7: DANIEL AND BABYLON
600 B.C.
In captivity, the Jews continue to manifest a presence. Daniel in particular is a thorn in the side of Babylon, and Satan takes special measures to rid the earth of him, all of which are unsuccessful.
(For those who have not done so recently, a quick reading of Daniel's 12 chapters would be in order now.)
An analysis of some of the prophecies of Daniel is critical to our understanding of what is to come.
In chapter two, Daniel is asked to interpret a vision given to Mystery-minded Nebuchadnezzar. The emperor has seen a huge statue in the form of a human being, with body parts of various substances.
The head is of gold. The interpretation given is that Nebuchadnezzar is that head, and we can add that the entire Babylonian kingdom is included.
As the glance of the eye passes downward on the body, so the glance of history will pass Nebuchadnezzar and focus on another era, called in the statue the arms and chest. This is to be a 2-part kingdom, which we, looking back, easily identify as the great Medo-Persian Empire.
The body comes back together. Headship of the next kingdom is singular. Greece fills this space in the story of man.
Then comes the fourth kingdom, attached to a fifth, ushering in a sixth.
The fourth realm parallels the human body in that it is the longest portion of history, and in that it divides into two parts. Then it divides into ten portions. And in the days of these ten portions (toes), the Kingdom of God is established.
I wish that at this moment I had a way to come off the printed page and shake my reader, in case there is even the slightest inattention. Please hear what the Holy Spirit is saying through Daniel:
Following the reign of Greece will come the reign of another World Kingdom, a stronger one, eventually dividing into two parts. Without question this is Rome, later the eastern and western Empires.
Much has been made of the "ten kings" of these latter days. Bible scholars abound who will tell you that these ten kings are the antichrist government, ruling the world, most would say, from Rome. Now the idea is even being presented that the ten kings correspond to ten world divisions. It is reported that before the flood, the world was indeed divided in this manner, and that Satan is waiting to reconstruct that one-world configuration. Even so, Rome is a likely candidate for world headquarters, many will agree.
Others are now saying, with some insight I believe, that ancient Rome had an eastern and western division (leg) and that therefore we should see a resurgence of both parts, not just Europe.
Regardless, the beginning of the "legs" of Daniel's statue, and the end -the ten toes - are largely assumed to have something to do with Rome. But there is an eerie silence about the area on the statue from roughly the knee to the foot.
On all human bodies that I have seen, the legs are connected and fleshed out all the way down. There is no stopping and starting to my leg, no interruption. My leg reaches the floor! And there was no gap between Babylon and Assyria, or between Greece and Rome. The only Biblical "gaps" are those in God's dealings with Israel.
So, the final kingdom seen by Daniel is uninterrupted, and reaches the floor of human history. It begins at the end of the Grecian period and continues until the final world government is about to bring God's judgment on the planet.
But you say, how can this be if there is no "world government" ruling from Rome now?
It is one of the purposes of this book to suggest that such a government does indeed exist, and has never stopped existing, in the city of Rome. I contend, with Daniel, that from Nebuchadnezzar until the present time only four (4) kingdoms rule:
(1) Babylonia
(2) Medo-Persia
(3) Greece
(4) Rome
Think about it. In the years before Christ, one Kingdom after another ruled the planet. Since Christ and Rome, though there have been many attempts (Napoleon, Hitler, Communism, to name three), none have been successful. The harlot keeps trying to mount a beast, but either she slips off, or the beast falls down. A pitiful sight, actually, as she seems bound to this lame horse called Rome. But soon, we believe, her wounded animal will be healed, and on him she shall ride to great power, if only for a short time. While we wait for that horrid sight to appear, it is still important to remember that, though Rome ,like old Babylon, declined and even fell, she never died.
I am far ahead of myself. Let's go back to about 600 B.C., during the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and continue listening to the words of Daniel.
In Daniel's 7th chapter, the prophet has his own dream, a confirmation of the King's vision, but in a different form. In this dream there are four animals instead of four body sections. As in the statue, the animals correspond to the coming kingdoms.
The fourth kingdom is described again in the harshest of terms. And now, instead of ten toes we see ten horns, a description that exactly corresponds to a creature in the Book of Revelation, seen by the Apostle John 700 years later!
It is during the reign of the final ten kings (horns), an outgrowth of Rome in the last days, that a "little horn" is noted. Notice that this horn is in the midst of the other horns. Its profile is given here and in chapters 8 and 11.
In the chapter 8 vision, Daniel sees a ram, identified as Medo-Persia, then a male goat, Greece. The breaking up of this Grecian (Alexandrian) Kingdom into four parts is predicted in verse 8.
It is here that the prophet gives us a simple way to identify the origin of the final world ruler. He says that out of one of the four horns, or divisions, of Alexander's kingdom, comes a little horn - there he is again -confirmed in following verses to be none other than antichrist.
Grabbing a history book with accompanying map, we see that the prophet has narrowed antichrist's origin down to four locations:
(1) the Grecian peninsula
(2) Egypt (which then included Palestine)
(3) Asia Minor (Turkey)
(4) the general vicinity of Iran/Iraq
Daniel does not point us to Russia, China, Western Europe, the United States. Somewhere close to the Middle East lives, probably even now, the coming man of sin.
All of this meshes with our present study in that this world ruler will eventually have it in his heart to destroy "Babylon." Thus, though Babylon has always ridden the back of the political leaders of the world, she is still separately identifiable and will suffer a separate judgment, just before the time of the end. (Revelation 17-18)
When we get a little farther in the history of the world, we will discuss appropriate sections of John's Revelation.
A final word about Daniel. His own life reminds us that there can indeed be people of God in the midst of Babylonian peoples and ways. We must be extremely careful never to include all those "inside Babylon" under the curse of God. After all, if God's people aren't in there, to whom is He calling when He says, "Come out of her, my people." ?
539 B.C.
Babylon has fallen again, this time to Medo-Persia.
Before we discuss two great civilizations that imbibe Babylon's wine, let's visit contemporary prophet Zechariah (530's B.C.) for an astonishing look at a future Babylon:
Zechariah 5: 5-11 relates the vision of a measuring container covered by a lead disc. A woman sitting on the inside is described as wickedness. (As a woman is portrayed in Revelation 17:3-5). Two other women carry this evil to Babylonia where a house is to be built for it, at the proper time!
So the Holy Spirit is speaking the same message to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and John! There is a Babylon in the earth, there has been for a long time, there will be almost until the end. But God has not forgotten His promise to judge her swiftly and permanently.
8: TO MEDO-PERSIA and GREECE
Some of the Babylonian system changes, some of it stays the same, in the kingdom of Medo-Persia. One thing that certainly continues is a hatred of Jews. The Bible's book of Esther tells the story of an early Nazi named Haman who thinks he has the answer, the final solution...
God protects his people, and takes care of Haman, too.
We shall not stay here long, but long enough to point out familiar features of Babylonianism.
First there is the ever-present syncretism. Not wanting to offend, only to rule in peace, the Persian King visits Egypt, succeeds the Pharaoh, and becomes a god on earth, just like all the Pharaohs do.
But in Babylon, the Persian King (Cyrus) declares himself to be Marduk's choice. He claims that Marduk has searched everywhere for a righteous ruler, and finally found such in himself, Cyrus.
Though successor Darius becomes a Zoroastrian, ruling by the grace of his Ahura Mazda, and believes his god is the only way, the people under him continue to be divided, and polytheism flourishes.
As we shall point out later, there is some historical evidence that the historic Chaldean religion that traces back to Nimrod is now asked to leave the area altogether and winds up in Pergamum.
The god Mithra, a later Roman favorite, seems to have his beginning in the Persian period.
Where you find polytheism, syncretism, anti-Semitism, you are at or near Satan's throne. And when one who can be traced back to Babel, is in charge, well, it's time to flee.
c. 330 B.C.
Rising side by side with Persia is Greece. Her entrance to the unfolding drama brings more of the same themes.
Greece, like the others, enforces no creed in its religion, supports a multitude of gods and -especially-goddesses.
To the Minoans, principal players in early Greek civilization, the earth is a woman, says Rose in his Religion in Greece and Rome. Vegetation is her offspring, and earth-mother is married to sky-father, Zeus.
In the excavations of the earliest civilization of Greece, one will find frequent mother/child representations, but few such artifacts of a father figure. Father, truly Babylonian, is remote and unapproachable. Access through a female is the quickest way to the blessings of heaven.
Zeus, further, is a year-god who is born, dies, and is "born again" on a regular cycle (reminding one of the current ecclesiastical calendars!) Thus he is the child of the earth-mother! She thus becomes the "mother of god."
Hera (meaning lady) is the first such goddess in Greece, followed by Artemis (Roman Diana), Athena, and Aphrodite. They all seem to share characteristics with the original , Semiaramis.
Apollo, son of Zeus, another hunter-shepherd-protector personage later becomes the personification of the Sun. All of this is patterned after the original, Nimrod.
Of course, every sun must have a moon, and soon Artemis/Diana fills that role (previously filled by Semiaramis/Ishtar).
If this is all beginning to sound familiar, I'm proving my point. The point is that Satan has created a system of worship to which can be added or subtracted various elements, to blend with whatever culture demands. What he knows God will do, and has already done, seems to be his general theme, but his own innovations are obvious too, when comparing God's written revelation to the world's religious traditions.
Thus Satanic religion - hear well - in every culture and age is forever a mixture of what is perfectly true and what is absolutely demonic. Hislop's summary is excellent:
"the idolatry of the whole earth is one...the great gods of every country...are called by Babylonian names...all the paganisms of the human race are only a wicked and deliberate, but yet most instructive corruption of the primeval gospel first preached in Eden, and through Noah afterwards conveyed to all mankind...a system first concocted in Babylon, and thence conveyed to the ends of the earth, modified, and diluted in different ages and countries..."(p. 224)
and:
"All who have paid the least attention to the literature of Greece, Phoenicia, or Rome, are aware of the place which the ' Mysteries' occupied in these countries... in all essential respects these mysteries in the different countries were the same. " (p. 12)
Of course, the Babylonian religion is not limited to the great world powers. Other lesser lights imbibe what the mother of harlots births. But our concern in this study is to follow the headquarters of Satan, the very seat of his authority politically and spiritually.
And our travels now take us naturally to the Eternal City itself.
