Though Jeremiah might have felt very much alone at times, he wasn’t. God had raised up Ezekiel, a contemporary, among the captives in Babylon, in order to comfort and to warn the exiles as well as to confirm what the Lord had been speaking through Jeremiah all these long and hard years.
Through his ministry, Ezekiel was to warn the captives against the folly of believing the false predictions of an early return from Babylon. He was also to foretell, by various symbols and messages, the devastating siege that would eventually befall Jerusalem because of the people’s refusal to repent and turn away from their sin and apostasy.
Read Ezekiel 8:1-18. What was the prophet shown? What does this tell us about how powerful the prevailing culture can be, and how it can impact even the most sacred things? What warnings should be here for us?
No matter how often, and clearly, the writings of Moses and the prophets warned against idolatry and worshiping other gods, these verses show that this is exactly what was being done, even within the sacred precincts of the temple. Weeping for Tammuz
was a lamentation ritual for a Mesopotamian god. No wonder 2 Chronicles said: Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem
(2 Chron. 36:14).
Look carefully at Ezekiel 8:12. The translation about the chambers of their own imagery
is a little ambiguous. It could mean the chambers where they stored their own idols, or it could mean the chambers of their own imagination, their own hearts. Either way, the elders, the leaders, had fallen so far that they said the Lord didn’t see what they were doing, that the Lord had abandoned them. It is another way of saying, The Lord doesn’t care about these things; they aren’t important.
Right there, in the sacred precincts of God’s temple, these people engaged in the grossest idolatry, doing everything that they had specifically been forbidden by God’s words to do. Even worse, in their own minds they justified their deeds. Here we see again what Paul meant when he talked about those who worshiped the creation instead of the Creator (see Rom. 1:22-25).
Worshipping on Sunday goes back at least two thousand years before Jesus Christ. Shortly after the flood in Noah's time, Nimrod and his mother-wife, Semiramis, founded the great pagan religions. Sun worship is related to fire worship. From the beginning at the Tower of Babel, sun worship spread throughout the ancient world.
On pages 226-227, Hislop states, "Nimrod is singled out by the voice of antiquity as commencing this fire-worship . . . . The sun, as the great source of light and heat, was worshipped under the name of Baal [another name for Nimrod] . . . . the sun, under that name [Baal] was worshipped in the earliest ages of the world . . . . The beginning, then, of sun- worship and of the worship of the host of the heaven, was a sin against the light -- a presumptuous, heaven-daring sin. As the sun in the heavens was the great object of worship, so fire was worshipped as its [the sun's] earthly representative . . . . Along with the sun, as the great fire-god, and, in due time, identified with him, was the serpent worshipped . . . the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun. In Egypt, one of the commonest symbols of the sun, or sun-god, is a disc with a serpent around it. The original reason of that identification seems just to have been that, as the sun was the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual, by giving mankind the 'knowledge of good and evil' . . .."
Sun-worship was the dominant religion in all ancient civilizations, spreading from Mother Babylon to India, China, Africa, Greece, Rome, Mexico, South America, Egypt and Europe. Sun worship was a very prominent religion and Sunday was the main day of worship in the pagan Roman Empire by the time of Jesus Christ, just as it was in ancient pagan Babylon.
Hislop, page 238, "Now, if this worship of the sacred serpent of the Sun, the great fire-god, was so universal in Rome, what symbol could more graphically portray the idolatrous power of Pagan Imperial Rome than the 'Great Fiery Serpent'? No doubt it was to set forth this very thing that the Imperial standard itself -- the standard of the Pagan Emperor of Rome, as Pontifex Maximus, Head of the great system of fire-worship and serpent-worship -- was a serpent elevated on a lofty pole, and so coloured, as to exhibit it as a recognised symbol of fire-worship."
Julius Caesar became Pontifex Maximus 40-50 years B.C. From that time until Emperor Justinian, the Roman Emperors were heads of the state religion of fire- serpent-sun worship. In the 6th Century A.D., Justinian submitted to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Thereafter, the Popes became the Pontifex Maximus of the state religion of fire- serpent-sun worship.
Historically, pagan Babylon worshipped the sun as a deity, and pagan religions also worshipped the invincible sun. The pagan ideas crept into the early church and with the assistance of Constantine, his civil Sunday law transferred the Sabbath rest to the Sun Day, and filled the church with commonly used pagan images and symbols of the sun.
Many of the pagan sunburst images used by the church show up in various forms of church art. An artifact was unearthed in the holy of holies of the pagan temple in the Canaanite city of Hazor / Hatzor, in northern Israel, that dates to 1400 years before the time of Christ. It is described as follows:
"a basalt offering table, pillar-shaped, with a carved symbol of the storm god Baal on its side. That symbol was a circle with a cross in the center"
In a large number of the churches altars you can find the same general Babylonian sun symbol. Some have tapestry with a sunburst design nearly identical to the pagan sun-god symbol of Baal / Shamash. This tapestry is called the altar frontal, antipendium (antependium), or pallium altaris.
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/verita.htm
"In Egypt, the disk of the Sun was represented in the temples, and the sovereign and his wife and children were represented as adoring it . . . . In the great temple of Babylon, the golden image of the Sun was exhibited for the worship of the Babylonians . . . . In the worship of Baal, as practised by the idolatrous Israelites in the days of their apostasy, the worship of the sun's image was equally observed; and it is striking to find that the image of the sun, which apostate Israel worshipped, was erected above the altar. When the good king Josiah set about the work of reformation, we read that his servants in carrying out the work, proceeded thus (2 Chron. xxxiv.4): 'And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence, and the images (margin, SUN-IMAGES) that were on high above them, he cut down.' . . .
Israel profaned the Sabbath and substituted Baal worship, which is sun worship:
"And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."
These words were spoken by a rugged prophet of God as he stood on the top of Mount Carmel face to face with a people who claimed to be the chosen people of God, but a people who had turned from the worship of the true God to the worship of Baal, the Sun-god.
A chosen people who had followed the cloud by day and the fire by night through the wilderness experience and then encamped at the foot of Mt. Sinai had heard God's voice in thunder-like tones proclaim His law of Ten Commandments. And even while Moses was receiving the law on tablets of stone they had turned to the sun worship of Egypt. Just so had Israel permitted the wicked Jezebel to again introduce sun worship.
The time had come for a test with this false religion. And on the top of Mt. Carmel they hear Elijah cry out, "How long halt ye between two opinions, you must decide between God and Baal."
The crowd looked over at Elijah, and they saw him standing there alone. Then they looked and saw hundreds of the priests of Baal, dressed in their rich, flowing robes, and they asked the question that has been asked ever since sin opened the gate to the road of the broad and easy way that many follow:" "Can Elijah be right and all these priests of Baal be wrong?" God showed that day what a abomination the false religion of sun worship was to him.
Samuele Bacchiocchi, in his book, From Sabbath to Sunday, pages 242-246, gives evidence that the planetary week was in popular existence in Rome before the time of Christ. "Various Sun-cults were predominant in ancient Rome by the early part of the second century [A.D.]. That these attracted the imagination and interest of Christian converts from paganism, we found evidenced by the development of the theme of Christ-the-Sun, and by the adoption of the eastward orientation for prayer [true Christians are inclined to pray to the north, where God's throne is located, Psalms 48:2] and of the date of the 25th of December . . . . The valorization of the day of the Sun over that of Saturn, as a result of the diffusion of the Sun-cults, possibly oriented Christians (who desired to differentiate themselves from the Sabbath of the Jews) toward such a day. This choice however, it must be stated again, was notmotivated by their desire to venerate the Sun-god on his day, but rather by the fact that its symbology could fittingly commemorate two important events of the history of salvation -- creation and resurrection: 'it is on this day that the Light of the World has appeared and on this day that the Sun of Justice has risen.' Moreover, the day of the Sun enabled Christians to explain also the Biblical mysteries to the pagan world by means of an effective symbology that was very familiar to them." (pages 268-269).
"The early Christians had at first adopted the seven-day week with its numbered week days, but by the close of the third century A.D., this began to give way to the planetary week. The use of planetary names [Monday, etc.] attests to the growing influence of astrological speculations introduced by the converts from paganism" (Webster's Rest Days, page 252).
"[Roman Emperor] Constantine's famous edict (321 A.D.) definitely enrolled Sunday among the holidays of the Roman State religion. The change from Saturn's day [Saturday, the Sabbath] to Sunday must have further commended the planetary week in Christian circles, where the Lord's Day . . . beginning the week, had long been observed as the day on which Christ, the Son of Righteousness [supposedly] rose from the dead. Thus a pagan institution [Sunday observance] was engrafted upon Christianity" (Ibid., p. 222). This edict commanded that "On the venerable day of the sun let all magistrates and people . . . rest" (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, article "Sunday Legislation").
Emperor Constantine was a pagan sun worshiper who saw that religion could be a unifying factor in his kingdom. "Constantine . . . persevered till he was near 40 years of age in the practice of the established religion [of pagan sun worship]. But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the sun . . . the sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine," (Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. I, pages 636-638). Even after Constantine's supposed "conversion," he continued his devotion to the Sun. His enforcement of Sunday worship, under the guise of Christianity, continued to brand followers of the state catholic religion with the mark of pagan sun worship.
"The SABBATH -- which word means 'REST' -- depicts the kind of eternal REST from sin which God has in mind for man. (Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, Lesson 30, page 5).
Question: How early was the tendency to adopt heathen customs manifested on the part of the professed church?
Answer: It was manifested in the apostle’s day. See note 2.
Question: In respect to what and by whom was the arrogance of the mystery of iniquity first manifested?
Answer: The first claim of which we have record was made by Victor, bishop of Rome (A. D. 193-202), in behalf of Sunday. Rome had begun to celebrate the Passover, or the heathen feast of Easter, on Sunday.
And “Victor, bishop of Rome, thought it necessary that the Asiatic Christians should be compelled by laws and decrees to follow the rule adopted” by the Western church.
Therefore, he wrote them an “imperious letter” admonishing them to follow the example of other Christians in keeping Easter.
They replied with spirit, “that they would not depart from the holy institution of their ancestors.” Therefore, Victor “excluded them from his communion and from that of his church (Rome).
Question: In thus turning to the word of men instead of the Word of God, what did the church do?
Answer: It erected another standard than the Word, and finally set up creeds and decrees of councils as the rule of faith.
Question: In what did this result?
Answer: In erecting as standards the creeds of men, inevitable confusion and strife resulted.
Question: By what term in the Scriptures is this confusion characterized?
Answer: Babylon, confusion.Revelation 14:8.
Question: To what did the adoption of worldly standards lead?
Answer: When worldly standards were erected by the church, she could no longer plead God’s Word and power. Therefore, she turned to the world to obtain power.
Question: When was this union of the church with the state formed?
Answer: In the reign of Constantine, A. D. 313-337.
Question: What is said of the bishops at that time?
Answer: “Worldly-minded bishops, instead of caring for the salvation of their flocks, were often but too much inclined to travel about, and entangle themselves in worldly concerns.”
“This theocratic theory of government was already the prevailing one in the time of Constantine.
They voluntarily made themselves dependent on him by their disputes, and by the determination to use the power of the state for the furtherance of their aims.”
Neander’s History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. 2, sec. 2, part 1, division 1, par 3.
The outcome of all this was foretold in 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4.
Question: To what did this man-made theocracy inevitably lead?
Answer: To deifying man and putting him in the place of God.
Notes:
- Mark that in the very church itself should men arise, speaking perverse things (things contrary to the truth of Scriptures), to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:30.
Self-exaltation is the object of the promoter of error. It is the very foundation of the mystery of iniquity.
The true ministers point the disciple to Christ. The ministers of Satan draw the disciple after themselves.
- Note that:
- The great mass of the world in Paul’s day were heathen.
- Universal heathen worship was sun-worship.
- The great and universal day of sun-worship was Sunday, besides other monthly and yearly feasts.
- Galatians Christians were converted heathen. Galatians 4:8.
- In their backsliding they turned back to the beggarly elements of the world, to which they were in bondage before they knew Christ. Galatians 4:9
- One great evidence of this was that they returned to observing times and days. Galatians 4:810, 11.
- The only obvious inference is that these days were heathen days and times (Leviticus 19:26) and would naturally include among them the Sunday. See “The Lord’s Day,” pp. 33-41, 87-91.
The mystery of iniquity was already working
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8.
The prophet Daniel, describing the same power, says: He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws. Daniel 7:25.
How strikingly have these prophecies been fulfilled by the Romish Church! This power has attempted to change the times and laws of God.
She openly states that she has made such changes.
Furthermore, she declares that by the observance of Sunday, which rests solely upon her authority, the Protestant world is acknowledging the supremacy of Rome.
It is the breach which has thus been made in the Law of God that the people described by Isaiah are seeking to build up.
Conclusion
The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his time.
That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed. 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
Not till after the great apostasy and the long period of reign of the man of sin, we can look for the advent of our Lord.
The man of sin, which is also styled the mystery of iniquity, the son of perdition,and that wicked, represents the Romish Church and the papacy later on.
It was to maintain its supremacy for 1260 years as foretold in prophecy. This period ended in 1798. The coming of Christ could not take place before that time.
Paul, as we have seen, did not preach it. He pointed his brethren into the distant future for the coming of the Lord.
The reformers did not proclaim it.Martin Luther placed the Judgment about three hundred years in the future from his day.
Then, pagans who'd been worshipping Zeus and Caesar wanted to join the Christian church. Unfortunately, church leaders decided to make the transition easier, allowing them to keep some of their pagan ideas and customs.
Sun-worship had a strong hold on the people of the Roman Empire. And it didn't simply wither when Constantine and pagans began calling on the name of Jesus. So Constantine thought of a way to accommodate sun-worshippers, making them feel more comfortable inside the Christian church. In March of 321 AD, he issued a decree to this effect: “On the venerable Day of the Sun [Sunday], let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all work shops be closed.”
This was the first official step toward establishing Sunday over Saturday as the official day of rest and worship for Christians. And soon the church itself would forbid all work on a Sunday, establishing it as the official rest day (the Sabbath of the Creation week) of Christianity.
What most people don't realise today, is that the seventh day, Saturday, remained the Christian day or worship for many centuries after Christ's death. It was the Sabbath for all early believers. There is absolutely no evidence for a change in the official day of worship for Christians to be found anywhere in the New Testament. But, finally, Christian church leaders decided to accommodate its sun-worshipping constituents who worshipped on Sunday. After all, they reasoned, Sunday was also the day of the Lord's resurrection. But why is this important? In fact, does it really matter what day of the week one goes to church? Wouldn't God be happy when we worship Him, no matter what the day is? Of course He is.
The important thing was what people were saying in their hearts, inside, when they began to worship on Sunday—what this new sign of allegiance meant to them. That is what God cares about. Were they really worshipping Christ, the resurrected Lord? Or were they really still worshipping the sun, clothed in Christian garb?
As you look at the history of the church, it's easy to discover that many of its members were still worshipping someone or something besides Jesus. In the middle of the fifth century, we find Pope Leo I rebuking worshippers at St Peter's Cathedral, Rome, because they kept turning around and bowing toward the sun before entering the basilica.
This mixing of pagan custom with Christian teaching greatly weakened the church, and the adoption of Sunday as the day of worship had much to do with the tragedy.
The rather arbitrary change in the day of worship from the seventh day of the week to the first contributed to another problem—the problem of church authority.
The Christian church kept increasing in power and authority right into the Middle Ages. It became the official interpreter of Scripture, and eventually, through the Inquisition and secular forces, persecuting any whom questioned its authority or its dogma.
When individuals challenged the church on points such as the change in the day of worship, church leaders would use an interesting argument to defend their right to do so, and to determine what God's truth was. They pointed to the observance of Sunday: “We did that by our own authority,” they argued. “There is no basis for it in Scripture!”
There's danger in making up one's own rules and signs. They can then become the test of allegiance. Whom are you really following? Who has the last word for you?
The church father, the apostle Paul, said, “Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16).
You're either going to commit to obeying the Word of God—the Bible—or to some religious leader. If Scripture and Scripture alone don't have the last word, then trouble will follow.
Congregations in Constantine's time found this out. Before pastors realised how many people were still worshipping the sun on the new “holy day,” the church was irreversibly committed to and irreparably damaged by it. It became a question of allegiance. Sunday became, for them, a sign of allegiance to church authority. And who has the last word, the authoritative word, in your life is a question only you can answer.
As Christians, we can't make up the rules to govern the universe to suit ourselves, although we can try. We can't let anyone, even a good moral leader, be our authority no matter how well versed in the Bible, pious, powerful, charismatic and respected they might be, decide the rules aside from God's clear Word, for us. We have to give our allegiance totally and exclusively to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. He alone is a safe and trustworthy guide, leading us in untarnished love and truth. All that will count in the end is whether we chose to listen to, worship and follow Him.
Worshipping on Sunday goes back at least two thousand years before Jesus Christ. Ra was the sun god of Egypt, Baal of the Phoenicians, Molech of the Ammonites, Ha-dad of the Syrians, Apollo of the Greeks and Mithra of the Persians and picked up by the Romans.
Shortly after the flood in Noah's time, Nimrod and his mother-wife, Semiramis, founded the great pagan religions. Sun worship is related to fire worship. From the beginning at the Tower of Babel, sun worship spread throughout the ancient world.
http://www.endtimeissues.com/articles/263/Why-Sunday-is-So-Appealing-to-Satan/
The Romans, when conquering, would take the people's gods, thinking to undermine their power. Many graven images were brought back to Rome, and, later, into the church. For example, the statue of St. Peter in St. Peter's Basilica, was, once, Jupiter (sun-god). Other names applied to the sun-god are Mithras, Horus, Isvara, Deoius, Jupiter, Rah, Plutus, Ninus, Osiris, Dionysus, Bacchus, Iacchus, Adonis, Attis, etc.
Originally, the obelisk was associated with sun-worship, a symbol of "Baal," (which was a title of Nimrod), because it pointed toward heaven. It, also, had a sexual significance - the phallus, as with the sun, is a symbol of life. The same obelisk (the ancient symbol of Osiris, the solar phallic god) that stood in Egypt is, now, in the entrance to St. Peter's.
The largest solar wheel on earth is the court of St. Peter at the Vatican in Rome - a wheel within a wheel, with eight spokes, a common symbol in paganism.
Around 200 years after Christ, and beginning with the church in Rome, Christians began to participate with the pagan religions in their Sunday (Day of the Sun) celebrations while still continuing to observe the Sabbath. Since these Sunday celebrations were more enjoyable than the solemn ceremonies that they participated in on the seventh day of the week, they began to look with disfavor on the seventh day and began to worship on Sunday.
In 321 A.D., the emperor Constantine signed a law decreeing that all people, not involved in agriculture, should worship on Sunday (the first day of the week). The English translation of the decree reads as follows:
"All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable Day of the Sun. Country people, however, may freely attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for planting the grain in the furrows or the vines in the trenches. So that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish." Joseph Cullen Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913), div. 2, per. 1, ch. 1, sec. 59, g, pp. 284, 285.
http://www.bibleplus.org/sabbath/sabbath-comm.htm
There is so much more... Lets take a look at Constantine. He had his wife and eldest son murdered. He was a sun-worshipper. In 321 A.D., he established the first Sunday law, in order to unite the pagans and the Christians in the empire. In 364 A.D., at the Council of Laodicea, the Sabbath was, officially, "changed" to Sunday (called, "The Lord's Day," in sun-worship).
http://www.bibleresearch.org/observancebook5/b5w7.html
Pagan beliefs were allowed to come into the church especially the pagan gods such as Baal and Ashtaroth, who have been redefined and christianized to make paganism respectable, and acceptable. In most religions there is a Queen of Heaven and her god/man/son found somewhere in the background. Most segments of Protestantism defiantly reject Mary as the Queen of Heaven with her Immaculate Conception doctrine, but hang onto other Romanized traditions such as Sunday observance.
Did you ever wonder about the text in Exodus 32:1-4 concerning the golden calf that the Israelites made while Moses was up in the mountain with God? Verse 5 says, "they rose up early on the morrow." That calf was called "apis" by the Egyptians and was tied in with their pagan sun worship. That is why they rose up early, to worship the sun.
Now lets see if they were warned about this pagan worship. Deut 4:12-20. says "Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similtude of any figure, the likeness of male or female...And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them and serve them..."
And, yet, that is what the children of Israel did, over and over again - even, the priests. 2 Ki 23:4-11. There is a direct connection between this worship and the worship of Lucifer (Isa 14:12), who said, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God...I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
The Bible calls Baal worship devil worship. Did you know that? Here it is in Leviticus 17:7, "And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils after whom they have gone whoring." In Numbers 25:2-4 it says, "And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods, and Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel." Down through the centuries the distinguishing mark that separated the pagans from God's people was their day of worship, which was Sunday, or Sun's day. The pagans worshiped the sun on Sunday. They took the first day of the week and gave it the highest honor by naming it in honor of the sun god and worshiping the sun on that day
http://www.toolong.com/
On pages 226-227, Hislop states, "Nimrod is singled out by the voice of antiquity as commencing this fire-worship .... The sun, as the great source of light and heat, was worshipped under the name of Baal [another name for Nimrod].... the sun, under that name [Baal] was worshipped in the earliest ages of the world .... The beginning, then, of sun- worship and of the worship of the host of the heaven, was a sin against the light -- a presumptuous, heaven-daring sin. As the sun in the heavens was the great object of worship, so fire was worshipped as its [the sun's] earthly representative .... Along with the sun, as the great fire-god, and, in due time, identified with him, was the serpent worshipped ... the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun. In Egypt, one of the commonest symbols of the sun, or sun-god, is a disc with a serpent around it. The original reason of that identification seems just to have been that, as the sun was the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual, by giving mankind the 'knowledge of good and evil'...."
Sun-worship was the dominant religion in all ancient civilizations, spreading from Mother Babylon to India, China, Africa, Greece, Rome, Mexico, South America, Egypt and Europe. Sun worship was a very prominent religion and Sunday was the main day of worship in the pagan Roman Empire by the time of Jesus Christ, just as it was in ancient pagan Babylon.
Historically, pagan Babylon worshipped the sun as a deity, and pagan religions also worshipped the invincible sun. The pagan ideas crept into the early church and with the assistance of Constantine, his civil Sunday law transferred the Sabbath rest to the Sun Day, and filled the church with commonly used pagan images and symbols of the sun.
"[Roman Emperor] Constantine's famous edict (321 A.D.) definitely enrolled Sunday among the holidays of the Roman State religion. The change from Saturn's day [Saturday, the Sabbath] to Sunday must have further commended the planetary week in Christian circles, where the Lord's Day ... beginning the week, had long been observed as the day on which Christ, the Son of Righteousness [supposedly] rose from the dead. Thus a pagan institution [Sunday observance] was engrafted upon Christianity" (Ibid., p. 222). This edict commanded that "On the venerable day of the sun let all magistrates and people ... rest" (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, article "Sunday Legislation").
Emperor Constantine was a pagan sun worshiper who saw that religion could be a unifying factor in his kingdom. "Constantine ... persevered till he was near 40 years of age in the practice of the established religion [of pagan sun worship]. But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the sun ... the sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine," (Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. I, pages 636-638). Even after Constantine's supposed "conversion," he continued his devotion to the Sun. His enforcement of Sunday worship, under the guise of Christianity, continued to brand followers of the state catholic religion with the mark of pagan sun worship.
http://www.abcog.org/basics8.htm
Satan scored a strategic victory in his campaign for sun worship when he finally was able to substitute the pagan day of sun worship in place of God's true seventh-day Sabbath. And the greatest tragedy is that millions of modern Christians are unaware that, by keeping Sunday, they are rejecting the one great sign God commanded men to observe in recognition of His being the only true God. They do not understand that they are observing a day which was dedicated to sun worship.
http://tofm.org/LIBRARY/SUNDAY%20WORSHIP/sun_worship.htm
It was from this pagan sun-worship that we get the name Sunday for the first day of the week.“Sunday is the first day of the week, adopted from the Roman calendar because it was dedicated to the worship of the sun.
we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from paganism, where did the pagans get it? Where, when, and what was its real origin?
It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all through Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of Babylon. And it started and originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod! Yes, it stems from roots whose beginning was shortly this side of the Flood!
Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, was the real founder of the Babylonish system that has gripped the world ever since—the system of organized competition—of man-ruled governments and empires, based upon the competitive and profit-making economic system. Nimrod built the Tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh, many other cities. He organized the world's first kingdom. The name Nimrod, in Hebrew, is derived from "Marad," meaning "he rebelled."
From many ancient writings, considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized worldly apostasy from God that has dominated this world until now. Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. After Nimrod's untimely death, his so-called mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25th was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.
Through her scheming and designing, Semiramis became the Babylonian "Queen of Heaven," and Nimrod, under various names, became the "divine son of heaven." Through the generations, in this idolatrous worship, Nimrod became the false Messiah, son of Baal the Sun-god. In this false Babylonish system, the "Mother and Child" (Semiramis and Nimrod reborn), became chief objects of worship. This worship of "Mother and Child" spread over the world. The names varied in different countries and languages. In Egypt, it was Isis and Osiris. In Asia, Cybele and Deoius. In pagan Rome, Fortuna and Jupiterpuer. Even in Greece, China, Japan, Tibet is to be found the counterpart of the Madonna, long before the birth of Christ!
Thus, during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the pagans of the Roman world were "accepting" the new popular "Christianity" by hundreds of thousands, carrying their old pagan customs and beliefs along with them, merely cloaking them with Christian-sounding names, the Madonna and "Mother and Child" idea also became popularized, especially at Christmas time. Every Christmas season you will hear sung and chanted dozens of times the hymn "Silent Night, Holy Night," with its familiar "Mother and Child" theme. We, who have been born in such a Babylonish world, reared and steeped in these things all our lives, have been taught to revere these things as holy and sacred. We never questioned to see where they came from—whether they came from the Bible or from pagan idolatry!
We are shocked to learn the truth—some, unfortunately, take offense at the plain truth! But God commands His faithful ministers, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression" (Isaiah 58:1). Shocking as these facts are, they are the plain facts of history and the Bible!
The real origin of Christmas goes back to the ancient Babylon. It is bound up in the organized apostasy with which Satan has gripped a deceived world these many centuries! In Egypt, it was always believed that the son of Isis (Egyptian name for "Queen of Heaven") was born December 25th. Paganism celebrated this famous birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Christ.
December 25th is not the birthday of Jesus the true Christ! The apostles and early true Church never celebrated Christ's birthday at any time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the Bible—rather, the celebrating of birthdays is a pagan, not a Christian custom, believe it or not!
Thus the ancient idolatrous "Chaldean Mysteries," founded by this wife of Nimrod, have been handed down through the pagan religions under new Christian-sounding names.
There are only two religions: (1) the Truth of the Almighty, as expressed in His Word, the Bible; and (2) every other belief. These two religions cannot be mixed, without disastrous results. Babylon is the source of false religion, Revelation 17:1-6. When John wrote the Revelation, Babylon, as a city, had already been destroyed and left in ruins, as Old Testament prophets had foretold, Isaiah 13:19-22; Jeremiah 51-52. Though the city of Babylon was destroyed, its religious concepts and customs had spread around the world. Today’s myriad of false religions have their origin in ancient Babylon.
Ralph Woodrow, in his book, Babylon Mystery Religion (first published in 1966, now out of print), clearly traces the practices and teachings of ancient Babylon, and their modern counterparts in the Roman Catholic Church and her Protestant daughters. Babylonian ideas are by no means isolated to professing Christianity. Since nominal Christianity is so permeated with false doctrines from Babylon, we should carefully study this problem, so as to avoid Babylonianism. Today, there is an almost irresistible tide within Christianity to turn aside to ideas of Babylon and Catholicism. All too many believers are taking one of the many roads to Rome and Babylon. Here is a summary of Woodrow’s excellent book, Babylon Mystery Religion.
Nimrod and Semiramis
Legends are difficult to prove; they are almost impossible to disprove. Nimrod, the mighty hunter before (against) the Lord, was the first to organize cities into a kingdom under human rule, Genesis 10:8-10. This much we know from the Bible. The name Nimrod comes from the word, marad, meaning “he rebelled.” Legend has it that Nimrod married his own mother, Semiramis. After Nimrod died, Semiramis claimed Nimrod was the sun-god. She later had a child, Tammuz, whom she claimed was Nimrod reborn, supernaturally conceived, the promised seed, the “savior.” Semiramis developed a religion of mother and child worship. Symbols were used to develop a “mystery” religion. Since Nimrod was believed to be the sun-god (Baal), fire was considered his earthly representation. In other forms, Nimrod was symbolized by sun images, fish, trees, pillars, and animals. Tammuz, son of the sun-god, was represented by the golden calf. And so it was, that mankind followed this religion of worshipping the creation (creature) rather than the Creator, Romans 1:21-26.
Whether or not the Nimrod-Semiramis-Tammuz legends are completely historical or not is immaterial. The result of these legends is that mankind in general, has followed variations of one kind or another, of the religion of Babylon, to this day.
Rome, the greatest and longest-lived human world-ruling empire, assimilated religions from her many conquered territories. All these religions had commonalities, for they all came from Babylon. These practices infiltrated and overcame the professing Christian Church, which later came to be dominated by Rome itself.
Mother and Child Worship; Mary Worship
Pictures are worth a thousand words. If you doubt the common origin of many pagan practices, pictures showing the striking similarity should convince you. Many pagan religions had mother and child worship, whether Devaki and Crishna (India), Isis and Horus (Egypt), Venus or Fortuna and Jupiter (Rome), etc. Each nation gave different names to essentially the same god or goddess.
A mother goddess, or “queen of heaven,” was said to have given miraculous birth to a son. Ancient Israel sometimes followed this false religion, Judges 2:13, 10:6; I Samuel 7:3-4, 12:10; I Kings 11:5; II Kings 23:13; Jeremiah 44:17-19, with disastrous results. In Ephesus, Semiramis was worshipped as the great mother Diana, the many-breasted goddess. This form of mother-child worship was followed throughout all Asia and the world, Acts 19:27.
Mary worship had no place in the early Christian Church. Even the Catholic Encyclopedia (article, “Virgin Mary,” pp. 459-460) admits that in the first centuries, A.D., there are no traces of the worship of Mary. By the fourth century, the time of Emperor Constantine, worshipping Mary as a goddess and offering cakes at her shrine, began to come into the professing Church. In A.D. 431, the Council of Ephesus made Mary worship official. By mixing beliefs already being practiced (Diana of Ephesus worshipped as a goddess) with nominal Christianity, so-called Church “fathers” reasoned that they could gain more converts. It is the same old story. Apostates believe that lowering God’s standards results in a better form of religion, more acceptable and popular to the masses.
The Bible is clear that there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ, I Timothy 2:5. Yet Roman Catholicism teaches that Mary is also a “mediator.” Catholics offer prayers to Mary, burn candles to Mary, and have statues of Mary, which came directly from their pagan counterparts. Isis, the Egyptian goddess, was known as “mother of God,” just as Mary is titled by Catholics. Weigall, in The Paganism in Our Christianity, page 129, says, “When Christianity triumphed, these paintings and figures became those of the madonna and child, without any break in continuity: no archaeologist, in fact, can now tell whether some of these objects represent the one or the other.”
In pagan religion, the mother was worshipped as much (or more) than her son! Noted Roman Catholic writer Alphonsus Liguori stressed that prayers addressed to Mary are much more effectual than to Christ. Mary is deified as the “queen of heaven,” born without sin (Immaculate Conception), the “mother of God,” exactly as pagan worshippers deified Isis, Venus, Ashtoreth, etc. Jesus did not teach that Mary was superior to other human beings. When someone mentioned His mother and brethren, Jesus asked, “Who is My mother? and who are My brethren?” Then, stretching forth His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brethren! For WHOSOEVER shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and MOTHER,” Matthew 12:46-50. Anyone who does the will of God is on the same level as Mary.
Closely associated with praying to Mary is the rosary, a chain of fifteen sets of small beads, marked off by one large bead. The ends of the chain are joined by a medal with an imprint of Mary, from which hangs a short chain with a crucifix at the end. The use of prayer-counters or rosary beads is an almost universal custom in pagan religion. From Nineveh to India to China, beads were used as a part of worship. The Phoenicians used a circle of beads resembling a rosary in the worship of Astarte, the mother goddess, as early as 800 B.C. Francis Xavier was astonished to see that rosaries were universally familiar to the Buddhists of Japan.
The main prayer of the rosary is the “Hail Mary.” The complete rosary repeats the Hail Mary 53 times, the Lord’s Prayer 6 times, and several other recitations. The Hail Mary combines the statement of the angel about Mary from the Bible with unscriptural blasphemy, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou among women Jesus [a loose translation of Luke 1:28], and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death, Amen.” Mary was not the mother of God, she was not holy, she was a righteous woman who is dead in her grave, waiting for the resurrection to eternal life, with all the other dead in Christ.
The Catholic Encyclopedia says, “There is little or no trace of the Hail Mary as an accepted devotional formula before about 1050,” article “Hail Mary,” p. 111. Jesus instructs us not to use vain repetitions when we pray, Matthew 6:7-8. The so-called “Lord’s Prayer” verses 9-13, was a model prayer, not a prayer to be monotonously repeated. Jesus said in effect “pray thus” (after this manner therefore pray ye), not “pray this.” Prayer should be spontaneous, not rote memory with no heart-felt meaning.
Many Gods, Statues, Pictures
There is only one God family, composed of the Father and the Son. We have direct access to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 4:14-16, 9:12, 10:10. Roman Catholics honor and pray to various special “saints,” canonized by the church hierarchy. According to the Bible, ALL true Christians are saints (Ephesians 1:1, etc.). If we want a saint to pray for us, it must be a living person. If we try to commune with people that have died, this is a form of spiritism. The so-called “Apostles’ Creed” says, “I believe . . . in the communion of the saints,” supposing that prayers are effectual, to and for the dead. Babylonian religion had a plurality of gods, some 5,000 gods and goddesses, once heroes on the earth, but now elevated on a higher spiritual plane. Every month and every day of the month was under the protection of a particular divinity. In exactly the same way, Roman Catholics have “saints” for almost every day of the year, for occupations, for specific problems. St. Clare is the saint for television, St. Denis for headaches, St. Hadrian for butchers, etc.
Now, why pray to dead saints when Christians have access directly to God? Catholics are taught that they should pray to Mary and other dead saints to obtain help that God would not otherwise give! In other words, God cannot be depended upon or trusted; we should pray to Him through Mary and the saints, who supposedly are more kind and loving than God Himself. In church buildings of Europe today, it is not uncommon to have two, three, or four thousand statues. Those who bow and worship before statues know fully well that the statue is not “god,” but only representative of god. Catholics, like pagans, know that the statues they worship are not god. However, this excuse does not get around Exodus 20:4-5, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is underneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.”
The Bible instructed the ancient Israelites not to adopt the idols of pagans into the true worship of Yahweh. “The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to the Lord,” Deuteronomy 7:25. Israelites were to “destroy all their pictures,” Numbers 33:52.
Pagans placed a circle or aureole (disk of the sun-god) around the heads of those who were “gods” in their pictures. This practice continued right into the Romish church.
For the first four centuries, the church used no pictures of Christ. Since Christ is now glorified on the right hand of the Father, no picture could come close to doing Him justice! We do not need, nor should we have, statues, pictures, or representations of God and Christ.
Obelisks, Temples, and Towers
The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is modeled after an Egyptian obelisk. According to Diodorus, Queen Semiramis in Babylon erected a 130-foot tall obelisk. The obelisk was popular in Egypt, associated with sun-worship. The erect upright pointed column represents the phallus, the male sex organ, of Baal (Nimrod). Here we see a common theme of Babylonian worship: emphasis on perverted sexuality. The Bible mentions such “standing images,” matzebah, I Kings 14:23; II Kings 18:4, 23:14; Jeremiah 43:13; Micah 5:13, and “sun images,” hammanim, Isaiah 17:8, 27:9. God will not forever allow these standing images to remain, but will cast them down.
The “image of jealousy” erected in the entry to the Temple, was probably an obelisk, symbol of the phallus, Ezekiel 8:5. It was common to place an obelisk at the entrance of a heathen temple. And so it is, that at the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in Rome, there is an Egyptian obelisk. This is not a copy of an Egyptian obelisk, as is the Washington Monument. It is the same obelisk that stood in Egypt in ancient times at the pagan temple of Heliopolis (city of the sun-god). Emperor Caligula, in 37-41 A.D., hauled it from Egypt to Rome at great expense, to his circus on Vatican Hill. Heliopolis is the Greek name of the Hebrew Beth-shemesh (house of the sun), which was the center of ancient Egyptian sun-worship. Obelisks that stood there are called “images of Bethshemesh,” Jeremiah 43:13. In 1586, Pope Sixtus V had the 83-foot high 320-ton obelisk moved to the center front of St. Peter’s square, where it resides today, symbolic of the merger of Egyptian sun-worship with professing Christianity.
God’s people do not have an edifice complex. Those who have the Holy Spirit are the temple of God, I Corinthians 3:16. There is no record of a church building (as such) being built prior to A.D. 222-235. It is not wrong to have Church buildings, but false believers embellished their halls of worship with pagan spires similar to pagodas and shrines of idolatrous worshippers. “There is evidence to show that the spires of our churches owe their existence to the uprights or obelisks outside the temples of former ages,” Brown, Sex Worship and Symbolism of Primitive Races, p. 38. “There are still in existence today remarkable specimens of original phallic symbols . . . steeples on the churches . . . and obelisks . . . all show the influence of our phallus-worshipping ancestors,” Eichler, The Customs of Mankind, p. 55.
Do you believe that Christ paid the penalty for ALL your sins? I do! Yet, Catholics believe that sins committed after (infant) baptism can be forgiven, “but there still remains the temporal punishment required by Divine justice, and this requirement must be fulfilled either in the present life or in the world to come [i.e., Purgatory]. An indulgence offers the penitent sinner the means of discharging this debt during this life on earth,” Catholic Encyclopedia, article “Indulgences,” p. 783. The basis for indulgences (still a belief of Catholics) is the “Treasury” of merits of Christ and the saints.
However, since Christ “is the propitiation for our sins,” and His blood “cleanseth us from all sin,” I John 2:2, 1:7, how can the merits of Mary and other saints possibly add to this? During the Middle Ages, Popes authorized the mass sale of indulgences throughout Europe, a practice of which Luther spoke out against. During World War II, the Archbishop of Winnipeg, in a letter dated March 1, 1944, urged Roman Catholic mothers to guarantee the salvation of their sons from Purgatory by the payment to him of $40 for prayers and masses in their behalf. No amount of money can pay for our sins or guarantee salvation. It is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, Matthew 19:23-24; in the Catholic Church it is easy for the rich to have many masses said for them. The wealthy cannot redeem themselves, Psalm 49:6-7. We are “NOT redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” I Peter 1:18-19. When the former Samaritan sorcerer Simon offered money to obtain a gift of God, Peter said literally, “To hell with you and your money! How dare you think you could buy the gift of God?” Acts 8:20, J.B. Phillips translation.
Catholic teaching about Purgatory, a place for the dead to further pay for their sins before being allowed to enter Heaven, is non-Biblical, and was not the teachings of Christ or the Apostles. It was not commonly believed until about 600 when Pope Gregory created the third state for the purification of souls, and did not become actual dogma until the Council of Florence in 1459.
Once again, beliefs about a purgatory abound in pagan culture. Plato (427-347 B.C.) spoke of a place of torment to make amends for crimes of oneself or ones ancestors. Chinese Buddhists came to buy prayers for deliverance of their dead ones from purgatory, from special shops set up for that purpose. Zoroastrians teach of a place of purification. Moslems may escape purgatory by giving money to a religious leader. Israelites were warned not to give money “for the dead,” Deuteronomy 26:14. Alexander Hislop concludes, “In every system, therefore, except that of the Bible, the doctrine of purgatory after death, and prayers for the dead, has always been found to occupy a place,” Two Babylons, p. 167.
Molech worship was an example of various pagan systems which believed that fire was necessary to cleanse one from sin. Israelites were repeatedly forbidden to let their seed “pass through the fire to Molech,” Leviticus 18:21; Jeremiah 32:35; II Kings 23:10. Molech (whom some identify with Bel or Nimrod), was worshipped with human sacrifices, purifications, mutilation, vows of celibacy and virginity, etc. Sometimes, Molech was represented as an idol with fire inside, so a baby placed in his arms was consumed. Lest the parents should relent, a noise of loud drums was sounded at the moment of fiery sacrifice to hide the screams. The word for drums is tophim, from which comes the word, “Tophet,” Jeremiah 7:31.
Payments, mutilations, and all human efforts are insufficient and worthless in purging our sins. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9.
Pope: Vicar of Christ or Anti-Christ?
At the top of the Roman Catholic hierarchy is the Pope, said to be the successor of the Apostle Peter. The entire framework of Roman Catholicism is based on the claim that Peter was Rome’s first bishop. Scriptures show an equality among members of the Church. Christ, not the Pope, “is the head of the Church,” Ephesians 5:23. Religious hierarchies are not godly, and condemned by Christ, Mark 10:35-43. We are not to use the flattering title “father” (the word Pope means father), Rabbi, or Master, because we are all brethren, Matthew 23:4-10. The scripture says that Christ, not Peter, is the Rock upon which the Church is to be built, Matthew 16:18. Peter himself declared that Christ was the foundation rock, I Peter 2:4-8. The Church was built on Christ, Acts 4:11-12; I Corinthians 3:11.
Not until the time of Calixtus, who was Bishop of Rome from A.D. 218-223, was Matthew 16:18 used in an attempt to prove the Church was built upon Peter. Peter was not a Pope! He was married, Matthew 8:14; I Corinthians 9:5. Peter would not allow men to bow down to him, Acts 10:25-26. Peter did not place tradition on a level with the word of God, I Peter 1:18. On the day of Pentecost, Peter did not ask people to have a little water poured on them, but “Repent and be baptized [immersed] everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost [Spirit],” Acts 2:38. Peter was no Pope, for he wore no crown; he was looking forward to the crown of glory at the resurrection, I Peter 5:4. In short, Peter never acted like a Pope, never dressed like a Pope, never spoke like a Pope, never wrote like a Pope, and people did not approach him as a Pope.
As shown on Pentecost, Peter did take a prominent position of leadership in the early Church. His name is always listed first among the apostles, Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13. But, Paul was not behind the chiefest of the apostles, II Corinthians 12:11. Peter, James, and John were pillars in the Church, Galatians 2:9. Paul wrote 2,325 verses of the New Testament, while Peter wrote only 166 verses. Paul stood up to Peter when he was to be blamed, Galatians 2:11. This would be strange were Peter an “infallible” Pope!
Paul was called “the Apostle of the Gentiles,” Romans 11:13, whereas Peter’s ministry was primarily to the Jews, Galatians 2:7-9. Rome was the chief Gentile city. It is likely that the Apostle Peter never went to Rome, even though tradition says he did (A.D. 42-67). In 44, Peter was in Jerusalem at the Council; about 53, Paul joined him in Antioch (Galatians 2:11). About A.D. 58, Paul wrote his letter to the Christians at Rome, greeting twenty-seven persons, but never mentions Peter. There was, however, a “peter” who did go to Rome. Details on this history is given in the article, “Simon Magus,” by Ernest L. Martin.
Simon the sorcerer of Samaria was a leader in the mystery religion. The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that Justin Martyr and other early writers inform us that Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:5-25) afterwards went to Rome, worked miracles by the power of demons, received divine honors, and “no doubt founded some sort of religion as a counterfeit of Christianity which he claimed to play a part analogous to that of Christ,” article “Impostors,” p. 699.
In ancient Chaldea, the Supreme Pontiff of paganism bore the title “peter,” (interpreter or opener of the mysteries). The Hebrew word “peter,” is translated “openeth” in verses like Exodus 13:2. From Pergamos on the west coast of what is now Turkey, the headquarters of paganism shifted to Rome. In 63 B.C., Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was officially recognized as the “Pontifex Maximus.” Subsequent Roman Emperors continued to be heads of the mystery religion until A.D. 378, when Demasus, bishop of Rome, was elected Pontifex Maximus. Subsequent Popes have continued to hold this pagan title.
In Mithraism, one of the main branches of mystery religions which came to Rome, the sun-god carried two keys. Romans believed in Janus, who held keys. Keys are symbolic of the authority to open and close. “Pontiff” means “bridge-maker,” one who can open and shut doors. In Matthew 16:19, Christ said, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.” The key given to Peter and all the other disciples was the message of the gospel, whereby people could enter the kingdom of God. In pagan religion, however, the keys represented religious rulership over the people, which is contrary to the Bible. The head priest of Mithraism was called the Pater Patrum, or Father of Fathers, exactly as the title of the Pope (papa).
Vestments of the Roman clergy are direct legacies from pagan Rome. Dagon, the fish-god (dag in Hebrew means fish), was popular among the heathen Philistines, Judges 16:21-30; I Samuel 5:5-6. Priests of Dagon had a fish mitre on their head, and a fan-like tail of a fish as part of their garments, just like the pope and Catholic leaders do today.
Processions of the Pope, being carried on a chair in full regalia with a giant feather fan, are copied from Egyptian priest-king processions.
It is no secret that many Popes in the Middle Ages were some of the most sexually vile, evil, wicked, murderous individuals of all time. Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) was singularly wicked, who said “to enjoy oneself and to lie carnally with women or with boys is no more a sin than rubbing one’s hands together.” Yet, this was the Pope who in 1302 issued the well-known Unam Sanctum which officially declared that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church, outside of which no one can be saved, and says, “We, therefore, assert, define and pronounce that it is necessary to salvation to believe that every human being is subject to the Pontiff of Rome.” Should a sinful Pope be obeyed? Here is the official Catholic affirmation: “A sinful pope . . . remains a member of the (visible) church and is to be treated as a sinful, unjust ruler for whom we must pray, but from whom we may not withdraw our obedience,” Catholic Encyclopedia, article “Councils,” p. 435. The Truth is, that salvation is not dependent upon a line of wicked men who claim to trace their authority back to Peter. Salvation is found in Christ alone!
Popes Infallible?
Although six Popes rejected the idea that Popes are infallible, in 1870, the Vatican Council nevertheless made papal infallibility a church dogma. This teaching says that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra (i.e., in his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians), and defines a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the entire church, that he is infallible, and consequently such decisions are irreformable.
However, Pope after Pope contradicted previous Popes. And, Popes have taken to themselves lofty titles, such as “Most Holy Lord,” “Vicar of Christ,” “the mouth of Jesus Christ,” etc. On June 20, 1894, Pope Leo XIII said, “We hold upon the earth the place of God Almighty.”
As early as 1612, Andreas Helwig pointed out in his book, Roman Antichrist, that the title “Vicar of Christ” in Latin, Vicarivs Filii Dei, has a numerical value of 666 (see Revelation 13:18). Numerous other names and titles add up to the same auspicious number. The original name of Rome was Saturnia, the secret name revealed only to initiates of the Chaldean mysteries, which in Chaldean was spelled STUR. In their language, S represented 60, T was 400, U was 6, and R was 200, for a total of 666. Nero Caesar in Hebrew comes to 666. The Greek letters of the word Lateinos (Latin) come to 666, as well as the Hebrew of Romulus, Romiith, the founder of Rome. The six letters which make up the Roman numeral system also add up to 666. D=500, C=100, L=50, X=10, V=5, I=1. In the Bible itself, we read that each year, King Solomon received 666 talents of gold, I Kings 10:14. Wealth played an important part in leading him astray. In the New Testament, the letters of the Greek word euporia, translated “wealth,” in Acts 19:25,add up to 666, as does the word paradosis, translated “tradition” in Matthew 15:2. Wealth and tradition were the two great corruptors of the Roman Church, then and now. Wealth corrupted practice and honesty; tradition corrupted doctrine.
Inquisition, Then and Now
Numerous Popes promulgated “bulls,” official documents, which encouraged torture and murder of those who opposed the Roman Catholic religious system. The methods of gruesome torture devised during the period of the Inquisition are a testimony to the corrupt influence of Satanically-inspired human beings apart from God. Ten thousand Huguenots (French Protestants) were killed in the bloody Paris massacre on “St. Bartholomew’s Day,” 1572. The French king went to mass to return solemn thanks that so many “heretics” were slain. The papal court rejoiced at the news, and Pope Gregory XIII in grand procession, went to the Church of St. Louis to offer thanks. Inquisition was ordered by papal decree and confirmed by Pope after Pope.
This does not detract from Hitler’s Pope, Pius XII, who abetted the Nazi regime. Hitler would never have come to power had it not been for Catholic support. While Jews and others died in Nazi concentration camps, the Pope and others who knew what was going on were silent. And, after the war, the church was instrumental in helping Nazis to escape via the infamous “ratlines.”
There appears to be nothing new, no change of heart, in the Roman system. Repentance, not political apologies, is the only avenue for those enmeshed in the Romish system of Babylon. The way to repent for papists is to renounce the Babylonish system, to come out of her.
“Lords Over God’s Heritage”
The highest-ranking officials of the Roman Catholic Church, next to the Pope, are cardinals. You won’t find cardinals mentioned in the Bible. The original cardinals were a group of leading priests in the ancient pagan religion of Rome, long before the Christian era. The word “cardinal” comes from the Latin cardo, meaning “hinge,” those who were pivotal leaders. They were priests of Janus, the pagan god of doors and hinges. Even today, the word, “janitor,” a keeper of doors, comes from Janus, known as “the opener and shutter.” As we know, only Christ opens and shuts doors, Revelation 3:7-8. Hislop reports, “The college of Cardinals, with the Pope at its head, is just the counterpart of the pagan college of Pontiffs, with its Pontifex Maximus, or Sovereign Pontiff, which is known to have been framed on the model of the grand original Council of Pontiffs at Babylon,” Two Babylons, p. 206. Cardinals wear red garments. It not surprising that images of Chaldeans had vermillion (bright red). From ancient times, red or scarlet has been associated with sin, Isaiah 1:18. Adultery is sometimes called the scarlet sin, and houses of prostitution are in the “red light district.”
Bishops are mentioned in the Bible, but here again, Catholic tradition perverts the Truth. The word, “cathedral,” comes from cathedra, meaning “throne.” A cathedral, unlike other churches, is one in which the throne of a bishop is located. Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7 indicate that bishops, elders, pastors, overseers, are the same office. Each Church had several elders who were also bishops. We are warned to avoid the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which comes from the word nikao, “to conquer,” and laos, “laity,” which refers to the notion of a priestly order over the people. Peter instructs Church leaders not to be “lords over God’s heritage,” I Peter 5:1-3. The word translated “heritage” is kleeron, which means “clergy.” All spirit-begotten children of God are His heritage, His “clergy.” God has a ministry for all His people, not just a special priestly class. Elders (plural) are to be ordained in every city, Acts 14:19-23; James 5:14. We believers are a royal priesthood, Revelation 1:6; I Peter 2:9. We are not to give flattering titles to religious leaders, Job 32:21; Matthew 23:9-12. “Pope” is a variation of the title “father,” Catholic priests are called “fathers.” And so it was that in one of the leading branches of the mystery religion which came to Rome, Mithraism, the priests were called “fathers,” and the head priest who always lived at Rome was called Pater Patrrum, “father of fathers.” Since Christ told us not to call religious leaders “father,” and pagan priests of Rome used this title, did the Catholics get this practice from the Bible, or from paganism?
The Bible gives us an example of a pagan priest being called “father,” Judges 17:10. Catholics use the title, “Monsignor,” meaning “My Lord.” One of the meanings of “arch” is master, and Catholics use titles such as archbishop, archpriest, and archdeacon. Not to be outdone, English clergy uses titles such as “The Reverend,” “The Right Reverend,” etc., while the Bible uses “reverend” only in reference to God Himself, Psalm 111:9.
Sexual excess goes hand in hand with celibacy. Strange as it sounds, it is said that Queen Semiramis invented clerical celibacy (Hislop, p. 219). When the worship of Cybele, the Babylonian goddess, was introduced into pagan Rome, it came in its primitive form, with its celibate clergy. As in pagan times, temple celibates were actually involved in licentious sexual practices. “Forbidding to marry” led to sexual license. This has shown its ugly head many times during the history of the Roman Catholic Church, although doubtless, many priests have been faithful to their vows of celibacy.
Forbidding priests to marry (contrary to I Timothy 4:1-3), along with the practice of the confessional was bound to cause some weak individuals to sin. There is a tremendous power that a priest has over someone that is bound to divulge their sins to a priest, a practice held to be necessary for salvation. The Bible says we should confess our faults one to another, James 5:16, not to a priest. The idea of confessing to a priest came, not from the Bible, but from Babylon. Secret confession was required before complete initiation was granted into the Babylonian mysteries. Such priestly confession was practiced in Medo-Persia, Egypt, and Rome, long before the Christian Era.
Almost everywhere you look at the Romish system, you find pagan origins. Even the usual black color of clergy garments worn by priests and some Protestants, follows the custom of the priests of Baal, chemarims, who wore black garments, Zephaniah 1:4; II Kings 23:5. As Adam Clarke notes, they were called kemarim, from camar, which means dark, black. He says that Jews today call Christian missionaries kemarim, because of their black clothes and garments. Another practice of the Catholic priesthood is that of tonsure, the rite of shaving the top of the head in a round circle. Buddhist priests, the priests of Osiris of Egypt, priests of Bacchus, and Mithra priests, also practiced tonsure, the round tonsure imitating a solar disk. Such was forbidden of God’s people, “They shall not make baldness upon their head,” Leviticus 21:5, 19:27.
Any similarity between the Catholic ministry and hierarchy, and true ministers of God, is purely accidental.
The Idolatrous Mass
The Catholic Encyclopediastates, “In the celebration of the Holy Mass, the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ. It is called transubstantiation, for in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the substance of bread and wine do not remain, but the entire substance of bread is changed into the body of Christ, and the entire substance of wine is changed into his blood, the species or outward semblance of bread and wine alone remaining,” article, “Consecration,” p. 277.
Jesus, in His last Passover meal with the disciples, said of the bread, “Take eat; this is my body,” and of the cup, “Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood,” Matthew 26:26-28. Was this meant to be taken literally or symbolically? The Bible answers clearly. When some of David’s men risked their lives to bring him water from Bethlehem, he refused it, saying, “Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives?” II Samuel 23:17. The Bible speaks of Jesus as a “door,” “vine,” and “rock,” John 10:9, 15:5; I Corinthians 10:4, and we recognize these statements as figurative and symbolic.
If the wine of the communion table became actual blood, to drink it would be forbidden by the Bible, Deuteronomy 12:16; Acts 15:20. Many Christian martyrs have lost their lives rather than partake of the idolatrous mass, in which the priest claims to literally have the power to create God. The Council of Trent proclaimed that belief in transubstantiation was essential to salvation. In offering up the mass, the priest believes he is actually sacrificing Christ, a renewal of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The Bible, however, says Christ gave His life by one sacrifice for ever, Hebrews 10:10-14, 9:25-28.
After the priest blesses the bread (thinks he changes it into Christ), he places a wafer in the center of a sunburst stand called the monstrance. Catholics bow and worship this wafer god. Likewise, in Egypt, a cake was consecrated by a priest and was supposed to become the flesh of Osiris. Similar rites occurred in Mithraism and in ancient Mexico. Heathen priests ate a portion of all sacrifices. In cases of human sacrifice, priests of Baal were required to eat human flesh. Thus we have the word, “cannibal,” which comes from “Cahan-Bal,” priest of Baal.
The wafer of Eucharist is round. Jesus, at His last Passover, merely broke the unleavened bread, which does not break into round pieces. Round wafers are another symbol of Baal, or the sun. Round cakes were used in the ancient mysteries of Egypt, Mithraism, and elsewhere. Sun images adorn the top of the famous baldachinum, the 95-foot high canopy inside the Vatican. Israelite reformers broke down the altars of Baal and the sun images (margin), II Chronicles 34:4. The round Eucharist wafers often have a cross on them, exactly as Assyrian wafers used in worship. Passover is observed at night, but Catholics usually observe Mass in the early morning, similar to Mithraists who observed their sacred meetings in the early morning in honor of the sun. Contrast the elaborate ritual of the idolatrous Catholic Mass to the simple Christian Passover!
Three Days and Three Nights
In Chapter 18, Woodrow provides clear proof for a Wednesday crucifixion, Sabbath resurrection, with Jesus in the tomb exactly three days and three nights, 72 hours, as He said in Matthew 12:40.
The strongest proof of this fact is Mark 16:1 and Luke 23:56. In Mark 16:1-2, we read, “And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint Him, and very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.” The Interlinear Bible shows that “bought” rather than “had bought” is the proper translation. Note that it is “bought,” not “brought.” It was after the Sabbath when these women bought their spices. Then, Luke 23:56 reports that after seeing Jesus’ body in the sepulchre, the women “returned, and prepared spices and ointments: and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” There were two Sabbaths in question here: the annual Sabbath (first day of Unleavened Bread, see John 19:14, 31), and the weekly Sabbath.
Jesus kept the fourteenth Passover on Tuesday evening. He was crucified and buried on Wednesday, Passover day. Thursday was the high day annual Sabbath. The women bought burial spices on Friday, prepared them, and then rested on the weekly Sabbath. On the first day of the week they came to anoint Jesus’ body but found the tomb empty because He was risen. Surely, the commonly accepted Good Friday, Easter Sunday resurrection is a false tradition of men!
Fish on Friday, Easter Customs
The Catholic practice of abstaining from red meat on Friday, and instead eating fish on Friday, is derived from their false teaching of a Friday crucifixion. Scriptures never associate fish with Friday. The word “Friday” comes from “Freya,” the teutonic fertility goddess symbolized by fish, who lay prolific amounts of eggs. Freya is the same as the Roman Venus, goddess of fertility, for whom the fish was regarded as sacred. Likewise, in the Israelite worship of Ashtoreth and Egyptian worship of Isis, the fish symbolized the fertility goddess.
In Acts 12:4, “Easter” is a mistranslation. The Greek word is pascha, which means Passover. There is no association between the Biblical Passover and the pagan Easter spring festival. Easter comes from Astarte or Ishtar. Easter customs, such as colored eggs, come from Babylon. The Babylonians believed a huge egg fell from heaven into the Eurphrates River, from which Astarte (Easter) was hatched. Colored Easter eggs symbolize the fertility goddess Easter.
The Catholic Encyclopediaadmits that “Because the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table of Easter Day, colored red to symbolize the Easter joy. . . . The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter.” The Encylopaedia Britannica notes, “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”
Sunrise worship has long been associated with paganism. From Japanese Shintoists to pagan Mithrists of Rome, meeting together to worship facing the rising sun has long been practiced. Priests of Baal first began their worship in the morning, I Kings 18:26. The Bible condemns pagan sun worship, Ezekiel 8:16. Jesus was not resurrected at sunrise on Sunday morning, but just before sunset on Saturday afternoon. Once again, pagan customs have been freely incorporated into Catholic worship practice.
Legend has it that Tammuz was killed by a wild boar when he was forty years old. Forty days were set aside to weep for Tammuz, with fasting, weeping, and self-chastisement. See Ezekiel 8:14. This observance was known not only in Babylon, but also among the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Mexicans, and for a time, even among the Israelites. The Catholic Encyclopedia admits there are no apostolic observances of Lent, which was not commanded by the Pope until the sixth century, when Catholics were ordered not to eat meat for forty days of Lent.
Christmas
The word “ChrIstmas” is a contradictory word. It links “Christ,” the Son of God, with “mass,” the idolatrous and blasphemous Roman Catholic ritual. Jesus could not have been born on December 25. Shepherds in Judaea brought their flocks in for the winter before the end of October. The Catholic Encyclopedia admits, “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their lists of feasts.” It was not until late in the fourth century when the Roman Church began observing December 25th. Coincidentally(?), the date chosen for the birth of Christ was on the same date as the birth of Sol, the pagan sun-god from Mithraism. The winter solstice festival of Rome, the Saturnalia, influenced many Christmas customs, including the giving of gifts. Note that the wise men presented gifts to Jesus, not to themselves, and they came not when He was lying in a manger, but when He was in a house, Matthew 2:9-11.
The Christmas tree has its roots in pagan tree worship. An old Babylonian fable told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, and the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had come back to life again in Tammuz. In Rome, the sacred fir was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia. In at least ten Biblical references, including I Kings 14:23, the green tree is associated with idolatry and false worship. Jeremiah 10:3-4 seems to be referring to a type of Christmas tree used in pagan worship. Although probably well-intentioned, many who observe Christmas customs today ignore the clear facts that most of these customs have pagan origins, and we are told not to follow the ways of the heathen, Deuteronomy 12:29-32.
Pagan Festivals, or God’s Holy Days?
The pagan origin of Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and a host of other Catholic holidays is so well-known that we should need little review. Any encyclopedia, or newspaper during these seasons, usually gives well-documented facts. These holidays were borrowed directly from paganism, with a little brushing off to make them appear “Christian.”
And so it is that God’s Holy Days are often neglected, while worldly holidays of pagan origin appear to be more appealing to carnal humanity. And today in the Church of God, there is a curious longing to return to what we came out of. The mixture of paganism and some Bible Truth is a deadly poison. This is the cup which the Babylonish system has made all the world to drink. It is not limited to the Roman Catholic Church of Rome, but she certainly plays a major role in today’s religious deception.
A Poisonous Mixture
The Romish system is based upon a mixture. That was the same as the apostasy into which the Israelites repeatedly fell. Usually Israel did not reject outright the worship of the true God, but mixed heathen rites with it. When they worshipped the golden calf, the Israelites claimed it was a “feast to the Lord,” Exodus 32:5. Not content with the tabernacle of God, they added the tabernacle of Moloch and Chiun, with pagan images, Amos 5:26; Acts 7:42-43. At another period, Israel performed secret rites, built high places and groves, used divination, caused their children to pass through the fire, and worshipped the sun, moon, and stars, II Kings 17:9-17. As a result, God allowed them to be expelled from their land. Mixture was apparent during the time of both judges and kings. At the time of Ezekiel, an idol was placed right at the entrance of the Jerusalem temple. Some even sacrificed their children, and came that very day to the sanctuary, Ezekiel 23:38-39. Jeremiah’s message was aimed at people who claimed to “worship the Lord,” Jeremiah 7:2, but had mixed in pagan rites. “Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Ye . . . burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods . . . make cakes to the queen of heaven . . . and come and stand before me in this house,” Jeremiah 7:8-18.
The Eternal does not accept religious mixtures. If Baal be god, then serve him, but if Yahweh is God, then serve Him, I Kings 18:21. God was not pleased with a religious mixture then, nor is He now. As Samuel preached, “If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth [pagan mother goddess worship] from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only: and He will deliver you,” I Samuel 7:3.
Today, many believe that the Roman System has changed. With Vatican II, non-Catholic, professing Christians are not considered heretics, but “separated brethren.” Don’t kid yourselves. Satan appears as an angel of light, II Corinthians 11:14. Jesus warned about “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” Matthew 7:15. The same Babylon mystery system has always oppressed free men who seek to serve God in sincerity and Truth. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge that is available to them (see Hosea 4:6). Come out of her, My people, Revelation, 18:4. Let us earnestly contend for the true faith once delivered to the saints, Jude 3.
Ralph Woodrow concludes his excellent book, Mystery Babylon Religion, with this stirring summary:
“We believe the true Christian goal is not religion based on mixture, but a return to the original, simple, powerful, and spiritual faith that was once delivered to the saints. No longer entangling ourselves in a maze of rituals or powerless traditions, we can find the ‘simplicity that is in Christ’, rejoicing in the ‘liberty wherewith Christ has made us free’ from ‘bondage’.” (II Corinthians 11:3; Galatians 5:1).
“Salvation is not dependent on a human priest, Mary, the saints, or the pope. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me’ (John 14:6). ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). Let us look to JESUS who is the author and finisher of our faith, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, the Lamb of God, the Captain of our Salvation, the Bread from Heaven, the Water of Life, the Good Shepherd, the Prince of Peace, the King of kings and Lord of lords!” (Woodrow, p. 161).
May the Almighty guide us all to come totally out of Babylon!
“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.” (Revelation 18:4)
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”(Revelation 22:20)
Nimrod was from the genealogy of Ham, and Kush was his father. According to Genesis 10:9, the name “Nimrod” means a mighty hunter. Some scholars believe that Nimrod actually had a Semitic origin, similar to ancient Hebrew. The root seems to be a word that is roughly similar to marad, which means “to rebel.” Nimrod is often thought to have been a rebel against God Almighty. The phrase “a mighty hunter before the Lord” in the Bible might more literally be translated “against the face of the Lord,” which means that he was a powerful hunter in opposition to God. This possible translation may reinforce Nimrods name as The Rebel. Furthermore, it was also said that Nimrod was a mighty warrior.” The conclusion that he was a tyrant is tenuous because the Hebrew Bible uses the word gibbor many times to refer to strong warriors.
This was the descendant of Nimrod after the flood.
The Table of Nations
1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
Genesis 10:1none
The Hamites
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
Genesis 10:6none
The devotion to the sun worship was started by Nimrod, the founder of Babylon. The Hebrew Targum translation of the Bible says, “Nimrod was a powerful man of sin, a killer of innocent men, and a rebel before the Lord.” Nimrod forced everyone to worship his pagan idol or be put to death. Abrahams entire family were pagan worshippers because they lived in the same city of Babylon, where Nimrod was in charge.
Nimrod did not start out as an idol worshipper, he was a very devoted worshipper of the Most High God. He was a mighty warrior and won wars because God was on his side. He was later influenced by Satan to the extent that he started to consider himself to be a demigod and doing things that went against what the Lord wanted. Nimrod was not the only one who sinned against the Lord; his whole family, which included Phut, Mitzraim, Cush and Canaan, was also involved in idol worship.
The Towel of Babel and it’s Babylonian Connection
The beginning of Nimrods nefarious scheme had its origin in Shinar, a city built by Nimrod, which had Babylon as part of its district. The idea to build the high-rise tower of babel originated from Nimrods counsels, which included his family, Phut, Mitzraim, Cush, and Canaan. They discussed the possibility of building a tower with a peak that could reach the sky. They needed to use that tower as a display of power, to gain fame and rule over their enemies, who at that time were constantly in battle with them. They presented the concept to Nimrod, who then agreed to go along with their plan.
8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The first centres of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar.
Genesis 10:8-10; 11:4none
The tower was ordered to reach the firmament of the Most High God by Nimrod. Moreover, he thought that when the tower was finished, it would be a fortress for his next plan, which was to be the citadel of his pagan religion, in which satan, his adviser, would be the new leader.
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
Genesis 11:4none
The name of the project was called, “gateway to heaven.” In addition, he wanted to usurp the Most High’s authority by introducing one world government and religion to reign over the world and influence the hearts of humankind. By the power of the Almighty God, Nimrod plan was thwarted and God instead gave the project another name, which was “babel the confusion.” The rebellion in Babylonia ended when the Most High caused a massive earthquake, which destroyed the tower and killed half the builders. To prevent another attack, he punished the people of Babylon by confusing their language so that they could not understand each other.The people of Babylon were unable to communicate with each other after the destruction of their city. The name of the place was changed from Babylon to Babel because the Most High God gave different languages to the world. It is for this reason that we can communicate in so many languages.
8 So, the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the entire earth.
Genesis 11:8-9none
How Nimrod committed an abomination by marrying his mother
Nimrod ruled Babel with great cunning. Shem was a righteous man who loved the Most High God in heaven, and it was through his bloodline that the Messiah would come, He was the oldest and the most righteous son of Noah. Shem heard about the evil deeds of Nimrod. He heard that after his father, Kush, died, he took his wife for himself. Her name was Semiramis, who was also, in an ironic twist of fate, the daughter of Shem. Shem was angered by the unnatural alliance between Nimrod and his mother, Semiramis, for in those days, it was considered thoughtless for a son to marry his mother.
Shem confronted Nimrod about his actions, and said, “You, son of Kush, have a black spirit because of the sin of all sins today.” Shem continued by saying, “In three days, I will destroy your temple and there will be nothing left but your shameful object of your lust.” Nimrod stood up and said, “Shem, you see how great a hunter I am. I am the only true saviour of this confused society. I am a god to the people of my realm, I could destroy you, if I so desire.” Shem replied, “You will no longer be Nimrod, the god of the hunt, but a time will come where you will be Nephilreshim, the fallen king.” Two years went by and Nimrod didn’t listen to Shem’s warning and continued with his bad activities. God asked Abraham to warn Nimrod that he would die in a year and that his mother/wife Semiramis would also die in seven years time. Abraham did what the Lord told him to do and told Nimrod about his fate.
Shem marched with an army to Babel and overtook Nimrod in a fierce battle. The mighty hunter was cut in half by the sword of Shem.
After Nimrod death, his mother/wife found one part of his body and set up obelisks in his honor. She kept it by her, and there were stories of her doing terrible things with it. After seven years, Abrahams prophecy came to pass and Semiramis was torn apart and killed by wild pigs.
Before Semiramis died, she gave birth to a son named Tammuz, who was third in the house to rule Babel. Tammuz behaved exactly as his father Nimrod had done before him, and even mated with the sons of Assur.
To get revenge for the death of his father, Tammuz’s armies looked for Shem, but they couldn’t find him because his family was too big. The LORD hid him in the mountain, which later came to be called Sinai.
Satan wanted Semiramis to be the face of his false religion
Semiramis was as wicked as her son/husband, Nimrod, and equally involved in satanic adoration. This became the first practice of incest, and it was used here as a foundation for uniting this new false religious system. Unfortunately, the Babylonian religion of Nimrod and his mother/wife would be used extensively by Satan in subsequent centuries to send countless souls into the depths of hell.
Satan’s plan was to create a false, opposing system of religion to draw adoration away from the true God of Heaven. That false religion was founded on the sacrificial plan of Almighty God. The difference was that the pagan worship of Satan demanded the offering of human beings, who were often the sons and daughters of the worshippers. Satan, with the knowledge that for future generations, humans will fall for his wicked plan, instituted a holy day in honour of the sun god and called it sun-day. It is a day devised by Satan to strip God of His special authority as the Creator of heaven and earth as designated by His holy day, the Sabbath.
The Most High God 6:1 principle
Did you notice the extent to which the occult symbols are inverted? Consider, for example, the occult symbol for a cross is an inverted cross. Most of us do not realize that Almighty God uses the 6:1 principle. In other words, you have six days of normalcy and then on the 7th, something special happens. For instance, God created the world in six days, and the seventh is a special day of rest and worship. The crops were cultivated for six years and the 7th year the soil was rested. Slaves were kept for 6 years and were to be set free in the 7th year. There are six weeks of Passover, the seventh week being Pentecost. It is six months between the Passover and the 7th month being the Day of Atonement. Biblical chronologists tell us that we are now approaching the end of 6,000 years since creation and if Christ the Messiah returns at the end of 6,000 years, we will then have the 7000th year being the 1000-year millennial reign.
The Thousand Years
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit1 and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might no longer deceive the nations, until the thousand years were ended. Thereafter, he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw the thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Furthermore, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:1–15none
The Defeat of Satan
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and beloved city, but fire came down from heaven2 and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Judgment Before the Great White Throne
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:1–15none
Thus, 6000 years + 1000 years (millennial) = 7000 years. All of this is not accidental and is God’s plan. Keep a close eye on the days of the week below:
Sunday
Day 1
Monday
Day 2
Tuesday
Day 3
Wednesday
Day 4
Thursday
Day 5
Friday
Day 6
Saturday
7th Day Sabbath
While the first six days are normal, the seventh day is the “Sabbath of the Lord your God.” Recall that the occult’s uses the opposite symbol. Therefore, if Sunday, which was Satan’s plan for our day of worship, dating back to the time of Babylon, then his week would be the opposite of God’s week. Rather than being the 6:1 principle, it would be 1:6. As shown in the table below, this is the case and not just two days side by side. It is equivalent to an occult symbol, and be warned that it is not an accident, but another sinister scheme of Satan.
Sunday
Fake Sabbath
Monday
Day 2
Tuesday
Day 3
Wednesday
Day 4
Thursday
Day 5
Friday
Day 6
Saturday
Day 7
We are very close to 6000 years and this is the last generation. If the messiah arrives at the end of 6,000 years, then we would have a 1,000-year Sabbath. It is a thousand years a day in the mind of the Most High God, just as apostle Peter said:
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
2 Peter 3:8none
The most amazing beauty of the Most High God in Heaven is that he loves doing things in numbers! Six days of work and seven days of rest. The true history of this Earth may end up being a mirror picture of the week of creation, but with a thousand years to a day. It would bring a whole new perspective to the meaning of the Sabbath now, for sure. 6000 years of working and 1000 years of rest.
The Death of Nimrod led to the start of Satan’s Pagan Religion
The followers of Nimrod and Semiramis were deeply rooted in sin and occultism that they even sacrificed babies to Satan in their worship of him. This was a normal practice at that time.
The consequences of Nimrod’s death left his followers stunned to the point that they felt great pain. Their religious hero was dead. They were afraid to continue worshipping Satan lest what happened to Nimrod happen to them too. Thus, a mystery religion will soon develop at Babel, where Satan might be worshipped in secret.
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)none
Before Nimrod died, he had got Semiramis pregnant. In an attempt to get her followers to buy into her plan, a distraught Semiramis lied to her followers that a ray of sunshine had come to her and impregnated her with a baby, and that this was in fact Nimrod returning in a reincarnation of the sun god. And she called the child, Tammuz.
As a result of her proclamation, Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammuz were, by this, revered as the incarnation of the sun god. Unfortunately, Semiramis, Nimrod’s wife/mother, laid the groundwork for the birth of the Trinitarian doctrine.
This is how the holy trinity came into existence. This mysterious religion of satan was once again revived. Read more on the pagan origins of the trinity doctrine.
“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 Babylon’s; Alexander Hislop, p.51none
Semiramis, the queen of mother evil
In this way Semiramis proclaimed that her husband Nimrod was a god, and because she was Nimrod’s wife, she declared herself a goddess. She then announced herself as “The Queen of Heaven” and that she was to be worshipped as such. She asserted that her spirit was the moon and when she died, she would live on the moon, even as Nimrod was already in the sun. With that, satan once again struck a different plan to be indirectly worshipped.
In influencing Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz, Satan laid the foundation for all the systems of falsehood and error that the world has ever known.
25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
Romans 1:25none
Paganism has been deeply imbedded in our society, particularly the modern church. This system of paganism, while claiming to be the true religion, is actually adoration of the devil. It pretends to be the truth of the Almighty God, but in reality this is the masterpiece of Satan, the “mystery of iniquity.”
How Semiramis pagan religion allowed secret societies to grow
As the church of Satan won the impetus, Semiramis pushed the satanic religious order underground. Adherents of this counterfeit religion had to swear an oath. This act by Semiramis would also lay the foundation for the secret societies we know of today.
The Freemasons and the other secret occult group derived their traditions from the diabolical act of Semiramis.
Another abomination was carved from the bad plans of Semiramis, which was the confession of sins to the priesthood.
The followers of this pagan religion confessed their sins to their priests. Not to mention names, but today we both know the faiths who practise this pagan law.
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus
1 Timothy 2:5none20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Luke 5:20-21none
By acting in this way, Semiramis used this falsehood to control her followers and exercise lordship over them. She proclaimed that she and her priests alone understood the mysteries of the Most High God, and that they were the only possible way to him. Due to the devotion and fear attached to this false religious system, the followers of this religion conformed with fear.
From Babylon to Alexandria and Pergamos
Semiramis and her priests of Satan were deep into occultism and illusion. They were masters of falsehood and trickery. As a result of Semiramis influence, there were statues or idols of this mother/child worship in all parts of Babylon. Semiramis was soon greeted as “The Queen of Heaven” (Ashtarte). She symbolized the moon and her husband, Nimrod, was referred to as “Baal” the sun god.
The city of Babylon was the seat of Satan’s worship until its fall by King of the Medes and Persians by the influence of the Most High God in heaven in 539BC.
Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
Jeremiah 51:11none
The Lord has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because His purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it;
For it is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for His temple.
During this period, the Babylonian pagan priests fled to Alexandria and Pergamos.
To the Church in Pergamum
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum, write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet, you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
Revelation 2:12-13none
About 129 B.C, there was a chance for them to leave Pergamos and go to Rome. Rome then became the last seat of Satan where he set up his church, and hence the worship of the sun, which was practised on Sundays. This became the most coveted religion in Alexandria and Rome at 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, because of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.”
Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, ch. 22.
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The true origin of Christ-Mass
Each year, at the start of the cold season, they thought their sun god was leaving them. On December 25th, they noticed a gradual return of the sun, meaning that their sun god had arrived. They named that day the birth of the sun. Tammuz was thought to be the son of the sun. He was idolized and even adored, and the first letter of his name became the symbol of the adoration of the sun. Human sacrifices to the sun god were offered on this initial letter made of wood, known as the cross “T” and this “T” to Tammuz is also the real origin of the Catholic’s cross. His birthday, December 25 became an iconic day for billions of people. Satan has worked tirelessly to change the original birthdate of the messiah to a day associated with the worship of the pagan sun. Satan has repeatedly managed to lead God’s people into sin and pagan sun worship. While they believed that his spirit still lived in the sun, they believed that he was reincarnated in the form of Tammuz, his son.
Pay careful attention to this part. Jeremiah was instructed by the Most High God to warn his people not to be part of the ways of the pagan heathen, who erected trees and adorned them with shiny gold as a form of worship. This is what is known as a Christmas tree today.
10 Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to you, house of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
Do not learn the way of the nations
Jeremiah 10:2-4none
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
although the nations are terrified by them,
3 for the customs of the peoples are worthless.
Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;
it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
4 He decorates it with silver and gold.
It is fastened with hammer and nails,
so, it won’t totter.
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