing, and no place is immune from the demonic influence of the spirit of Babylon.
How Do We “Come Out of Her?”
First, we need to repent for our indulgence in what Babylon represents in this portion of Scripture; of which a major theme is greed and self-indulgence. We need to repent for thinking more about what we can buy for ourselves than how we can bless others. We need to ask God to forgive us for often forgetting to thank Him for the multitude of things that He has already given to us.
As Americans, most of us live like royalty in one of the wealthiest nations in the history of the world; and yet, we want more. We are driven to improve our standard of life, obsessed with what we still lack. Our national credit card debt alone testifies against us.
Gods hates the spirit of greed – the “Spirit of Babylon.” In addition to inevitably exploiting others, it also lulls us into complacency. The greedy person’s goals in life become petty and foolish–we waste our precious time on earth accumulating things that we can only enjoy for a few years, making a comfortable cocoon around our existence in which we can forget the pain and poverty of others–and then we too, are gone.
Instead of living in a high spiritual plane we become weakened with the cares and love of the world. This brings spiritual blindness, weakness, dullness. The hunger in our hearts that God is longing to fill with Himself, becomes numbed with the placebos of clothing, cars, knickknacks, vacations, food, homes, interior decorations, beauty products, entertainment centers, and toys of every variety.
None of these things are wrong in and of themselves. God desires us to be blessed, not just with things that we need, but also with things that we want. Yet, when more of our passion is poured into them than God, when these things bring us more joy than God, when we spend more time, money and thought on these things than God, something is wrong. It is called idolatry. And idolatry is always a sure path to ruin and destruction.
How Do We Get Free of the “Spirit of Babylon?”
We must begin by repenting of our sins. Repent, means more than being sorry for one’s actions. It means to turn around and go the other way. We need to counteract the spirit of greed and self-absorption with the opposite qualities. In other words, we need to thoughtfully, specifically, and aggressively begin to do the opposite of what we were once doing.
The United States is generally a very generous nation–and we should be. In many ways, we have been given more than any other nation, and “to whom much is given, much is required.” We should not be overly proud of our generosity, as indeed, it is our duty from Heaven’s perspective. What I am suggesting, is that instead of resting on the fact that we have been generous in the past, let us be even more generous than before. Most of us give out of our excess, and not much out of true sacrifice. Now is the time to cultivate a strong dose of generosity in our hearts to kill the subtle greed that has flourished inside of us. We can begin to overcome internal sin by outwardly changing our ways. This is what it means to repent.
Here are some specific suggestions:
- Look in your closet and around your house and honestly assess what you really need at this time. Ask the Lord to help you. Do you really need several new sweaters this fall or a new entertainment center or a trip to another state? If you decide that you can live without that purchase, take the amount of money that you would have spent on yourself and give it away to someone who really needs it.
- Give a hundred dollars, or a thousand dollars – whatever you can afford – to a single mother you know who is struggling to make ends meet.
- Slip a check into the hand of someone you know at church who needs a little extra cash at this time.
- If you have a good job, consider regularly giving part of your income to someone you know who has recently lost their job.
- Give more money to works of the gospel that are always in need of assistance–whether it is a food bank downtown, a missionary overseas, a ministry that has blessed you, or your local church.
- Send some money to help with the relief effort for the Afghan refugees, or those who are starving in Africa and other parts of the world.
- If you don’t have much money, there are other things that you can give. Ask God to show you how to sacrifice and give of your time and resources to be a blessing to others. Believe me, He will give you lots of ideas if you ask Him! If you are poor, it is important to remember that even in your state of poverty, there is always something that you can give, even in the financial realm. If it is just $5.00, give that. Rich or poor, if you are a child of God, then you are able to be a blessing to others, and it is crucial that you see yourself in this way. We are called to be conduits of blessing to those around us.
- Most of all, call out to God for forgiveness of whatever sin of greed and complacency that He may reveal to you in your own heart. We all need Holy Spirit-empowered grace to honestly assess our own hearts, and change our ways. If you recognize the spirit of greed in your life, begin to deliberately counteract it with giving. Greed cannot survive for long once we begin to discover the great joy in sharing and blessing others
Babylon symbolizes evil.
God destroyed Babylon, a wicked city in the ancient world (see Isaiah 13:19–22; Jeremiah 51:37, 52–58).
Babylon has become the symbol of the wickedness and evils of the world (see D&C 133:14; Revelation 17:5; 18:2; D&C 86:3).
Spiritual Babylon will fall in utter ruin.
Prophets have foretold the fall of Babylon the great (see Isaiah 21:9; D&C 1:16; Revelation 18:21; D&C 35:11).
The Saints of God are commanded to flee out of the midst of Babylon (see D&C 133:5, 7, 14–15; Jeremiah 51:6; Revelation 18:2–4).
The Lord will not spare anyone that remains in spiritual Babylon (see D&C 64:24).
All the righteous will rejoice that righteousness has replaced wickedness at the eventual fall of Babylon (see Revelation 18:2, 10, 20; 19:1–3).
Zion is the name given by the Lord to His righteous Saints.
Zion is the pure in heart in any day, in any time, in any place (see D&C 97:21).
The people of Zion are of one heart and one mind; they dwell in righteousness, and there are no poor among them (see Moses 7:18).
Zion is a place of holiness and beauty (see Psalm 50:2; Isaiah 4:5; D&C 82:14).
The Lord is the founder and sustainer of Zion (see Isaiah 14:32; 60:14; D&C 97:19).
In his day Enoch built a city of Zion, which was translated and taken from the earth (see Moses 7:18–21).
The law will go forth from Zion (see 2 Nephi 12:2–5).
As spiritual Babylon ripens in iniquity, a great latter-day Zion will be established.
Zion and her stakes will be a place of peace and safety for the Saints of God (see D&C 45:66, 68–70; 82:14; 101:21; 115:5–6).
Zion can be built only upon celestial principles (see D&C 105:5).
The center place for the latter-day Zion is Independence, Jackson County, Missouri (see D&C 57:1–3).
The latter-day Zion will be called the New Jerusalem (see D&C 45:65–66; 3 Nephi 20:22; D&C 84:2–5; Ether 13:3, 6, 8).
The establishment of Zion will come by power, for all who fight against her will be destroyed (see D&C 103:15; 1 Nephi 22:14; 2 Nephi 6:13).
The great latter-day Zion and the City of Enoch will merge in the latter days (see Moses 7:62–64; D&C 84:99–100).
Supporting Statements
Babylon symbolizes evil.
“Anciently Babylonwas the chief and capital city of the Babylonian empire. …
“… To the Lord’s people anciently, Babylon was known as the center of iniquity, carnality, and worldliness. Everything connected with it was in opposition to all righteousness and had the effect of leading men downward to the destruction of their souls” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 68–69).
“Babylon was also destroyed by Xerxes in 478 B.C. and again after Alexander the Great overran the Persian empire in 330 B.C. A rival city was soon built on the Tigris, and Babylon never recovered. Today the greatest world city of antiquity is a mound of desert earth that will not rise again. Babylon the great has fallen forever” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah,423–24).
“In prophetic imagery, Babylon is the world with all its carnality and wickedness. Babylon is the degenerate social order created by lustful men who love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Babylon is the almighty governmental power that takes the saints of God into captivity; it is the false churches that build false temples and worship false gods; it is every false philosophy … that leads men away from God and salvation. Babylon is false and degenerate religion in all its forms and branches. Babylon is the communistic system that seeks to destroy the freedom of people in all nations and kingdoms; it is the Mafia and crime syndicates that murder and rob and steal; it is the secret combinations that seek for power and unrighteous dominion over the souls of men. Babylon is the promoter of pornography; it is organized crime and prostitution; it is every evil and wicked and ungodly thing in our whole social structure” (McConkie, Millennial Messiah, 424).
Spiritual Babylon will fall in utter ruin.
“Alas! the nations are in a deep sleep! They are drunken with the abominations of great Babylon! Their cup of wickedness is nearly full! It will soon overflow! Then shall the day of their visitation come—a day of sorrow and mourning—a day of great distress—a day of peril and war! The hosts of the mighty shall fall! The strength of the nations shall cease, and their glory shall pass away! … Then shall the remnant of the heathen know that the Lord is God, for they shall see and hear of his judgments, which he shall execute upon the corrupt powers of the earth. … O Babylon! thou hast decked thyself with costly ornaments! Thou hast clothed thyself with the most gaudy apparel! … Thine external appearance has excited the admiration of all nations. But internally thou art rotten. … Thou hast gathered the tares of the earth, and bound them in bundles, and made their bands strong, that they may be ready for the burning. O Babylon, thy cup is nearly full! Thine hour is close at hand! Thou shalt fall and not rise again!” (Orson Pratt, Masterful Discourses and Writings of Orson Pratt,86–87).
“Here is a truism that all men should hear: Babylon fell, and her gods with her; and Babylon shall fall, and her gods with her. False gods create an evil society. The world is the world, and Babylon is Babylon, because they worship false gods. When men worship the true God according to gospel standards, their social conditions rival those in Enoch’s city; when men worship false gods, they fall into the ways of the world, and their social conditions become as those in Babylon. When we view the fall of Babylon anciently, what we see is the destruction of her idols and ways of worship; and we shall come to the fall of Babylon in the last days, it will be—oh blessed day—the destruction of false worship. … The great and abominable church shall tumble to the dust. False worship shall cease” (McConkie, Millennial Messiah,429–30).
The Birth of Babylon: The historical drama of Babylon began on the plains of Shinar, where the first world dictator established the world’s first religious center. The dictator’s name was Nimrod, which means “we will revolt”. The beginning of this kingdom was Babel, or Babylon (Gen. 10:8-10). Under this leader, the first united religious act was performed, the building of a tower “whose top would reach into the heavens” (Gen 11:4).
These people were smart enough to know that they couldn’t build a tower through which they could climb up to where God lives. That wasn’t of interest to them. They were already studying the stars and the moon and were codifying the first system of astrology. The tower was to aid them in better observation of the stars. It was, in essence, an astrological observatory. Many centuries later, when God pronounced future judgment on Babylon, He said that “She had labored with sorceries and astrology from her youth,” indicating that these were practiced in Babylon from her very beginning in history (see Isaiah 47:12-13).
Babylon and the Harlot: When the angel told John that he would tell him the mystery of the woman, he meant that this Harlot, the false religious system, would have as its main teachings the same occultic practices as ancient Babylon. It would include black magic, demon contact, seances, miraculous materializations, witchcraft, astrology and sorcery. We know that the ancient city of Babylon was ruled by this occultic influence, but not many people are aware that the religion of Babylon passed from empire to empire until the days of ancient Rome.
The mystery that John was seeking to unveil for his readers was that religious Babylon would be revived to control the last great world power in the last days of history. This religion will be an occultic amalgamation of all the world’s religions. For the first 3-1/2 years of the Tribulation, it will enjoy a position of great power and influence over the Revived Roman Empire and its leader, the Antichrist.
Nimrod, or Nimroud-bar-Cush, was a grandson of Ham, the unworthy son of Noah. Noah had brought through the flood, the revelation of the true God. Ham on the other hand seems to have been all too readily affected by the apostasy that brought the flood, for he shows no evidence of self judgment. His name means “swarthy,” “darkened”, or more literally, “the sunburnt.” And the name indicates the state of the man’s soul, darkened by light from heaven. Ham begat a son named Cush, “the black one,” and he became the father of Nimrod, the apostate leader of his generation.
Ancient lore now comes to our assistance, and tells us that the wife of Nimroud-bar-Cush was the infamous Semiramis the First. She is reputed to have been the foundress of the Babylonian mysteries and the first high priestess of idolatry. Thus, Babylon became the fountain head of idolatry, and the mother of every heathen and pagan system in the world. The mystery religion that was there originally spread in various forms throughout the whole earth and is with us today, and shall have its fullest development when the Holy Spirit has departed and the Babylon of the Apocalypse holds sway.
Building on the primeval promise of the woman’s Seed who was to come, Semiramis bore as one whom she declared was miraculously conceived! And when she presented him to the people, he was hailed as the promised deliverer. This was Tammuz, whose worship Ezekiel protested against in the days of the captivity. Thus, was introduced the mystery of the mother and the child, a form of idolatry that is older than any other known to man. The rites of this worship were secret. Only the initiated were permitted to know its mysteries. It was Satan’s effort to delude mankind with an imitation so like the truth of God that they would not know the true Seed of the woman when He came in the fullness of time.
Dr. Clarence Larkin, in his book Dispensational Truth, includes these interesting details: 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 Capitol 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 133 B.C.), 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 74 B.C.). And then (in 63 B.C.), 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 366 A.D.), through the influence of the monks of Mt. Carmel, a college of Babylonian religion originally founded by the priests of Jezebel. So (in 378 A.D.), 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 Damascus was made “Supreme Pontiff” the “rites” of Babylon began to come to the front. The worship of the Virgin Mary was set up (in 381 A.D.). 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 519 A.D.). 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.
After reading the above quotation, you may think me anti Catholic says Tim LaHaye, but that isn’t exactly true: I am anti false religion he states. For example, he is opposed to any religious system that has enough of the truth to deceive the faithful and enough of the false to damn its followers. A false religion is worse than no religion at all. In some respects, the religion of Rome is more dangerous than no religion because she substitutes religion for truth. Human beings would be better off with their God given desire for truth unfulfilled that they might seek after Him.
Rome’s false religion too often gives a false security that keeps people from seeking salvation freely by faith. Rome is also dangerous because some of her doctrines are pseudo Christian. For example, she believes properly about the personal deity of Christ but errs in adding Babylonian mysticism in many forms and salvation by works.
What is the will of God in regard to the Babylonian system? That she be annihilated. I am not suggesting that Christians attack her and seek to exterminate her, states Tim LaHaye. Instead, our responsibility is to “come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing” (2 Cor. 6:17b), leaving her destruction to God, who will use the ten kings of the Tribulation period as His agents.
The true Church of Jesus Christ must not sink into the pitfall of the religious phobia of our day, which is “religious unity.” I am reminded of a statement I once heard attributed to Charles Haddon Spurgeon, that “you cannot have unity without forsaking truth, and to forsake truth for the sake of unity is to betray Jesus Christ.” May God help us to be faithful to Him in these last days.
Every false religion in the world can be traced back to Babylon. Even before its citizens tried to build the Tower of Babel, Satan had made that city his headquarters and introduced idolatry, the first secret societies, and many of the religious practices that continue to the present day. These eventually appeared as the foundational teachings for Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Gaia worship, and a host of other cultic systems summed up in the Bible as “Mystery Babylon”.
Gaia is the name of the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth, and as a name it was recently revived to refer to the hypothesis formed by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, who postulate that the whole biosphere may be alive in that the Earth’s life forms are themselves responsible for regulating the conditions that make life on the planet possible.
David Spangler recently was invited to a worship service and celebration in which Gaia was specifically incorporated as a source of spiritual nourishment and help. In ritual and song, the participants called upon the “Spirit of Gaia” to heighten their awareness of their connections with the earth and to fill them with love and compassion for all creatures and for the physical environment as a whole.
If Babylon is the mother of all false religions and Jerusalem is the mother of true faith (since Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected there), then Rome is the mother of an unholy mixture of the two. One of the things that impress tourists visiting Rome is its incredible religious history. It existed long before the Romans rose to power and today displays the ruins of many pagan religions, all of them received from Babylon. By the time Paul and other Christians got to Rome, the city had become not only the capital of a world empire, thus the center of civilization and the most important city in the world, but also the center of pagan “Mystery Babylon” religion. Satan had moved his spiritual headquarters from Babylon to Rome even before the birth of Christ.
When Constantine made his “confession of faith” in the 4th century, (if indeed that is what it was), he turned over to the Christian leaders the temples of the pagans that, according to the official tour books of Rome, included: The Greek divinities, Athena, that had become Minerva, Ares became Mars, Aphrodite became Venus. Apollo retained its Greek name, thus the Greek god of mythology became the Roman Olympus. The temple of Isis, straight from Babylon, was there, along with the Egyptian Campus Martius, many oriental divinities including Mithras, the Persian God of the Sun.
Self Serving Translations: Here we must issue a word of caution. Unfortunately, some of the cults have tampered with the biblical text in order to promote their own peculiar doctrines. Obviously, any teachings that require an alteration of God’s Word for their support are not authentic. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are an example. They deny so much biblical doctrine, including the deity of Christ and salvation by grace through faith, that they have found it necessary to produce their own New World Translation.
It is not, however, a translation from the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, but a self serving perversion, as a comparison with numerous other more widely accepted translations will quickly reveal. Their proprietary “Bible” was specifically designed to support their peculiar heresies. The Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible is another case in point. In its attempt to glorify Mary, it has long rendered this passage from Genesis as follows: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel”. So Mary, not the Messiah, is presented as the one who will destroy Satan. The marginal note says, (“In art, Mary is frequently pictured with her foot on the head of a serpent”).
One of the striking characteristics of Roman Catholicism is that it contains a complete sacerdotal (priest based) system not supported by Scripture. This system includes worship of a wafer, adoration of a goddess, prayers to and for the dead, infant baptism, confession to a priest, confiscation of God's grace to be dispensed through a system of sacraments, suffering for one's own sins after death in purgatory, a celibate hierarchy topped by an infallible pope who claims to be Christ's vice president on earth, no assurance of salvation, bowing to idols, worship of relics, repetitious prayers, etc.
None of these teachings can be solidly backed by the Bible. Many are expressly forbidden.
So, where did these come from? Were they just thought up along the way by imaginative pastors as the church grew? Or were they possibly part of other worship systems existing previously and along side the expanding church? Over a hundred years ago a brilliant Bible scholar named Alexander Hislop determined to find out. After many years of research in hundreds of volumes, he produced a timeless classic which details the origins of these anti-biblical beliefs.
As he traced their histories, incredibly, all trails led to ancient Babylon. There, in the shadow of the infamous tower of Babel he found their source. Shortly after Noah exited the ark, men quickly forgot God's judgment in the flood and set out to rebuild another culture of rebellion like the one God had destroyed. Refusing to worship the Creator, they set up an elaborate priestcraft system to worship God's creation: the sun, moon and sacred stones and His creatures: snakes, birds, bugs, kings and queens. Hislop documented in amazing detail how the Roman Catholic Madonna is just a modernized Babylonian Semiramis; the wafer worship is extracted from sun worship which was almost universal in the pagan world. The characteristics of wheat flour and round shape are traceable in history to requirements for cakes of an "unbloody sacrifice" to the sun god. Even the IHS imprint, according to Hislop, would have been interpreted by the pagan Egyptian to represent his chief deities, Isis, Horus and Seb.
Part of the pagan ceremony included eating the ceremonial cakes. The early apostate church leaders could not pass up the opportunity to pervert the meaning of the Lord's instructions at the last supper, in order to tighten the bondage of the people to the priesthood. This power mechanism had been fine tuned by the pagan priests for thousands of years. Hislop traces the papal system of sacramental grace obtained by good works and rituals back to a merit system which originated in Babylon under Nimrod and his queen. From there it spread universally as the expanding population carried paganism into each new colony of mankind.
Even baptismal regeneration was an early concept taught in Nimrod's system of rebellion. Hislop cites quotations from early writers describing pagan infant baptismal rites for not only cleansing from sin but exorcising demons. These ceremonies are strikingly similar to Roman Catholic infant baptism.
And so on down the list of anti-biblical papal dogmas, Hyslop's book, The Two Babylons, ties them all in one way or another to Nimrod's Babylonian "mysteries" the fountainhead of all idolatry which spread throughout the world. Roman Catholicism is nothing more than ancient paganism in a space suit, finely programmed to seduce the modern man who prefers to cover his rebellion with ritual, rather than submit to a loving, personal Savior.
The first book of the Bible introduces this wicked man and his kingdom – centered in Babel. The last book of the Bible, chapters 17 and 18, describes God’s utter destruction of Babylon in the last days. The prophetic destruction includes the wicked city itself, as well as the rebellious religion it generated. This article will focus initially on the Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis, as she was instrumental in the formation of the wicked “mystery religion of Babylon.” It will then explain how Nimrod’s father, Cush and ultimately Nimrod, himself, were incorporated into this system of worship. Euhemerus was an ancient Greek mythographer who lived around 300 BC. He wrote that gods and their associated legends arose from the deification of dead human heroes.[i]
One legend of ancient history regarding Semiramis describes Nimrod meeting Semiramis while she was a brother owner in Uruk.[ii] This probably occurred when Nimrod was consolidating control over that city. The history of queen/goddess as prostitute/brothel owner is not the material of good legends. Therefore, subsequent legends arose which portrayed her as a mythic fertility goddess and mother of the gods. All attempts to trace the origin of goddess worship lead ultimately to one single woman of ancient history – Semiramis.[iii] She promoted deification of Nimrod and herself after his death. God’s judgment and Nimrod’s execution forced the ‘mystery religion’ underground for a while. Its adherents realized the danger of practicing their religion in the public domain. Hence, the name “mystery religion of Babylon” refers to its secretive nature. However, Semiramis commanded total authority over her subjects and clandestinely indoctrinated the priesthood with this mystery religion. Priests and astrologers obeyed her commands and aggressively marketed the mystery religion. Ancient Sumerians knew Semiramis as the goddess Inanna. People adored her, especially in her home city of Uruk. They erected many temples to commemorate her as the goddess of sexual love and fertility. This description of her mythical duties was likely an exaggeration of her true life as a prostitute. Historical truth often grows to superhuman feats in mythology. Ancient mythology depicts Semiramis as ascending to heaven as a dove, where she became the fertility and queen goddess, Inanna.
Inanna’s son and husband was Tammuz, the sun god. Sumerians worshipped the mother/son duo. After human dispersion at the Tower of Babel, worship of the fertility goddess and mother/son duo continued across the ancient world, but the names changed in different locations – due, of course to the different languages. Inanna (Semiramis) was known as Ishtar in Babylon, Isis in Egypt and the son/husband was Osiris – the sun god. There is an inscription engraved in an Egyptian temple of Isis that reads: “I am all that has been, or that is, or that shall be. No mortal has removed my veil. The fruit which I have brought forth is the sun.”[iv] The sun was Osiris – deified Nimrod.
She was worshipped as Venus in Rome (counterpart Cupid), and Aphrodite in Greece. She was also called Diana/Artemis – great fertility goddess of the Ephesians. Worship of this goddess became a roadblock in the apostle Paul’s early mission to the city of Ephesus, as mentioned in the book of Acts 19:23-41. The Old Testament records the name of this fertility goddess of the Canaanites as Ashteroth (Baal’s counterpart – Jdg. 2:12; 3:7, 1 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 21:7). She became a stumbling block for the Jews and their leaders who first settled this area for many generations. The prophet, Jeremiah, prophesied about the worship of this goddess:
The women added, ‘When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?’ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, ‘Did not the Lord remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? When the Lord could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did your land became an object of cursing and a desolate was without inhabitants, as it is today. Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed Him or followed His law or His decrees or His stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.’ – Jeremiah 44:19-23
Semiramis became a powerful ruler in Mesopotamia following the death of Nimrod. The Sumerian name Sammur-amat was the original name of this woman.[v] This suggests the ancient civilization of Sumeria may have taken their name from her. The name Sammur-amat is translated ‘Gift of the Sea.’ The first part of this name, Sammur, becomes Shinar when translated into Hebrew. The land of Shinar is the Biblical name for the region of southern Mesopotamia. Both the Sumerians and their land of Shinar (Sumer) were likely named after this notorious woman! Most anthropologists credit the Sumerians with the beginning of human civilization.
Semiramis ruled for more than forty years after Nimrod’s death. Her son was likely Gilgamesh, and he ruled after her. The famous Gilgamesh epic is quite similar to the Biblical flood story, except he is the central figure.
The ‘mystery religion of Babylon’ probably originated in the evil mind of Semiramis. Nimrod and Cush also contributed significantly to its development. Many learned individuals have taught polytheism was the evolutionary forerunner of monotheism. However, polytheism began in the minds of Cush, Nimrod and Semiramis, who heavily suffused the mystery religion of Babylon with human deification.
Deified Cush was revered as several gods of ancient mythology. Canaanites worshipped him as Bel or Baal, and he was their most important God. Baal worship was an abomination to God and a major factor provoking His judgment on the Canaanites and Israelites. The prophet, Jeremiah, spoke the Word of God to the Israelites who had participated in Baal worship.
Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned sacrifices in it to gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. They have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.
God executed that judgment shortly thereafter, when King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army destroyed Jerusalem. Many Jews who survived the onslaught were taken to Babylon to live the rest of their lives in slavery.
Babel means ‘the gate of god,’ but it can also mean “son of Bel.” Perhaps Nimrod named the city of Babel after himself, as the son of Bel (Cush).
The Egyptians commemorated Cush as the god Hermes, which means ‘son of Ham.’ Hermes was recognized as the author of religious rites and the interpreter of the gods. Ancient mythology describes Hermes as the interpreter of languages. Mercury was another name for the god Hermes. Mercury purportedly divided the speech of men. The name, Bel, also means “the Confounder.”[vi] Cush likely assisted in the planning and building of the Tower of Babel. He initiated the rebellion against God. Indeed, he named his son Nimrod, which means, ‘to rebel.’ The mythological names of Cush suggest his sin was an inciting cause for God’s worldwide judgment – the confusion of languages. Cush was known as the ancient god Janus, and all gods supposedly originated from him. People of antiquity recorded a statement Janus reportedly made about himself: “The ancients…. called me Chaos.”[vii] Chaos is the “god of confusion” and is derived from the name Cush. The symbol connected with Janus is a club, and its Babylonian name means ‘to break in pieces,’ or ‘to scatter abroad.’ The sin of Cush broke the one language of mankind and caused the chaos of languages that scattered men abroad. Janus and Vulcan are names for the same god. Vulcan broke and divided the world with a stroke of his well-known hammer.[viii]
Nimrod forced his subjects to worship him as a military and political hero. He proclaimed himself high priest of the ‘mystery religion of Babylon.[ix] Semiramis deified Nimrod after his death.[x]
Nimrod’s Babylonian followers worshipped him as Marduk – the god of war and fortresses. The Sumerians built the gigantic ziggurat of Etemenanki to honor their supreme god, Marduk. Many believe this ziggurat was the Tower of Babel. The name, Marduk, was altered by various civilizations of the ancient world due to the languages given at the Tower of Babel. His Akkadian name was Amarutuk. The Egyptians named him Osiris, the Phoenicians referred to him as Tammuz, and in Canaan he became the sun god of fire – Molech. Canaanite parents often sacrificed their first born to this god by placing the child in the outstretched hands of a large statue of Molech, while a blazing fire raged beneath. This horrible form of idol worship incited God’s judgment upon the Canaanite people and also upon the Israelites, as they participated in this worship.
Leviticus 20:2 Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. – Also refer to Jer 49:1 and Jer 32:33-35.
Should people of this present age be concerned God might judge a world of people who have murdered millions of their children on the altar of abortion? Indeed, clear scriptural references suggest the detestable practice of child sacrifice incited God’s terrible wrath on multiple occasions. God often judged His own people, the Israelites, more severely than the pagans adhering to these practices.
Nimrod became the Roman god Bacchus, which means, ‘the son of Cush.’ Bacchus was god of wine and revelry. Marduk was also the Roman god Kronos, whose name means, ‘the horned one.’ Ancient artists often depicted Nimrod wearing a crown of bullhorns. Kronos was also the Roman god Saturn, who devoured his own sons as soon as they were born.[xi] “The Phoenicians every year sacrificed their beloved and only begotten children to Kronos, or Saturn; and the Rhodesians often did the same.” [xii]
Nimrod’s followers assigned him many mythical names that implicate works achieved only by the true Son of God, Jesus Christ. These counterfeit names deceptively attracted multitudes to worship Nimrod. People north of Mesopotamia commonly knew him as Ninus, “the son.”[xiii] Nimrod was called Zoraster, which means “the seed of Aster” (Ishtar-Semiramis). People revered Zoraster through the generations as the promised seed of the woman, destined to bruise the head of the serpent in Genesis 3:15.[xiv] Zoroastrianism rests on this foundational doctrine. Greeks deified Nimrod as the god, Adonis.[xv] Adonai means “The Lord.” Greeks also knew Nimrod as Dionysus, “the sin bearer,”[xvi] and gave homage to him as Zeus, ‘the savior,[xvii]and Mithras, “the mediator.”[xviii] The Babylonians worshipped Nimrod as El-Bar, or “god, the son.” Archeologists in the ancient city of Nineveh have unearthed sculptures inscribed with this name.
People of ancient civilizations worshipped deified Nimrod in conjunction with snakes, serpents, and dragons. Nimrod appropriated the dragon and the snake as his personal emblems, and from this association various myths about gods and serpents originated in antiquity. (Http/www.1dolphin.org/Nimrod.html; author Bryce Self). These likely symbolized his satanic connection. Many Scriptures in the Bible identify Satan as the great serpent. Greek and Roman mythology abound with serpent lore, and their artisans frequently sculpted popular gods with serpent representations. Many Hamitic civilizations (Ethiopians, Hittites, Chinese, Japanese, and American Indians) have favorably portrayed dragons and serpents. The Egyptians depicted their sun god, Osiris, as the sun surrounded by a serpent.[xix] Artists generally painted dragons and serpents a fiery red color to suggest their association with the sun. Sun and serpent worship began simultaneously in antiquity.[xx] The Canaanites clearly understood the connection between sun god, Molech, and serpent worship.[xxi] Even Roman mythology repeatedly illustrates an affiliation between a serpent and the fire god and they were worshipped together.
The Apostle Paul wrote in the Epistle of the Romans 1:21-23:
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor gave thanks to Him; but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man, and birds, and animals, and creeping things.
Perhaps the last word in this verse refers to the worship of serpents – even Satan, himself.
A very interesting Biblical reference describing a dragon is located in the prophetic New Testament Book of Revelation (Rev. 12:1-5):
A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to His throne.
The pregnant woman described in this passage is God’s chosen nation, Israel. The infant represents the Seed of the woman, prophesied thousands of years earlier in Genesis 3:15. The child awaits delivery by the laboring woman (Israel). She is God’s chosen nation through which His Seed – the Son of God – would come. The fearsome red dragon depicted here is the same fiery red dragon portrayed with the sun god in the mystery religion of Babylon. The dragon is none other that Satan, himself. He is portrayed here, eagerly awaiting the birth of the prophesied Seed so he can devour Him. Satan has feared the prophesied Seed since God pronounced the curse in the Garden of Eden. God has provided clues throughout Biblical history suggesting the lineage of His Seed. From the beginning of time, Satan has done everything in his power to destroy that lineage. Old Testament Scriptures record the history of this momentous conflict over the millennia preceding the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Satan’s multiple attempts to destroy the Seed are chronicled in the pages of God’s Word. A thorough discussion of these attempts is not within the scope of this article. Nevertheless, the dragon did await the birth of that infant (Jesus). When the woman (Israel – Mary) bore the child, the fiery serpent finally had an opportunity to devour her Seed. Herod’s massacre of infants in the city of Bethlehem was a horrific attempt to accomplish that goal. Satan ultimately attempted to destroy God’s promised Seed by crucifying the Christ. The crucifixion initially appeared to accomplish his goal, but Satan failed that attempt also – fortunately for mankind. He had not anticipated the resurrection of God’s Son. Thereafter, Satan realized his time was short, for the son’s destiny is to terminate Satan’s reign over the world of mankind.
The previous verse from the Book of Revelation explains the Child was taken up to God’s throne. The resurrected Seed ascended to sit at God’s right hand. The Seed of God lives today, and one day He will deliver the mortal blow to the dragon. That Seed is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who will rule the nations with an iron scepter, as illustrated in this same verse.
[i] Diodorus of Sicily: The Library of History– book VI.
[ii] http:www.onesimus @ix.netcom; author Bryce Self
[iii] Alexander Hislop: The Two Babylons; pp 5, 20-21, 30-31, 74-75, 141)
[iv] Alexander Hislop: The Two Babylons; p. 77).
[v]http:www.assyriansocietycanada.org/legend_of_semiramis.htm; http:www.onesimus @ix.netcom; author Bryce Self
[vi] Alexander Hislop: The Two Babylons; p. 26.
[vii] Alexander Hislop: The Two Babylons; p. 26
[viii] Alexander Hislop: The Two Babylons; p. 26-28.
[ix] Henry Morris; The Genesis Record; p. 265.
[x] Alexander Hislop; The Two Babylons; pp. 5, 69-70.
[xi] (ibid. p. 231).
[xii] Eusebius; “De Laud, Constantini;” chapter 13; p. 267.
[xiii] Alexander Hislop: The Two Babylons; p. 23-25.
[xiv] ibid, pp. 59, 61-67, 71, 120-121, 170, 180, et al).
[xv] ibid, P. 70
[xvi] ibid; pp 71-72.
[xvii] ibid; p. 72
[xviii] ibid; p. 70
[xix] ibid, pp. 227-228.
[xx] ibid, p. 227).
[xxi] ibid, pp. 228-232.
Bibliography:
- The Bible
- ‘Nimrod – Darkness in the Cradle of Civilization’ by Steven Merrill
- The Book of Josher
- The Jerusalem Tar gum
- ‘The Two Babylons’ by Alexander Hislop
- ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ by Flavius Josephus
- ‘The History of Herodotus.’ Groelier Classics
- ‘The Genesis Record’ by Henry Morris
- ‘De Laud, Constantini’ by Eusebius
- ‘Library of History – Books I-IV,’ by Diodorus Siculus
- 11.‘Collected Works of Hugh Nibley,’ Volume 5, Part 2
While reasons will be given later to support this, two different aspects of Babylon are contemplated in these chapters, two separate aspects of Babylon and her fall (perhaps suggested by the repetition of the phrase “is fallen” in 18:2 and 14:8). Chapter 17 describes Babylon in its mystery form, as a religious system or spirit of false worship; chapter 18 describes Babylon as a political and commercial system embodied in a city, the city of Babylon of the future. So we have two Babylons: religious Babylon and political Babylon. As mentioned at the conclusion of chapter 16, these two chapters do not continue the chronological sequence of events (they do not follow the seven bowls). In fact, nothing does except the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the judgments associated with His return.
Instead, chapters 17 and 18 are an amplification of one of the main features of the Tribulation, the place, function, and final judgment of Babylon. Chapter 17, which deals with the destruction of religious Babylon, would have to occur somewhere around the middle of the Tribulation when the beast is finished using her as a means to his rise to power. Chapter 18 describes the destruction of political (economic or commercial) Babylon as it is embodied in the city of Babylon, the headquarters of the beast. The destruction undoubtedly occurs at the seventh bowl when the great city of 16:19, along with other cities, fall in the great earthquake.
Seeing and understanding this concept of the two Babylon— the religious and politico-economic—is the key to understanding chapters 17 and 18.
Some believe there are two prominent cities representing two prominent systems and both are called Babylon. The first is Rome, the head of the religious system in the first half, which is also entrenched in the political realm as she has always been ( 17:18). The other city is the capitol of the great political and commercial system of the last half of the Tribulation after the woman is destroyed (the religious system), and when the beast assumes his great power. This will be his primary headquarters, though a secondary headquarters will be Jerusalem, when he carries out the abomination of desolation. However, since the religious aspect, even as seen in Rome today, had its beginnings in ancient Babylon or Babylonianism, the great city mentioned in 17:18 most likely refers to the rebuilt city of Babylon because this city and this name personifies the whole system religiously, politically, and commercially.
Chapter 17 is in part an amplification of chapter 13 in that it shows us one of the ways the beast and his political system rise to power. He uses the religious influence and power of the woman, the religious system of mystery Babylon. This system will have its tentacles in every part of the world where there is any kind of religion at all, apostate Christendom (the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, Protestant unbelieving churches), the Jewish religion, and the cults. These will all come together in one great ecumenical movement, a super world religion, and the beast will use this to extend his authority and power throughout Europe, parts of Africa and perhaps the Americas. Chapter 18 is an amplification of the last bowl described in 16:17-21.
Babylon is mentioned 260 times in Scripture, and is second in importance only to Jerusalem. Biblically it is viewed as the Devil’s city while Jerusalem is viewed as God’s city. They are always seen in opposition to each other. Babylon is the result of apostasy against God’s plan of salvation, the first international, political and religious ecumenical movement in the history of man, and one which has never ceased to exist in one form or another. Jerusalem is the result of God’s call of a man and a nation to perpetuate His plan of salvation and nationalism for the world.
As mentioned, there seems to be two aspects or faces of Babylon, one is religious and is in existence today, and one is political and commercial. Babylon embodies one great Satanic system. Certain questions naturally arise. Will this last day Babylon encompass different geographical locations or cities like Rome as well as a rebuilt Babylon on the Euphrates? In other words, will there be two literal cities? Or will it be the same city viewed in different ways under different circumstances?
The Origin and
Explanation of Mystery BabylonIts Location
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).
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:
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?t section 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.”
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.”
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).
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.
The Sign of the Cross
The sign of the cross as used in Rome, did not originate with Christianity as many assume, but came right out of mystery Babylon. It represented the mystic Tau, the letter “T” and the initial for the name Tammuz. It was seen as follows:
These symbols were used on the official garments of the priests of Babylonia and worn around their necks on chains, just as in Rome today.
Bacchus, another name for Tammuz, was represented with a headband covered with crosses.
This is not all. Much of what one finds in Rome can be traced back to the Babylonian mysteries; the holy water, the keys of the Pope, the fables of Mary, the clothing and images, the statues which shed tears or winked, the rosary, the sacred heart, the lamps and candles, the wafer changed into God, the priests and nuns, and the Pontifex-Maximus.
Charles Chiniquy, a man who was 50 years in the Roman Church and 25 years a Roman priest said: “It was certainly our desire, as well as our interest, to believe them (the dogmas, precepts and practices of Rome). But how our faith was shaken, and how we felt troubled when Livy, Tacitus, Cicero, Virgil, Homer, etc., gave us evidence that the greater part of these things had their root and origin in paganism.” Of course he meant by this, mystery Babylon.
He then went on to give an illustration and told how they had been told to trust in the scapulars (the sleeveless outer garment of a priest or monk), medals, holy water, etc., because they would keep them safe and aid in battling the temptations of life. But, how again their faith was shaken when in reading the Greek and Latin historians, they found the same things involved with the worship of Jupiter, Minerva, Diana and Venus (the mother-child cult). He said they asked each other (fellow students) the question, “what is the difference between the religion of heathen Rome and that of Rome today?” More than one student would answer, “the only difference is in the name.” The idolatrous temples are the same, the idols have not left their places, the incense still burns in their honor. Instead of calling this statue Jupiter, we call it Peter, and instead of calling another Minerva or Venus, we call it St. Mary. It is the old idolatry coming to us under Christian names.
What brought about the transference of mystery Babylon over into Christianity and the rise of what we know as Romanism or Roman Catholicism? Remember, we are identifying present day religious Babylonianism. We have already seen the similarities and origin, but what made the transfers.
In A.D. 312, Constantine, Emperor of Rome was marching against Maxentius from France into Italy. The story goes that he had a vision in which he saw a cross, or perhaps the letter, “X” the initial of Christ. With this was the inscription “conquer by this.” He determined that if he was victorious he would make Christianity the legal and official religion of the Roman world. So, taking this as the sign of God, he did as he was told. On his banner and on the soldiers’ shields he put the letters “X” and “R” for the initials of Christ. He was victorious and he issued the Edict of Milam which made Christianity the official religion. All persecution of Christians stopped and being a Christian became the vogue of the day.
What actually happened was the name “Christianity” was given to the pagan Babylonian mystery religion with but a few necessary changes. The temples became the churches, the priests and nuns became the leaders of Christianity. The statues and festivals were given new names, but it was the same system with a new name. Only the names were changed to deceive the innocent. Astarte or Cybele became Mary, and Tammuz, Baal or Bacchus became Jesus, etc.
In the days of Julius Caesar the emperor became the high priest of the Babylonian cult and wore on his crown the name “Pontifex Maximus.” “Pontifex” means “the bridge maker,” i.e., between God and man. “Maximus” means the “greatest.” So this became the title of the high priest of mystery Babylon. Today the Pope wears the same title and calls himself the sovereign pontiff of the College of Pontiffs and the successor of Peter. However, the truth is he is the successor of Babylonian high priests. He is not the successor of the Apostle Peter, but the direct successor of the high priests of the Babylonian mystery cult, the servant of the fish god, Dagon, whose ring (the fish ring) he wears just as did his successors. Even the keys he wears which he claims came from Peter, came instead from the heathen Babylonian gods of Janus and Cybele who bore keys in ancient Babylonianism. Not until 431 A.D. did Roman Catholicism publicly lay claim to the possession of Peter’s keys (Matt. 16:19).
Ancient religious Babylonianism (the mother of harlots) which began in Babel (Babylon), today resides in Romanism which is headquartered in the ancient city of Rome and is spread practically all over the world. This is undoubtedly the religious Babylon of Revelation 17:18.
The Destruction of Religious Babylon
As we study about Babylon, it is important to remember that Babylon refers to more than a city in Revelation 17 and 18. It stands for a system of evil, religiously and politically. Americans speak of “Wall Street” and “Madison Avenue.” These are actually streets, but they also stand for the center of the financial and advertising enterprises of this country.
Revelation 17 describes the apostate religious system as it will come to its zenith in the first half of the Tribulation, but it will be destroyed by the Ten Nation Confederation in the middle of the Tribulation. The true church will have been raptured, but the apostate and false religious systems continue on and become united under the one world system of Babylon, which will may well be headed up by Rome.
As some of the parables of Matthew 13 suggest, and Paul and Peter explicitly warn us, the church age will be characterized by growing apostasy (see 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:13; 2 Pet. 2:1-3:4). This apostasy will take the form of ecumenicity—the movement of uniting all religions together into a one-world church governed and controlled by Rome. To accomplish its goals, this apostate ecumenical system will of necessity employ a number of practices to bring off its goals of a world-wide, universal church.
(1) Eclecticism: This is that philosophy of religion which refuses to accept any one system of doctrine, but seeks to take the so-called best from all systems of belief. Eclectics, at least outwardly, seek to be fair to all and therefore yield to all.
(2) Latitudinarianism: This is that system of religion which cares little about creeds or doctrine. In this system sincerity is more important than what is believed. But as above, it opens the door for anything.
(3) Syncretism: This system seeks to unite all opposing theological and philosophical positions by arriving at a common denominator or by coming to a new synthesis.
In all of these there will be persecution and rejection of the truth on behalf of establishing a world church. True Christianity is exclusive. It sees that there may be some truth in other religions but only Christianity has The Truth in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Scripture (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). The world hates this commitment to absolute truth, especially as it is promoted in Scripture (the Written Word) and in the person and work of Jesus Christ (the Living Word). After all, the world is the child of the Antichrist, and as mentioned in previous lessons, while claiming to be eclectic, latitudinarian, and syncretistic, the one-world system of the last days will have no tolerance for true Bible-based Christianity and will seek to persecute and annihilate believers in Christ unmercifully.
Political Babylon to be Rebuilt
on the Euphrates in the TribulationThe announcement of the fall of Babylon in chapter 18 which comes immediately after the destruction of the harlot in chapter 17, causes many to think that these are one and the same event. However, there are several things which show they are two different events, though described in similar terms. We have here the fall of religious Babylon followed later by the fall of political and commercial Babylon.
(1) The woman of chapter 17 is made desolate, naked, and burned with fire by the beast with the ten horns, whereas the fall of chapter 18 is accomplished directly by God at the end of the Tribulation (cf. 16:19-21). The fall of religious Babylon (chapter 17) occurs when the beast assumes his religious role in the middle of the Tribulation and assumes world political power. The world apostate ecumenical system is destroyed in favor of the new world religion which worships the political dictator of chapter 13 whose capitol city will be in rebuilt Babylon.
The destruction of Babylon in chapter 18 should be compared with the preceding announcement in 16:19 where the great city is divided and the cities of the Gentiles fall. This event comes late in the great Tribulation, just prior to the second coming of Christ, in contrast to the destruction of the harlot of chapter 17 which seems to precede the great Tribulation and paves the way for the worship of the beast (13:8).206
(2) The context of chapter 18 with its many references to the kings and merchants and commerce shows that, in this setting, Babylon is viewed in her political, economic, and commercial character, rather than in her religious role (vss. 11-19).
(3) As Walvoord suggests,
The term “Babylon” in Scripture is more than a reference to the false religious system which stemmed from ancient Babylon. Out of ancient Babylon came the political power represented first in Nimrod and later in Nebuchadnezzar in his great world empire. In some sense this is continued in the commercial system which came from both the religious and political Babylons. It seems that chapter 17 deals with the religious aspect and chapter 18 with the political and economic aspects of Babylon.207
Both aspects have continued down through the centuries. For an Old Testament reference to the commercial aspect, see the vision of the woman with the ephah (a sign of commerce) in Zechariah 5:5-11).
(4) Walvoord points out another significant difference which suggests we have two different aspect of Babylon in chapters 17 and 18.
According to verse 9 the kings of the earth as well as the merchants will all mourn the passing of the Babylon of chapter 18. There is apparently no mourning connected with the destruction of the woman in chapter 17.208
The ten horns and the beast hate the woman (17:16). This would strongly suggest we have two distinct destructions. All of this indicates that the Babylon of chapter 18 is a city that will be rebuilt as the capitol of the world empire in the great Tribulation period and that Babylon in this chapter refers to ancient Babylon which is to be rebuilt rather than to Rome.
Some argue against the rebuilding of Babylon and claim that we must not take the references to Babylon in Revelation too literally. They say this chapter refers to a spiritual Babylon, a city which will become the incarnation of ancient Babylon, but will not be a literal Babylon. They maintain Babylon has already been destroyed and Old Testament prophecy teaches us it will never be rebuilt. But let’s consider some prophetic facts about Babylon.
(1) The Bible predicts the destruction of Babylon will be final and complete (Jer. 50:35, 39-40; Isa. 13:1, 19-22). These verses show that it will no more be inhabited and that its destruction will be as Sodom and Gomorrah with absolutely nothing left (Jer. 51:24-26).
(2) Scripture also predicts that the destruction would be sudden, quick (Jer. 51:8).
(3) The Old Testament predicts this destruction will come in the “Day of the Lord” (Isa. 13:6-11; 13:1; 14:1-3; Jer. 50:1-6).
(4) At the time of her destruction there will be a disturbance in the sun and moon (Isa. 13:10).
(5) Universal peace will result from the overthrow of Babylon (Isa. 14:7-8).
(6) A literal interpretation of Zechariah 5:5-11 demands a restored and rebuilt Babylon. These verses involve the vision of the ephah. A woman called “wickedness” is seen sitting in an ephah measure, covered with a round piece of lead. An ephah to a Jew was a perfect symbol of commerce and was the largest dry measure of the Jews. The ephah is then borne away by two women with wings of a stork “to build for it an house in the land of Shinar” (the land of Babylon). This vision anticipates a final concentration of wickedness and commercialism in a great center in the land of Shinar (Babylon) which would reach out over the whole earth. This is the exact portrayal of Babylon as seen in Revelation 18.
(7) The historical situation concerning Babylon shows much of the prophecies mentioned above have not been fulfilled and must await a final and complete fulfillment. The prophecies regarding Babylon are an illustration of dual reference with a partial (near) fulfillment versus a complete (far) fulfillment.
When the Medes and Persians conquered the city they came suddenly and gained immediate control, but they did not destroy the city. Instead Cyrus the Mede beautified the city in 540 B.C. Hundreds of years later many Jews still lived at Babylon and a Jewish Talmud actually originated from there. In the twelfth century A.D. Babylon had grown and several mosques had been erected. Later a city by the name of Hillah was built there and in 1900 it had a population of ten thousand. The land around Babylon is fertile today and dates are grown in abundance (Isa. 13:21f).
Other cities around the area of Babylon were built from the ruins of ancient Babylon; in fact the city of Hillah was built entirely from the ruins of Babylon. Bricks with the word “Babylon” stamped on them have been found as far away as Bagdad.
It is obvious from this historical information that the city was not destroyed suddenly nor completely. Instead, it continued to be inhabited after it was conquered and the land around her did not become desolate, but continued to be populated and fertile. This is a fact of history. Her ruins were used in building other cities and there was no disturbance in the sun or moon, nor did universal peace follow.
The Word of God is true and these prophecies still await a future fulfillment.
The description of Babylon’s destruction in Revelation 18 declares it will be destroyed suddenly (“in one day her plagues will come” [vs. 8]; “for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste” [vs. 17]). The destruction will be complete and final, “it shall be found no more at all” (Jer. 51:63-64); “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer” (Rev. 18:21). Babylon will be destroyed with fire from heaven as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Rev. 18:18; 16:17-21). Universal peace will follow the destruction.
All of this coincides exactly with the prophecies of the Old Testament and shows that Babylon must be rebuilt in the Tribulation in order to be destroyed as prophesied in “the Day of the Lord.”
Rome may well be the religious Babylon of the world in the first half of the Tribulation, but I am convinced that Babylon on the Euphrates will be rebuilt and will be the political and commercial capitol in the last half of the Tribulation.
199 John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Moody Press, Chicago, 1966, p. 243.
200 Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1988, p. 221.
202 Taken from a tape by Dr. Charles Dyer, professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.
204 Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Second Edition 1959, p. 167f.
HARLOTS.
Revival of the ancient Babylonian religion
The origin of the false world religion of the end-time can, according to Revelation 17, be traced back to Babylon. The ancient Babylonian Empire which was founded by Nimrod, functioned in close association with the pagan religion of that time. The marriage between politics and religion was so intimate that this empire was controlled by a priest-king. He made use of occult powers and astrology to reign. The king was also the personification of the sun-god who was regarded as the giver of light and life. From this superstition the cult of the sun-pillars arose, from which the later obelisks and peace-poles of modern times developed. In Revelation 17 and 18 a description is given of a neo-Babylonian government, religion and economy that will be established before the Second Coming of Christ. The roots of the New Age Movement, therefore, go very far back in time. It is nothing new.
The end-time emergence of the New Age Movement is linked to the Russian-born Madame Helena Blavatsky who founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. She received her revelations and commands directly from a spiritual master with whom she had telepathic contact. She offered herself as a medium to higher (demonic) powers that worked through her.
As a result of these revelations, she published the book Isis Unveiled in 1877, and the six volume The Secret Doctrine in 1888. In these volumes she expounds the secret doctrine that, according to her master, forms the foundation of all religious, philosophical and knowledge systems. In the introduction to Volume 1 of The Secret Doctrine she says:
"The teaching in these volumes belong neither to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the Chaldean, nor the Egyptian religion, nor to Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, nor Christianity exclusively. The Secret Doctrine is the essence of all these. Sprung from it in their origins, the various religious schemes are now made to merge back into their original element, out of which every mystery and dogma has grown, developed, and become materialised."
The New Age objective is, quite clearly, to unite all religions, including an adulterated version of Christianity, in an alliance of world religions. In association with demonic doctrines such as evolution, reincarnation, metaphysics, parapsychology, astrology, pantheism and Marxism, all faiths and philosophies must revert to their common Luciferic origin. In this way, unity can be achieved in the world and all people’s lives be ordered according to the same evil principles.
It is of the utmost importance to consider the role of the false religions in the end-time as they will be officially recognised by the Antichrist and be endued with great power and authority in his empire. They will be associated with one another in an ecumenical alliance and gradually narrow the differences between them until they form a corporate group who will accept the Antichrist as their common messiah. To the deceived Christians he will be the Christ, to the Jews the Messiah, to the Muslims the Imam Mahdi, to the Hindus Krishna, and to the Buddhists the Maitreya Buddha.
After the revelation of the Antichrist the whole world will be religiously united, with the exception of the 144 000 Jewish evangelists and the true Christians of that time. The united world religions will institute a vicious and bloody persecution of Christians who refuse to join their ranks or to worship the beast. The blood of the martyrs of Jesus will be on the hands of this woman who will be the mother of the harlots. On a much greater scale than previously, she will perpetuate the persecution of God’s children on earth.
Religious unification of the world
There are various ecumenical bodies in the growing interfaith movement. Their objective is to first equalise and merge all factions within every religion, after which religious equality will be promoted in a multireligious dispensation. Once this stage of merging has been reached, the final objective of religious unity will be pursued under the pretext that all religions worship the same God. When this idea has been firmly established it will be opportune for the appearance of the universal messiah of all faiths, and also for the global false prophet.
One of the biggest interfaith bodies is the Parliament of World Religions. In August 1993, 7000 delegates of 250 different faiths met in Chicago for the biggest and most representative interfaith meeting in the history of mankind. At this meeting were not only ecumenical Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and the followers of more than 200 other religions, but also shamans – i.e. magicians and witches. A declaration of global ethics was approved and published. Various other regional meetings were subsequently held to promote interfaith collaboration. The next general meeting of the Parliament of World Religions will be held in Cape Town from 1 to 8 December 1999.
The United Nations, as well as many individual governments, support the initiative for the establishment of an alliance of world religions. They see the promotion of a religious world brotherhood as an important prerequisite for the successful introduction of the new world order. That is the reason why the United Nations in the early 1970’s founded the World Conference on Religion and Peace, an ecumenical body intended to promote peace and unity on earth. This is a category 2 non-governmental organisation. In South Africa, it functions under the guidance of two theologians of the University of South Africa to bring the various religions closer to one another for the sake of peace and unity. The traditional African religions also feature strongly in their public lectures.
One of Satan's major tools which he uses to adulterate Christian doctrine, infiltrate and unify Christian churches with a view to associating them with the non-Christian religions, is the World Council of Churches (WCC). This body was formed in 1948 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and its credo is One church for one world.Right from the outset it was obvious that the WCC did not only have Christian unity in mind, but rather a world-wide alliance of religions. The following actions and decisions are proof of this statement:
In 1961 the WCC had its third session in New Dehli in India. The theme of the conference was: Jesus Christ, the light of the world. This was not a reference to the biblical Christ, but to the cosmic Christ of all faiths. In terms of this perception, Hindus and Buddhists are viewed as anonymous Christians on the basis of the general grace. It is argued that God has reconciled all men to Himself through Jesus Christ. According to the WCC, some people who do not know that they have been reconciled to God are nevertheless on their way to heaven!
At its 1968 conference in Uppsala, Sweden, the vision of the WCC extended beyond the unification of the church since their ultimate goal was formulated as a united humanity in a new international order. People from all religions were to be merged into a new world order. To actively promote this idea the WCC instituted the Programme of Dialogue with People of other Living Faiths. Since its institution in 1970 the term ‘believer’ was a substitute for 'Christian', and the members of the non-Christian religions were henceforth addressed as ‘fellow believers’, based on the premise that we all worship the same God. In 1973, the Bangkok conference of this WCC body was opened by the president of the World Buddhist Society. In her prayer she called on the gods of all religions to save mankind.
The 1975 Nairobi conference of the WCC expressed itself in favour of the more intimate unification of humanity. One of the closed sessions on spirituality was attended by Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Pentecostal Christians, as well as Hindus, Buddhists and an atheist. Their agenda was obviously humanistic and multireligious!
At the 1983 conference in Vancouver, Canada, a totem pole was erected in honour of all the tribal spirits of the Red Indians. At the conference it was recommended that the different religions should take hands to promote peace on earth.
The 1991 conference at Canberra in Australia resolved that an active process of reconciliation should thence be set in motion by the Christian religion. Justice and peace should be pursued in all walks of life. It was emphasised that this should be an interfaith action as it is beyond the capacity of a single religion to bring about peace in our troubled world. A Korean theologian stated that all missionary work is redundant and should be discontinued as God is present in all cultures and in all religions. Missionaries do not have to introduce Him where He already is. The WCC maintains that God does not only reveal Himself to the world through the Christian religion, but through all the religions. Equality and unity must be pursued by them. One religion should not elevate itself above the others nor denigrate any of them, as they are all equal.
These ideas are very popular in the new South Africa and are advancing with giant strides in the theological faculties of virtually all universities. Various text books for courses in multireligious education have already been produced – here and overseas. In this and other ways, religious Babylon is grooming herself for her exalted position in the coming antichristian new world order.
The Roman Catholic Church is, in its own right, also actively involved with the promotion of interfaith ties. They give strong recognition to Islam as a monotheistic religion, which allegedly worships the same God as Christianity and Judaism. The leaders of a number of world religions have in the past been invited by the Pope to venues in Italy where they prayed for world peace. The reason why the Roman Catholic Church is not an official member of the World Council of Churches is evidently because the Vatican regards itself as the ‘mother’ and ‘home’ of all Christian churches and expects all the 'separated brethren', as she calls them, to return to her. Despite this stand, they are collaborating with the WCC on committee level, with the result that degenerate Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and the non-Christian religions are almost daily moving closer to the objective of a general alliance of religions.
A master plan for a take-over
The New Age Movement is also endeavouring to promote global religious unity. The leaders of certain New Age organisations have worked out a thirteen-point Plan to institute the new world order. It constitutes a revival of the old Babylonian religion and world government that interacted very closely. In this list you will clearly recognise the woman on the back of the beast. The New Age Movement is the vanguard of the ecumenical movement, and they openly declare their objective of uniting religion and politics in the new world order. The 13 points in the strategy of the powers of darkness are:
- The principal aim of the Plan is to establish a one world religion and a one world political and social order. Their key concept is that everything is one (monism). This unity must be established in all spheres of life.
- The New Age world religion must constitute a revival of the religion of ancient Babylon in which mystery cults, sorcery, occultism and immorality flourished.
- The Plan will be fully implemented when the New Age Messiah (the Antichrist) with his number 666, reveals himself as head of the world religion and the coming world government of the new world order.
- Spirit guides (demons) will prepare people for the coming of the cosmic Messiah, by acclaiming him as the world teacher.
- Peace, love and unity are to be used as buzzwords for the new world order and the new world religion.
- New Age teachings must attain scientific credibility and be vigorously propagated in every sphere of life, in the public and private sectors, around the globe.
- Jesus must be portrayed as a prophet and a master of wisdom who is one of the disciples of the cosmic Christ. It must be denied that he is unique and that he should be worshipped as a God who is above humanity.
- Christianity and all other religions must be integrated into the inclusive world religion of the New Age.
- Fundamental Christian principles that stand in the way of this reform movement (e.g. the atonement for sins on the cross and that Christ is the only Way, Truth and Life), must be discredited and abandoned.
- Children must be spiritually influenced and indoctrinated in schools in order to promote the New Age dogma.
- Flattery will be employed to entice people into believing that man is inherently divine. They should be told that we are all gods.
- Science and the New Age world religion must become one. The mystic (cosmic) dimension of man and nature must be researched.
- Christians who resist the Plan must be reoriented or dealt with in other ways. If necessary, they will be exterminated and the world purified of their influence.
From this strategy for a take-over it is evident that the new world religion will not function in isolation, but in close association with the Antichrist’s political system and world government. He will be the political and religious leader of the world. The great harlot on the back of the beast will have a clear political agenda to induce her followers to accept the world government and the number of the Antichrist. She will also have a religious agenda to deceive her billions of supporters into accepting him as world messiah, and into worshipping him.
The end of the Antichrist’s marriage with religious Babylon
The Antichrist’s marriage with the false world religion is contracted in imitation of the relationship between Christ and His bride, which is the true and unadulterated Christian church composed of those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. The long influence of the false religions over the reigning political powers from Nimrod's time until the advent of the Antichrist will culminate in an unprecedented 'marriage' of the one-world politico-economic power (the Antichrist) with the one-world religious Babylon (the great harlot) but it will not be a long and happy marriage. Religious Babylon will enjoy great privileges and prestige in the Antichrist's empire but after 3½ years the alliance of politico-economic powers under the Antichrist will turn on the great harlot and destroy her, as she will have out-lived her purpose. John describes her execution as follows:
"And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire" (Rev. 17:16).
In the middle of the tribulation, religious Babylon, the harlot-bride, will be abolished and her places of worship closed, destroyed, or used for other purposes. The same fate awaits the orthodox Jewish faith. Daniel says: "…in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate" (Dan. 9:27). The harlot-bride of the Antichrist will thus only be married to him for 3½ years when his role as world messiah and deceiving angel of light will expire. After that, he will be revealed in his true character as a cruel dictator, murderer and self-deified god. His harlot-bride will then be confronted with the frightening choice of either worshipping him as god or be publicly humiliated by being abolished. Most of the deceived and spiritually blinded religious people of that time will accept the Antichrist's ultimatum and bend the knee to the end-time Baal as the god of this world.
The harlot-bride of the Antichrist can, right from the outset, count the days of her brief period of glory – 1260 days from her marriage until the dark day of her public execution or degradation to slavery. What a terrible price she has to pay to find favour in the eyes of the beast! She has to sear her conscience, turn her back upon the living God and His Son, Jesus Christ, be prepared to be terribly abused, and on top of it all conclude a covenant with death – all that for the proverbial bowl of lentil soup! That is the way of death which was also trodden by Esau and Judas Iscariot.
The mother organisation of the apostate religious peoples of the world is rapidly taking shape. From the viewpoint of traditional Christianity, this process passes through the following seven phases:
- Unity in the whole Christian world, including between Protestants and Catholics.
- Religious equality among all religions in constitutions, government structures, and educational systems.
- The forming of interfaith alliances among all religions.
- Propagation of the idea of the universal God who is worshipped by all faiths.
- Propaganda for the coming of the universal messiah of all faiths.
- The appearing of the world messiah and his united worship by people of all religions.
- The forced worship of the Antichrist as God, 3½ years after his appearing.
When phase 6 has been reached at the beginning of the tribulation period, the harlot-bride will enjoy the peak of her popularity and public support as she rides on the back of the beast. In phase 7, her sudden downfall and destruction will occur when all people in the global empire of the beast will be commanded to worship him as God.
time?
It began with Maarrduk, the god of Babylon , circa 2200 BC. There he usurped the true God's throne on which sat his Son, Enlil. This false way of worship included: false holy days such as the winter solstice; worship of the sun day, not by the moon's days; accepting the sign of the cross for the crossing planet of Maarrduk; worship of other gods, like the goddess Ishtar, the goddess of love and spring fertility; and many other pagan systems that would come along over the passage of time. It was for this very reason that the House of Israel was cast into captivity circa 720 BC, and the House of Judah circa 608 BC. It is for this reason again, that the House of Israel and the House of Judah today will be once again cast into captivity during the 7th trumpet!
Abraham was directed by God out of this land (Babylon) of Maarrduk worship, circa 2100 BC, with the specific purpose to bring back correct worship of God by his chosen people, and create a new nation which would take back the usurped land of Shem by the Canaanites. Then, the true worship of God the Father, the most high God, was given by the Commandments to Israel, via Moses, circa 1500 BC.
The original apostles of Christ Jesus taught men of these ways of worship of God. But as Satan began to infiltrate the first churches, he was able to get them to add back these pagan worship rituals, and ignore the true ways of worship found in the old testament. The church of Rome, became corrupted by these ways of Babylon over time; by Easter (Ishtar), by Christmas (winter solstice festivals), by Sunday Sabbath, by ignoring the true Holy Days of God (Lev. 23), by All Saints Day (Halloween), by the cross (the sign of Maarrduk's planet), and by many other pagan rituals.
Since 325 AD when the Emperor Constantine became the first Christian emperor and the fledgling church began to commit fornication with the kings of the earth, these abominations to God have increased by the harlot as she has taught them to men and to her daughters, the churches who do these Babylonian ways, and know it not. These churches came out of the mother church, the mother harlot. These very churches of today do Babylon, and know it not. (As does any pagan system of worship of God in the world today.) God's people are in Babylon and know it not. They are so blinded by the traditions of these men of sin, that they believe they do right by God, when they do worship abominations.
You can not worship God just anyway you want to. It is not accepted. It is sin. Don't partake of her sins! When it comes to worship of God the Father, Jesus was sent into the world, circa 6 BC, to show us how to worship and love one another. When it comes to worship of God, IF JESUS DID NOT DO IT OR SAY TO DO IT, DON'T DO IT! Don't do a religious act unless Jesus did. Did Jesus do Christmas? NO. Did Jesus do Easter? NO. Did Jesus do Sunday Sabbath? NO. Did Jesus wear a cross or his Apostles? NO. Did Jesus do Lent? NO. Did Jesus do Halloween? NO. Did Jesus do Good Friday? NO. Did Jesus make or bow down to any statue of a god or saint? NO. These are all false pagan ways, that are not of the God of Israel. If you do them, YOU ARE IN BABYLON!
Repent and come ye out of Babylon, now before the end of the 6th trumpet. If you do not come out of Babylon, you will remain for the 7th trumpet, the wrath of God, the last plagues, the great tribulation. Babylon does not come into remembrance to God until the end of the 7th trumpet. Rev. 16:19. Then Babylon will be destroyed by Jesus during the battle of Har Megiddo when Jesus will return in the clouds for all the world to see.
Can you be saved and be in Babylon? Yes, you can. But your rewards will be fewer in heaven, your blessings fewer on earth, and you will have to endure the great tribulation. To be worthy of this escape, you must come out of Babylon...completely. Pray that you are worthy (Luke 21:36), pray that you are right with God in this regard. We hope you all can heed the call and come out of false worship of God, the harlot, the Mystery Babylon of Revelation. Be ye so warned. Don't be cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God, the 7th trumpet, in the near future. Worship God correctly! Rev. 18:4
Satan's plan was to develop a counterfeit, opposition system of religion to attract worship away from the true God of Heaven. This false system had its sacrificial plan just as God had a plan of sacrifice. But Satan's pagan worship required the offering up of human beings, which was often the sons and daughters of the worshipers. A counterfeit holy day was instituted in honor of the sun god, (Sun-day) and this was designed by Satan to rob God of his peculiar authority as the Creator of the universe as designated by His Holy day the Sabbath.
Have you noticed how occult symbols are typically reversed? Example: The occult symbol for a cross is an inverted cross. Most have never noticed that God uses the 6:1 principle. That is, you have 6 of something normal and then on the 7th something special happens. Example: God created the world in 6 days and the 7th is a special day of rest and worship. Crops were grown for 6 years and the 7th year the land was rested. Slaves were kept for 6 years and were to be set free on the 7th year. There are 6 weeks from Passover to the 7th week being Pentecost. There are 6 months from Passover to the 7th month being the Day of Atonement. Bible chronologists say we are currently approaching the end of 6000 years since creation and if Christ returns at the end of 6000 years, we will then have the 7000th year being the 1000 year millennial reign. (See Revelation 20:1-15) So 6000 years + 1000 years (millennium) = 7000 years. None of this is by chance and is God's plan. Observe the days of the week below.
Sunday
Day 1Monday
Day 2Tuesday
Day 3Wednesday
Day 4Thursday
Day 5Friday
Day 6Saturday
7th Day SabbathThe first six days are normal but the 7th day is the “Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Remember that the occult uses the reverse symbol or is the opposite (in opposition) to God. So if Sunday was Satan's plan for a day of worship, and we have seen historically that it is, then his week would be the reverse of God's week. Instead of being the 6:1 principle it would be 1:6. As seen from the table below, this is the case and so it is not just two days side by side. It is the occult equivalent and this is not by chance but Satan's choice.
Sunday
Counterfeit SabbathMonday
Day 2Tuesday
Day 3Wednesday
Day 4Thursday
Day 5Friday
Day 6Saturday
Day 7We are fast approaching 6000 years (last generation now) and if Jesus comes at the end of 6000 years we would then have a 1000 year Sabbath. A thousands years a day just as God said. 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Six days work and the Seventh day rest. This Earth's history may end up being a mirror image of the creation week but with a thousand years to a day. That would put a whole new perspective on the meaning of the Sabbath now that is for sure. 6000 years of working and a 1000 years of rest. God does love doing things in numbers!
Nimrod's and Semiramis' followers plunged so deeply into sin and the occult that they even sacrificed babies to Satan in their worship of him. This became a common practice until Shem who was one of Noah's three sons and the great uncle of Nimrod, in his anger and wrath killed Nimrod and cut him up into small pieces as an example to others not to commit such abominable sins and not to follow such evil religious practices. (Shem was a godly man and it was through his seed the Messiah would come.)
Alexander Hislop in his book The Two Babylons said, , “the Tower of Babel was actually the worship of Satan in the form of fire, the sun and the serpent. However, Satan worship could not be done openly because of the many who still believed in the true God of Noah. So a mystery religion began at Babel where Satan could be worshipped in secret.” – Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, 2nd American ed.(Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959)
Because of Nimrod's death, the followers of Nimrod and Semiramis were stunned and experienced much grief. Their religious hero was dead. They were afraid to continue in their worship of Satan for fear that what happened to Nimrod would also happen to them, so a mystery religion developed at Babel where Satan could be worshipped in secret. This is exactly what is happening in these last days. Satan is using mysteries and deceptions to deceive people into thinking that they are worshipping God when they are actually worshipping Satan.
For a short time the practices of this counterfeit religion ceased but Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, had a brilliant idea of how she could successfully revive her and Nimrod's pagan religion and give it a new form. It was not long after the death of her husband that Semiramis became pregnant. She said that when Nimrod died that he went up to the sun, and the sun then became a symbol of Nimrod. She told the people that a ray of the sun had come to her and impregnated her with a child and that it was actually Nimrod coming back in a reincarnation of the sun god. The child was called Tammuz and these three were worshipped as the personification of the sun god, and this is where we find the three in one trinity doctrine originated and is where the first three came into existence. This mystery religion was nothing more than Satan worship. Read the pagan origins of the trinity doctrine for more.
“The trinity got its start in Ancient Babylon with Nimrod - Tammuz - and Semiramis. Semiramis demanded worship for both her husband and her son as well as herself. She claimed that her son, was both the father and the son. Yes, he was “god the father” and “god the son” - The first divine incomprehensible trinity.” – The Two Babylons; Alexander Hislop, p.51
So Semiramis proclaimed that her husband Nimrod was a god, and she as the wife of Nimrod was a goddess. She then announced herself to be “The Queen of Heaven” and that she should be worshiped as such. She claimed that her spirit was the moon and when she died she would dwell in the moon, even as Nimrod was already in the sun. What a devilish brainstorm inspired by Satan!
Satan was laying the foundation for every system of falsehood and error the world has ever known. They took the truth of God and turned it into a lie and “worshipped and served the creature (on a wider application also includes Satan) more than the Creator.” Romans 1:25. This system of paganism, while professing to be the true religion, is actually devil worship. It professes and claims to be the truth of God but in reality it is Satan's masterpiece, the “mystery of iniquity.”
As Satan's church gained momentum, Semiramis pushed this satanic religious order underground. The followers of this counterfeit religion had to take secret oaths. The secret societies (some unscriptural lodges of today) thus had their beginning. The confessionals and priesthood were set up. The followers of this pagan religion confessed their sins to their priests. (what church continued this unbiblical pagan tradition?) See also 1 Timothy 2:5, Luke 5:20-21. By so doing, Semiramis could control her followers and exercise lordship over them. She boldly and brazenly proclaimed that she and her priests were the only ones who understood the mysteries of God and that they were the only possible way to God. Because of dedication to and fear of this false religious system, the followers of this religion fearfully complied.
Semiramis and her priests of Satan were deep into the occult, magic and illusion. They were masters of lies and deception. Everywhere there were statues or idols of this mother/child cult. Semiramis was soon hailed as “The Queen of Heaven” (Ashtarte). Her symbol became the moon and her husband Nimrod, was called “Baal” (the “sun god”) and his symbol became the sun. The city of Babylon was the seat of Satan worship until its fall to the Medes and the Persians in 539 BC. At this time the Babylonian pagan priests left Babylon and went to Alexandria and Pergamos. See who is the beast that has the number 666 or the origin of 666 for more.
It should be noted that the majority of the Babylonian pagan priests went to Pergamos more so than Alexandria, so for many centuries after the fall of Babylon, Pergamos became the new seat of Satan (Revelation 2:12-13), but around 129 BC, opportunity arose for them to leave Pergamos and go to Rome and thus Rome became the final seat of Satan where he set up his church, and hence sun worship, which was practised on Sunday, was most prevalent in Alexandria and Rome by the time of Christ.
Church historian Socrates Scholasticus (5th century) wrote: “For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries [of the Lord's Supper] on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.” – Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, ch. 22.
So Baal worship was in full swing. It caught on fast and spread to many parts of the world. In Egypt, Semiramis became known as “Isis”, “The Queen of Heaven.” Nimrod became known as “Osiris”, the husband/son, and frequently called “Horus” (the sun god). In Phoenicia, Semiramis and Nimrod were worshipped as or known as Ashterath and Tammuz; in Greece, Aphrodite and Eros; in Rome, Venus and Cupid, and in China, Mother Shing Moo and her child.
When the cold season began every year, they believed their sun god was leaving them. It was on December 25th that they noticed the gradual return of the sun god. So they called this day the birth of the sun. Tammuz was hailed as the son of the sun. He was idolized and even worshipped and the first letter of his name became the symbol of sun worship. Human sacrifices to the sun god were offered on this initial letter made of wood, known as the cross “T” and this “T” for Tammuz is also the true origin of Catholics crossing themselves. His birthday of December 25 was honored more and more. Satan worked many years before the conception and birth of the true Messiah to counterfeit through sun worship His miraculous conception and birth. Satan succeeded many times in leading God's people into sin and pagan sun worship.
The true date of the birth of Christ is most likely between July and September but since the exact date of Christ's birthday was unknown, it was suggested, “Why not call it the same date as the birth of Tammuz, which was December 25?” This was the time when the sun had reached its lowest point on the horizon and started back up into the heavens and so the sun god had come to life, so to speak. So gradually December 25 came to be known as the birthday of Christ. The Papal Church finally instituted a special mass on that day, “Christ's Mass,” and so December 25 became “Christmas.” The yule log burning in the fire followed by the green tree lit with candles all came from the pagan worship representing Nimrod being dead, while his spirit still lived on in the sun and was alive again in Tammuz his son.
Jesus was crucified and resurrected in the spring of the year near the time of the moon festival. The devil was at work once again to bring the idea of having a celebration at the same time as the heathen but calling it “in honor of the resurrection.” And in regards to the worship of the moon goddess Semiramis, the so called queen of heaven. The cakes to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN were round and on them was cut a cross in honor of the sun god, and they were offered to the queen of heaven and today we call them “hot cross buns.” (Read Jeremiah 7:16-18). The forty days of “weeping for Tammuz” became Lent and at the close of Lent came Easter Sunday. The prophet Ezekiel was shown even greater abominations. (Read Ezekiel 8:12-18). This goddess Ishtar (Easter) came to be known as the goddess of springtime as in “new life,” or as history records it, the “goddess of reproduction.” The pagans would go to some mountain side early Sunday morning and worship this goddess as the sun was rising in the east. They gave themselves to immorality and indecency of every description. The eggs and rabbits were used as symbols of fertility and germination and hence “new life.” It all came into the Church gradually and was all blessed by the Catholic Church and given to the world. And some people wonder why God calls the Catholic Church Babylon!
“The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church.” — An Essay on The Development of the Christian Doctrine John Henry “Cardinal Newman” p.373.
“It has often been charged… that Catholicism is overlaid with many pagan incrustations. Catholicism is ready to accept that accusation and even to make it her boast… the great god Pan is not really dead, he is baptized” — The Story of Catholicism p 37.
As time elapsed, stories spread worldwide about Semiramis and Nimrod as Baal worship was everywhere. (The above information on the beginning of Satan's church and its unscriptural practices is found in The Two Babylons, by Rev. Alexander Hislop) In his book he has composed a list of names adopted in other parts of the world that can be traced back to Semiramis and Nimrod in one way or another. The list of names are as follows:
SEMIRAMIS or Ashtarte NIMROD or Baal the sun god Cybele (Goddess Mother) Asia Deoius (Asia) Fortuna (Pagan Rome) The Boy Jupiter (Pagan Rome) Isis (The Queen of Heaven) Egypt Osiris or Horus (Egypt) Isi (Goddess Mother) India Iswara (India) Venus (Rome) Cupid (Rome) Ashterath (Phoenicia) Tammuz (Phoenicia) Aphrodite (Greece) Eros (Greece) Irene (Goddess of Peace) Greece The Boy Plutus (Greece) Ishtar (Babylon) The Winged One (Babylon) Rhea (Mother of Gods) Orion (Constellation) Diana (Ephesian) Bacchus (God of Party going) of Ancient Greece Shing Moo (Holy Mother of China) The Centaur (Greece) Satan pulled it off well as he had the whole world trapped into some form of Baal worship. The entire world had lapsed into polytheism (worship of many gods or idols). Mankind no longer desired to serve the true and living God and to accept His scriptural plan of salvation. (Romans 1:18-32).
Around 2000 BC in Abraham's day, Baal worship and its pagan rites had so permeated the human race that God called Abraham out from it to be the progenitor of a nation of people (the Israelites or Jews) who would be instructed by God through Moses and the prophets to be a shining light and an example of godliness to the heathen nations and reveal to them God's scriptural plan of salvation (Genesis 11:26-12: 1-5; Exodus 19:5-6; Hebrews 11:8).
The Jews were greatly blessed by God as His chosen people, who were to serve as His representatives of godliness to those heathen nations who had become entrapped by paganism, to evangelize those godless nations and to show them God's love. The Jews were repeatedly told that if they were to sin by serving other gods, to depart from the Lord and fail God in their mission as His representatives to those nations trapped in Baal worship, the Jews would suffer terribly at the hand of God and be dispersed into all the nations of the earth. (See Deuteronomy 4:1-40; 6:14-18; 7:6-26; 8:6-20; 10:12-20; 11:1-28; 12:28-32; 29:16-29; 30:11-20).
Before his death, Moses foretold that after his death the Jews would disobey and turn to other “gods” to worship and serve them (Deuteronomy 31:27, 29; 32:16-29). After Moses' death, Joshua took command and led the children of Israel across the River Jordan into Palestine. The Jews were ordered to exterminate the Canaanites of the land because they were so wicked and so deeply involved in the evil practices of Baal worship, and to take the land as their dwelling to be used for the glory of God in leading the ungodly nations to God and His plan of redemption. The Jews took the land and exterminated some of the inhabitants of the land but not all. The Jews here had already begun to disobey God. They soon became weary in their conquests of Palestine and stopped fighting. Soon afterwards the Israelites departed from their worship of the Lord and started to worship and serve other gods as Moses had predicted. The Jews soon became so involved in Baal worship and its pagan practices that some of them even sacrificed their children to Satan.
Because of their disobedience to God's command to be faithful in their worship of and service to the true and living God, the Jews would have to suffer. On many occasions God allowed the children of Israel to be captured by their enemies and to be persecuted. When the Jews cried out to God in sorrow for their sins, the Lord delivered them. The Lord raised up Judges to secure their deliverances. After each time the Lord brought about the deliverance of the captured, suffering children of Israel, the Jews would plunge back into sin and Baal worship. As time passed the Jews became even more involved in pagan worship in spite of God's warnings and chastisements. God raised up prophets to warn the Israelites to repent or suffer more. Prophet after prophet was raised up for that purpose and many of them were executed by the Jews. In 722 BC the ten Northern tribes were captured by the Assyrians and scattered never to return, and in 586 BC the Babylonians captured Judah and Jerusalem. This was the third time Babylon came up against them but this time brought about their total destruction as everything was torn down. After the Babylonian captivity in 539 BC at which time Babylon had fallen to the Persians, the Persians granted the Jews in Babylon permission to return to Jerusalem.
Many Jews did return to Palestine during the years 539 BC, 457 BC and 445 BC. Others doubtless returned between those years and after 445 BC. Read also Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy. In 70 AD the Romans under General Titus captured Jerusalem and persecuted the Jews. The Jews final dispersion took place at this time. After 70 AD, the Jews had been dispersed into all the nations of the world to suffer. Nearly all nations who had received Jews eventually turned on them and persecuted them. The Jews have been the most hated and persecuted people in history and have suffered more than any other people. They disobeyed God and they had to suffer as God said they would.
When the Roman Empire was in power during the earthly life of Jesus and during the early Church period, the Roman Caesars were to be worshipped as gods. The early Christians were persecuted by the Romans because they would not bow down to the pagan Caesars. Satan directed this persecution of the early believers in an effort to stamp out Christianity. But instead of wiping out Christianity, persecution resulted in its growth! As more Christians were put to death, more and more Christians rose up to replace them. Satan saw that his directed persecution of the early believers would not obliterate Christianity so he moved to attack the Church from within instead of from without.
Satan devised a plan by which he would lay the foundation for and establish his own counterfeit church. Under Satan's direction paganism would get a new face. Satan would introduce to the world his own version of a “Christian Church.” As was indicated earlier, the Caesars were worshipped as gods. As the Roman Empire was near disintegration, the pagan Caesars did not want to lose their power in controlling the world, so they decided on a plan by which to keep their power and influence in the world. The Roman Caesars simply exchanged their Roman togas for religious costumes. Thus they could control the world's governments and their economies through religion.
After Constantine defeated Maxentius in 312 AD in a battle for the throne of Rome, Satan continued in his clever plan to build his own version of a “Christian Church.” After his ascension to the Roman Throne, Constantine issued his Edict of Toleration in 313 AD to stop the persecution of the true believers in Christ. Under Constantine the Christian Church for a time found relief from persecution. Satan had now temporarily stopped his persecution of the Christian Church from without, but he would now proceed to attack the Church from within.
Under Satan's direction, Constantine set up the “Council of Nicaea” and presided as “Summus Pontifex”, the official title of a Pope. Constantine's job was to mix paganism with a perverted form of Christianity to make his new religious organization look respectable. This mixture of paganism with some of the teaching of Christ was Satan's version of a “Christian Church.” This powerful religious institution would be later used by Satan to send millions of souls to hell and to cause the deaths of many Bible believing Christians.
Many changes took place in this Babylonian pagan church. Under Constantine, the pagans were permitted to bring their statues and idols of Semiramis, “The Queen of Heaven”, and Nimrod, “Baal”, “The Sun God', into the Church. The names were changed to the Virgin Mary, “Queen of Heaven” and little Jesus, “The Sun God.” For example: Is this Catholic image Mary and baby Jesus or is it Semiramis, “The Queen of Heaven” and son Nimrod/Tammuz? Note the pagan trident symbol from the head of what is supposedly baby Jesus and that the hand is displayed with two fingers and a thumb prominent, being another way of symbolizing the trident and is a Satanic hand sign symbolic of occult powers. This is also used by high Church officials and priests in blessings invoking the sign of the cross by motioning their right hand with two fingers and thumb casually extended. It is also found in freemasonry of which origins can be found in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church erroneously say that Peter was the first so called Pope of this Papal system but in fact it was really Constantine. So under Constantine as its first Pope, the Roman Catholic Institution as we know it today had its beginning. See also paganism in the Catholic Church and Catholic Church error and was Peter the first Pope.
The Roman Catholic Church grew in power as the people in Rome were again under the priests and each succeeding Pope. Constantine had fifty Bibles made of perverted manuscripts composed by pagan worshippers of Baal from Alexandria. Alexandria was not only the seat of Baal worship but was also the headquarters of the most liberal philosophers. Those wicked philosophers produced their own perverted version of a Bible, and fifty such copies were made for Constantine to be given to the new “Church” over which he presided. The Latin Vulgate, authored by Jerome and based on the above fifty Bibles, later became the Roman Catholic Bible, which was kept from the people so that unscriptural traditions would have greater emphasis in the minds of the followers of the Pope.
The above information can be found in the books, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop and the Angel of Light by Jack Chick. Alexander Hislop in his book also traces Roman Catholic sacraments, ceremonies, doctrines, confessionals, priesthood, etc. back to ancient Babylonian Baal worship. Roman Catholicism is based on ancient Babylonian Baal worship and on the man made traditions of the Church fathers. Catholicism is not based on the teachings of God's Word or on the Scriptural plan of salvation. So we find Satan had a long term plan for his church and sun worship, which was practiced on Sunday, and was initially most prevalent in Alexandria and Rome. From this pagan sun worship came both the trinity doctrine and Sunday worship. Too many people are too quick to write off the fourth Commandment as unimportant when it obviously is. Please read who is the Antichrist for the evidence and watch The god's of Babylon for the pagan origins of the trinity doctrine.
The name, Mother of Harlots (in verse 5), identifies the great whore as a religious system that has spawned numerous offspring, or harlot daughters. The term "harlots" refer to many branches which have sprung from her and have become as much apostate as the great whore herself. These offspring are not part of the great whore, they are different entities altogether; nevertheless, they carry within them some of the very same genes of Babylonian beliefs, festivals, observances and practices.
These daughters of the whore (the Roman Catholic Church) are obviously the Protestant church denominations that have left Romanism with the beginning of the Reformation. Martin Luther saw the errors of Rome and led a separation away from its idolatrous ways. The Protestant Reformation eliminated the Pope as Vicar of Christ, Mary worship, prayers to the saints along with idolatry and superstition. Many of the Christians that joined the Reformation still clung to some of Rome's festivities and practices. Still other of Rome's influences were adopted decades and even centuries later. The problem is that much of Rome's influence is still observed in the protestant church making them the daughters of the whore. It appears that they attempted to get out of Babylon, but could not get Babylon out of them.
Since the Reformation began, God has always had a remnant of faithful followers who desired to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth (John 4:6). Such are the ones who see their church become dried up of truth and Spirit and desire to move on, as did Martin Luther; and this has been an ongoing occurrence in Protestant churches ever since they began. A good example is with the Puritan movement in England. These believers had to leave the country to in order to worship God in Spirit and in truth. So they came to America and were known as the Pilgrims that settled New England. What remains of the Puritan church can't even be seen anymore as compromise and the ways of Rome and Babylon eventually infiltrated that movement. Now New England is the seat of liberalism and the Unitarian Church with its humanistic doctrines.
Every Protestant denomination that arose, and every one that followed after the previous one dried up spiritually, has had the same problem of being infiltrated with the practices, observances and festivals of Rome and Babylon. They dry up spiritually because they cease using God's Word as the rule of life; they cease to pray effectually; and they reject the leading of the Holy Spirit in their church services and in their individual lives, preferring to be led of man instead. The most universal problem that each succeeding movement had was the centrality of the church itself instead of the centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each church seeks to make converts unto itself instead of making disciples unto Christ. So it appears that whenever a new move of God, by His Spirit, begins to settle down, it becomes controlled and organized by man, then compromise begins to fill it and it goes the way of its predecessors as another of the great whore's harlot daughters.
The name "MOTHER OF ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (verse 5) also identifies her to be a religious system responsible for fostering the abominations that go with idolatry and spiritual fornication. The word abominationis used many times of idolatry and the whoredom associated with pagan worship.
Her drunkenness, which refers to being drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, proves beyond doubt that she is a religious institution. Only religion has killed the martyrs of Jesus in all ages. Governments have carried out the dictates of religious leaders that influence and even dominate kings, rulers and governing bodies, often getting them to do the actual killing of the saints because of religion. The murder of over 200,000,000 people since the time of Christ has already filled the cup of the great whore, the Church of Rome, with the blood of the saints. Foxes Book of Martyrs reveals the type of atrocities committed by the Church of Rome, and unfortunately there is more to come according to the prophecy of the Book of Revelation.
The Book of Daniel provides more insight into the formation, or rather the transformation of Roman Empire into the great whore - (see Daniel 2:36-45 and read about Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image). The dream is of a man-like statue whose composition changes from the head down to the feet. Daniel's interpretation starts by identifying the image as consisting of every empire that has an effect on Israel and Jerusalem beginning from that time on to the return of Christ. He starts at the top by identifying the head of gold as being Babylon. The chest or upper torso represents the empire of the Medes and Persians who conquered Babylon. Continuing down he identifies the hips and loin area as the Greek empire that defeated the Persians. Finally comes the Roman Empire which defeated the Greeks, and Rome eventually splits into two parts and has changes in its own composition into ten more parts.
Many Bible scholars, such as Jack Van Impe and Hal Lindsey, teach that the Roman Empire will be revived and will dominate the earth at the time of the end. Then Jesus, "the stone", will crush it as he establishes His Kingdom on the earth. However, since the Roman Empire was never defeated or conquered, there is no need for the Roman Empire to be revived; it has never ceased to exist! It merely changed form and composition. Rome transformed itself as it fell apart as a political entity and resumed its dominate influence in the world over kings and rulers as a religious entity.
A study of Roman history, and particularly the role of the Caesars, reveals some interesting facts. The Caesar, or supreme ruler of Rome, of whom there were several, had a dual function. He was not only the political head of state but he was also the religious head of state or cult; sometimes he was even referred to as a god. When functioning as the political head of state, he was Rome's "Caesar". When he was functioning as the religious head he was referred to as pontiff; he was pontificating his religious duties - that's right, he was the pope or papal head of Rome.
Julius Caesar became head of the Roman branch of the religious Babylonian cult in 63 B.C. Other emperors held the office until 376 A.D. when the emperor Gracian, for Christian reasons, refused it because he saw that its Babylonian practices were idolatrous. Demasus, Bishop of the Christian Church of Rome at that time, apparently lusting for power, was elected to this position of religious headship in 378 A.D. and from that time on Babylonianism and Christianity began to merge.
Many of the rites, beliefs and mystical practices of Babylon were thus introduced into the Christian church. Then later under Emperor Constantine heathen type temples were restored, beautified, and their rituals encouraged. Worship and veneration of images (idols), saints, relics, private confessions, penances, scourging, pilgrimages, the sign of the cross, Christmas, Lady Day, Good Friday, Easter, Lent and other pagan rites and festivals, little by little, became a part of Christian worship. Over the years of the third and fourth centuries pagan Babylonianism merged with Christianity and formed the Roman Catholic Church - identified in scripture as Mystery Babylon of the last days.
As political Rome declined, religious Rome was rising to power. Finally in the fourth century (376 A.D.) the power shifted as the Bishop of the Church of Rome offered himself to serve as pontiff in the place of Caesar. It was then that the mantle of Caesar transferred to the Bishop of Rome and the die was cast. The Roman Empire died politically but resumed and even increased its power and control over kings and nations as the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope of Rome, called the "Holy Father" by the Church of Rome, (which term in itself is an abomination to God), has been the Caesar since the fourth century and still is today.
Perhaps now you can understand why the Roman Catholic Church has its own nation/city - the Vatican; has its own army; has its own postal system; has its own spy network- the Jesuits; has its own emissaries to other nations, and why other nations have ambassadors to the Vatican.
History shows clearly the Pope's influence and control over kings and rulers; and how the Pope has meddled in the affairs of state of most European nations and even America. The Popes of the past have even used their influence to raise up kings and counsels in other nations; those who would do the bidding of the Pope and carry out the wishes and dictates of the church; even imposing its religion on the peoples of many nations. Rulers who refuse to submit to the will of the Pope have been eliminated by various means of treachery, the task of the Order of the Jesuits, the Roman church's assassins, spies and covert operatives.
Now back to the image of Daniel 2: Note that all the empires are connected and form one body. The head is connected to the chest, etc. right down to the feet. This illustrates that the influence of Babylon, the head, permeates the entire body and each subsequent empire. It shows that what qualities that are in the head are carried right down to the feet. When Christ, the stone, strikes the feet he is actually crushing the entire image and all that comes from Babylon, the head.
Consider just some of the perversions that the Roman church has either created or carried on from ancient Babylon: it changed the time of worship from the Sabbath (Saturday - the last day of the week) to Sunday - the first day of the week. It changed holy days (now called holidays) with seasons and festivals to coincide with pagan festival days such as Christmas and Easter. Christians need to know that Christ was not born on December 25th which is an ancient pagan worship day of the sun god called Saternalia. Jesus was born during God's holy days of the Feast of Tabernacles in late September or early October. (This is shown in the Bible if people will just study the facts and ignore tradition.) Likewise, the celebration of Easter is a pagan tradition. The word "Easter" comes from the old Saxon (ancient English) word Eastre that is the name of the Saxon Goddess of sex and fertility. Easter is not about the resurrection of Jesus; it's about the worship of the new life, the rites of spring; thus eggs and bunny rabbits. It is most unfortunate that the word Easter even appears in the Book of Acts; that's because the King James translators were already under the influence of Rome's traditions and practices which were already evident in the Church of England (Anglican) at that time; thus they unknowingly used Easter to refer to the Resurrection.
When should the resurrection really be celebrated? Just look at the Jewish calendar to find out. Look for the celebration of Passover and you will know on what day to commemorate the crucifixion and then the resurrection. Passover is the annual Jewish high holy Sabbath; so Jesus had to be off the cross before sunset on the day of preparation - the day the Jews killed the Passover lamb. Jesus became our Passover lamb and so he died before Passover began which was at sunset that day. The Church of Rome gave us Good Friday as the day of the crucifixion, but this is a lie that is aimed to deny that Jesus was in the grave three days and three nights. How do you get three days and three nights from Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise - you don't!
The Catholic Church also gave us the abomination of All Souls/Saints day called Halloween, which is Satan's high holy day celebrated by his servants, witches, etc. The Catholic Church also introduced such abominations as prayers for the dead; penance where you have to pay for your sins instead of Jesus; indulgences - buying your forgiveness; the institution of professional clergy being over the laity, (which was actually set up by Emperor Constantine); the veneration of Mary and worshipping her as the intercessor between God and man instead of Jesus; infant baptism, a false salvation instead of faith in Christ; purgatory - a holding ground for the dead while someone prays and pays money to get a loved one out of it; forgiveness of sins that only a priest can provide through confession to him; praying to idols/statues called saints; along with a host of other superstitious beliefs, rituals and practices that are blasphemous. Most of these abominations have their seed and roots in the religion of ancient Babylon and other pagan forms of worship.
Back to image of the statue in Daniel 2; Rome is the last empire at the time of the end. Many teach that Rome has to be revived. This is an error because Rome never ceased to be in power; it simply transformed itself from a political entity to a religious entity. Rome continues on dominating kings and nations, only it now does it in the form and the name of a religion. Even to this day there is a covert group identified as “The Club of Rome” that uses its influence in the political affairs of many nations – including America. Now you can see why this religious system, whose capital is the "City on Seven Hills" - (Revelation 17:9 & 18); Rome is called "Mystery Babylon" and "the Great Whore" - (Revelation 17:1). Does the old phrase, "All roads lead to Rome" mean anything now?
It appears that the great whore will absorb even more power and influence in the future. This means there is likely to be some changes made to gain more acceptance or enforce more influence and control. The way we see this religious system now is probably going to change and become more powerful as it aligns with political and ruling powers yet to arise, and is likely going to absorb other Christian denominations and religions, maybe even merging with Islam - Revelation 17:16-17.
Did you know that Babylon means "confusion"; the religion of Mystery Babylon confuses true Christian and Bible doctrines with pagan doctrines and practices and the end result is confusion - thus Babylon! Is it any wonder that the angel of the Lord cries out for those who truly know and love the Lord to come out that religious system whose capital is the City of Rome:
Revelation 18:4 - "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities".
Now what follows is a theory that is likely to inflame may Christians. God's call for His people to "Come out of Babylon" indicates that God will soon be finished with the current form of church, including Catholic, Protestant and independent. The current form of church won't change to conform to the kind of church Jesus is coming back for; it simply does not reflect his glory but is full of spots, wrinkles and blemishes.
Ephesians 5:27 - "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but it should be holy and without blemish."
First consider that His church, (His called out people) are to compose a "glorious" assembly of His people. The gloriousness, or glory of this church, comes from the Greek word doxa which refers to ones dignity, or better understood as a persons character and nature. His glorious church refers to a people who reflect His character and nature, also known as the Fruit of the Spirit - the character and nature of God.
2 Peter 1:3 & 4 - "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called is to glory and virtue (or to be glorious and virtuous like him): Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divinenature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Does the current form of church reflect God's character and nature? ... or man's character and nature?
Next consider "spots" which refers to dirt or filth on what are supposed to be clean and white garments of righteousness. These spots are sinful and disgusting practices, false doctrines and defiled worship that continue in much of the church even to this date.
Next consider "wrinkles" which implies old age. Old age in this instance refers to that which is ancient; and what is ancient that God considers corrupt that is still in the church? It is that which comes from ancient Babylon; it is the religious perversity that is still found in the church today - thus "wrinkles".
Next consider, "Or any such thing", which implies anything that even has the slightest resemblance of impropriety as to doctrine, practice or observance found in the church that is not ordained of God.
Next consider "holy and without blemish" as meaning completely separated from all that defiles and is corrupt. This refers to any defect in character and nature. This simply means that the church that Christ is returning for is totally and absolutely His; looks like Him, acts like Him and is composed of the true, holy (separated) Sons of God:
1 John 3:2 - "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be (or, what we have now isn't what it will be like at his return): but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is".
The conclusion of this theory is that the next move of God is to bring about a whole new form of church; not organized and institutionalised denominations headed by men; boards and pastors; incorporated (franchised) by the state; under the control of the federal government by means of 501.c3 status; meeting in multimillion dollar buildings and campuses that are used only a couple hours a week at the most; draining the money of the believers to pay for these man made monuments, whereas their money is to go help the poor and spread the gospel; and not filled with doctrines of men and devils and observing wrong holy days, etc.
Jesus addressed a similar problem among the Jews of his day:
Matthew 15:6 to 9 - "...Thus have ye made the commandments of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophecy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their
mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
The call of the Lord to "come out of her my people" means exactly that; get out of that system. This means that there is coming a time when this old order is no longer going to be used and honored by God. His church is people, not a fraternal type of organization as we have today that’s called church. He wants his people out of the organizations of man (and devils). What is coming is something new and many have already been sensing it, even if they don’t quite understand what it will be like because their traditional view of church stands in the way. Author and revival preacher Andrew Strom, is calling it "the Street Church" because he sees the new move producing something other than a traditional church system: (astrom@revivalschool.com).
God will soon be done with the current form of church and call his people out of it and into the true and pure church which is the Body of Christ that is free of all of man's and Satan's doctrines, rituals, practices and trappings.
This is exactly what happened in the time of Jesus. Although Jesus operated within the realm of the Old Testament Law of Moses and the way of worship of the Jews, (with the exception of where they went beyond what the Law required), he was at the same time bringing in the New Testament and setting up the new order of doctrines and worship - Christianity replaced Judaism. (Note: this is not “replacement theology” as Christians do not replace Israel as God’s people – it’s the mode of relationship to God, through Christ , not the Law.)
The old order had its place and time up until it was no longer useful and valid. So this theory is that the same type of thing may be soon coming concerning the church. The old order, because of the traditions and doctrines of man (from ancient Babylon) will be done away with as the Lord, by His Spirit, moves on his people to leave the old order, (Babylon) to move on with Him to be prepared as the church He is coming back for; a church free of four walls and of all the other confinements of man and Babylon.
Unfortunately, just as has happened in the past, many will refuse to leave the old to move on into the new. Then again, some will make the move, but try to bring the old with them. The apostle Paul had to deal with this in the early church as Jewish believers tried to bring old covenant conditions into the new. However, the old will not be tolerated because of traditions, doctrines and practices that represent Mystery Babylon, the Great Whore religious system. This religious system will be judged and destroyed; just as illustrated in Daniel 2 when Christ the Rock will crush the image from its feet up to its head - Babylon.
You don't want to be in this religious system when he returns!
1 John 3:3 - "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
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