9: PAGAN ROME
We have danced through nearly 4000 years of history in a startlingly short time. Most moderns agree that the things I have portrayed so far are a true picture of the events that took place, the philosophies that prevailed, the religion that dominated. No need to overwork something so obvious.
As the subject of Rome is now introduced, I trust we will be able to be as open and discerning with the facts. For Rome brings us eventually into our own day...
There was a Roman civilization from the 1600's B.C., not far from the time of Abraham. Old Babylon dominated its history from its inception until Babylon's demise. But before the seeming abandonment of the old city, an arrangement was made for its temporary replacement, a new Babylon that would, like its predecessor, suck in all the varied forms of deception propagated for nearly 3000 years by the great Liar himself, and claim them as her own. Thus the new backdrop for all civilization settles in on the seven hills by the Tiber. None other has risen since. And I believe she herself will rise again.
From the beginning of Rome, the races there are deeply and inextricably mixed. Even in its peopling, a preview of mixtures.
By the end of the seventh century B.C., Romans are maintaining contact with Assyrians, Greeks, and many others. And long before Romulus, on Capitoline Hill, Virgil's Aeneas speaks of the ruins of Saturnia and Janicules, settlements given over to the Chaldean worship. Later this form of worship is forbidden, but Etruscans, committed to it, settle and establish themselves and their gods, their college of pontiffs...
I follow Hislop (op. cit., 239 ff) in the following comments. He states that the Chaldean religionists are expelled by the Medo-Persians, and sail to Pergamum, a kingdom in Asia Minor (now Turkey). The religion they bring is quite acceptable to the residents of this land. Phrygians who live there have long worshipped Cybele, and the nearby Mysians are said to have been descended from none other than Nimrod. Livy and Herodotus state that the Etrurians (Etruscans) , Roman settlers, come from Lydia, yet another province of the Kingdom of Pergamum. Hislop documents these facts.
So whether Satan's Kingdom goes directly from Persia to Greece to Rome, or whether it makes a short stop in Asia Minor (Thus Jesus' comment to the church at Pergamos in Revelation 2:13 about "Satan's Throne" ), the end result is the same: the "Mysteries" are passed down to what will be the center of the world until the end times.
Roman mythology is thus fed from the beginning with a huge variety of possibilities. The most well-known of the early Roman myths, perhaps is that of the Nimrod-Orion-Apollo figure known as Romulus, who gives his name to the city. Like the one he descends from, he is a city founder, a warrior, a protector. Also like him, he is deified at his death. According to Rose (op. cit.) and many others, the story goes that Mars, his god father, comes to earth looking for his boy. His boy, Romulus, then disappears with him into the heavens.
Later, Virgil will conclude that Romulus (like Nimrod) stands at the head of the gods of the Roman state.
Kronos is also a major factor in Roman mythology. Hislop mentions that Kronos is King of the Cyclops, who were "masters of tower building." (pp 31-32) Kronos is also known as the "horned one." This acclaim he inherits from an Assyrian story, in which a god attacks a bull, sets the horn of the bull on his own head as a trophy, thus symbolizing how powerful he is. Here Kronos not only identifies with Nimrod et. al., but with those Scriptural creatures who are said to be horned, especially in the prophecies of Daniel.
The Romans adopt much of Greek thought, but also add old, half-savage practices which come down from peasant ancestors. As the peoples before them, they conclude that all objects have spirit (pantheism, animism) and that there is a power beyond the natural, called by them "numen." By performing the proper rites, men can have "numen," too. Enter works theology yet again!
A long list of gods which have specific powers (numens) is kept by the Romans, to refer to as needs arise. You will find such lists available to the modern "church", a list of saints for every occasion. Is our God not still a jealous God, who is disturbed when we seek help from anyone but Him?
Festivals abound in old Rome, as that for Vesta, goddess of the home fire. Her personal flame in Rome is tended by virgins, chosen when little girls, of patrician (noble) origins, to serve for thirty years, unmarried. Could this be what paves the way for the enforced virginity in the system today?
Other gods: The Greek Zeus, god of the sky, has now become Juppiter. Two female partners include Juno, his wife (you will perhaps remember her as Hera), and Minerva his daughter (called Athena in Greece).
Now, this Juno is also "Mater Regina" (mother / queen), and, yes, she is associated with the moon. Her name originates as D'Iune, the dove. She is the same one who, according to Hislop (p.78), is worshipped by the Babylonians under the form of a dove. You can perhaps understand the (blasphemous) suggestion of early Christians that perhaps Mary is equivalent to our dove, the Holy Ghost.
Saturnus, another Nimrod-type, gives his name to the early settlement, and later to the winter feast beginning around the third week of December, Saturnalia. The climax of the feast was the 25th, on or near the winter solstice, the birthday of the gods. The entire season was one of jollity, called "the best of all days," a time when happy men exchanged gifts with one another. Later all this was blended with New Year's festivals, and in the North, with a season called "Yule."
Aphrodite in Rome becomes Venus, and is recognized by those in authority as the ancestress of the house which gave Rome its earliest emperors. From Augustus on, she is quite important.
Apollo transfers over to Rome without bothering to change his name, and becomes , as mentioned before, recognized as the sun god. The corresponding moon is now Diana.
Bible readers remember "Diana of the Ephesians" (Acts 19:34), but perhaps do not know that both she and Cybele, another famous Roman goddess, are represented in art works with a crown representing a tower, bringing us back once more in our thinking to the original builder of such a tower, one Semiaramis, and her famous husband Nimrod.
We must not leave out Janus, the "opener and shutter", the god of all gods , known as the "door of heaven" who has the "power of turning the hinges" (cardinis). And the hinges, the cardinals, are turned quite often by this great one.
Then there is Bacchus, whose priests take the circular "tonsure" (haircut), later copied by Roman churchmen, but all along forbidden by Scripture (Leviticus 21:5).
The confusion does not end here. Incorporated into this mixture by the time of Christ is the Greek form of Egyptian worship involving Isis and Horus (famous mother/son combo), the worship of Mithra, sun god whose birth date is fixed at December 25, and who is adored as a young god by shepherds, and much more...
These later additions have oriental connections, and add these points to the Babylonian system already in place:
1) god is basically friendly to man
2) god suffers
3) god dies and rises again
4) initiation is a long process
5) personal salvation and happiness after death
6) astral connections, especially with sun
Incorporated into New Babylon is another elaborate system of priests. One class in particular needs to be mentioned, namely, the pontifices, or "bridge-builders." The term sounds harmless enough at first, but at least one scholar suggests that the reason priests were necessary in the bridge-building process was to appease the gods of the river, over whom people dared to walk on a newly-constructed bridge.
Sometimes building a bridge is not pleasing to the one true God either. Later pontiffs, even those in our day, construct pathways to creeds that invite demon spirits into the church. The college of pontiffs becomes the head of the Roman clergy, the chief one being the Pontifex Maximus, a title claimed by Emperor and Pope in years to come.
We cannot deny that the title is rightfully theirs.
Hislop notes that one whose name/title sounds like Peter in the original Chaldee occupies at one time the highest place in the Pagan priesthood of Rome. He, and Bryant, in his Mythology, explain that the term means "interpreter". His job is to explain mysteries to the initiated.
Yet another similarity to present-day Babylon is the system of "brothers" who handle various ceremonies, to make sure sacrifices are done properly.
It should be pointed out that the original Roman religion, left to itself, was not an exalted thing. In early Rome, priests were merely advisors. It seems, however, that the Etruscans, and through them the Chaldeans, the original Babylonians, leave quite an impact. Due to their influence the magistrates, all of whom have priestly functions, now must have a particular dress and insignia. The temple must have a particular style and orientation. Cult-statues and specific methods of divination are now proscribed in worship. In later Rome, the Emperor himself is worshipped, at first voluntarily, then, as is the normal progression of things, by law.
Even so, the Roman state tries to persecute no one's belief unless it is a secret society deemed dangerous to the people. Early Christians are somehow described in this way.
These practices and beliefs, their out-workings in one religious system after another, are far from coincidental. The plan has been at work now for thousands of years. Century upon century the world has been accustomed to seeing the "mysteries" unfold before them. Little by little, the world religion belonging to Satan and his host of followers is set in place.
10: THE TRUE SEED OF WOMAN APPEARS
4 "B.C."?
The central event of history is the surprise move of the Father of sending His dearly beloved Son into this pagan setting. Born in a stable, His first bed a feeding trough, He begins a revolution that still baffles citizens of Babylon. (Luke 1-3)
His birth is not officially dated. We still say it is "around" 2000 years ago. That's close enough for us, since we were never asked to honor His birthday.
Not so for Babylon, for whom dates and places and outward forms are most important. When the Babylonian system is later "baptized" and admitted into the church, it is decided that a feast honoring God's Son would be very nice next to the feast honoring the son of Semiaramis (Saturn). A special Mass is said, and the "Christ-mass" is born. In subsequent years pagan rituals such as gift-giving and tree-decorating are added, until today the holiday , as everything originating from Babylon, is clothed in utter confusion. But let no one speak against it...
The Catholic Encyclopedia freely admits,
"Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church. Irenaeus and Tertullian omit it from their list of feasts."
As we indicated earlier, the December 25 date is purely of pagan origin. Again the Catholic Encyclopedia:
" The well-known solar feast of Natalis Invicti [birth of the Unconquered Sun] celebrated on 25 December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December date."
The growth and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth are faithfully recorded by witnesses that I cannot top. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, from their various vantage points, and under the leadership of the promised Holy Spirit, tell the story. His teaching we will discuss later. His death and resurrection, witnessed by hundreds, are the most established facts of history.
Here I only wish us to see the simple fact of the man Jesus, and what His presence in the world at this time means to Satan. Could it be that with the fierceness of Rome, and the powerfully deceptive Roman-Babylonian Mysteries, Satan thinks he finally has things wrapped up? What a challenge to his plan!
Satan's immediate response is to get Jesus off the scene. Herod's slaughter of the innocent children of Bethlehem, while Jesus is safe in pagan Egypt, from which God calls His Son, and all of us, Hosea 11:1. Temptation. Death on a Roman cross. (Matthew 2, 4, 27)
Satan's pitiful "victory", Calvary, foretold since the Garden, is now the cause of our rejoicing, and will be eventually the reason for Lucifer's everlasting downfall and destruction.
How much Satan understands of all of this, and of that which he understands, how much he believes, is not revealed to us. One thing is sure: he continues to work as though there is no judgment, no fear of God, absolutely nothing to worry about.
11: BABYLON REVERSED
A.D. 30?
To the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Through this mighty baptism, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is established in Jerusalem, and the foundational teachings of the apostles are spoken, then written for our benefit. (Acts 2)
A word about that early church. It is not Roman. It is Jewish. There are no priests. There are shepherds (plural) known as pastors, elders, or bishops.
There is no Mass. There are assemblies of believers.
There is no Pope. Christ is the head of His church.
So, could a Roman priest saying a Mass under the proscribed authority of a Roman Pope be suddenly brought back in time to the church of Jerusalem, what strange feelings he would arouse. What strange feelings he yet arouses among those who personally know their God, and God's Word.
While Satan's masterpiece, his grand delusion and confusion is parading in every known country, the real thing is awakening. Soon this fire will spread and capture hearts.
Persecution ensues, and for 300 years the church is in great pain, but persistently also in great growth until it, too, has permeated much of the known world.
Satan, not content merely to force his falseness on the world outside the church, begins the sowing of lies within. Even in the fabled first century, heresy begins. A quick reading of the New Testament, especially the epistles, reveals the beginnings of the deadly cancer. In fact, much of the New Testament was written to combat error.
But then, as now, there is a pure church that keeps its eyes open, focused on Jesus. Hell, whether an offensive force or a defense against the church's advance, or simply another word for the dying of saints in every generation, will not prevail against God's elect. The victory is certain, but amazingly so in the light of what we now know of the tactics that have been used against us.
12: THE GOSPELS
Let's pause here in the first century A.D. to consider some of the relevant foundational teachings handed down by the leaders of that day, called apostles, ones sent into their world to call out a people for God. I suggest that the mission of that early church is our mission today. As Christians it is our job to permeate our society with the Life we have to offer. And it is our job to call out a people for God.
May this book call out to those still enslaved in Satan's domain.
One of the apostles of Jesus, Matthew, has an important revelation in the seventh chapter of his book: (verse 15)
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits."
Jesus knew that his day was not the end of the prophets. Many more would come, mostly false. He tells us here how to judge what they say.
Matthew's account of Jesus' "seed and weed" story (13:24-30) lets us know that the church and something looking very much like it are to grow together, side by side. We should be challenged here to pray for discernment.
Another important word from the Holy Spirit through Matthew is the famous interaction between Jesus and Peter found in the sixteenth chapter.
A Greek scholar I am not. But I will not have trouble explaining the difference between two Greek words, via my handy concordance: petros means " a stone"; petra , "a massive rock." Both words are used in this verse. Jesus says to Peter, " You are petros, and on this petra I will build my church."
Yes, Greek words have various endings. I remember being tormented in Bible college, having to learn them. I have long forgotten them all, but my dust-covered text reminds me that petros and petra are not merely two forms of the same word. They are two different words.
So what was Jesus saying, following Peter's declaration of Jesus' Messiahship, Jesus' Sonship, and Jesus' divinity? Simply this:
"Peter, you are a little stone, and on the Rock from which you were hewn, those very facts that just came out of your mouth, I will build my church."
Here is what Jesus did NOT say, either by the Greek text or in any plausible English rendering:
"You are Peter, and on you I will build my church."
Granted, the Greek is close. But it is in these close calls that false teaching flourishes, and through them he deceives the nations. Had Satan said to the world, "Worship Satan, the enemy of God and all that is called God, " he might not have had many takers. His reliance is on deceit.
Peter well knew what Jesus was saying. No trace of "lording it over" God's people in this man, and he forbids it in his followers. (see I Peter 5:3)
Bible students will remember Peter's response to a worshiping Cornelius, suddenly the subject of visions and other strange events in his life. Peter says firmly to him:
"Stand up! I am also a man!" (Acts 10:26)
The so-called "successors of Peter" will allow the worship to continue, yea, and to be greatly embellished, proving to me that they are not Peter's successors at all. (The truth is that no physical successors were ever promised to begin with!)
Continuing with Matthew, in chapter 23, Jesus requests that His followers call no man "father", well knowing that the fourth commandment of Moses calls upon God's people to honor our fathers. We recognize that Jesus here is speaking of spiritual fatherhood.
But in Babylon's system, all priests are "father", and the priest of all priests is called "Pope", or "Papa", or...Father. To conclude the blasphemy, the term "Holy" is usually appended. The phrase that Jesus used exclusively of His Father in Heaven is thus given to a man. (John 17:11)
It should be noted that even Jesus never referred to Himself as "Father", though He is coequal with Him. (Isaiah 9:6)
Moving on to Luke, a close associate of the apostle Paul, we read in the early portions of his Gospel , and of Matthew's, the simple account of a young Jewish girl named Mary. You will find traces of her story also in John 2, John 19, Acts 1, and Matthew 14. Here are the seven pictures thus portrayed of her:
1) at the birth of Jesus. She is impregnated by the Holy Ghost while yet a virgin. She is submissive to God, and thus an example for us all. She exalts, though, in her "Saviour", which she needs as much as anyone, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," says Paul in Romans 3:23.
2) when Jesus is 12. A somewhat frustrated, definitely not all-knowing young mother, to whom Jesus submitted, though His Father's business was top priority.
3) at the wedding of Cana. An untimely request which Jesus was gracious enough to honor shows again a nature in need of fine tuning, like our own. Here are spoken the words last recorded of Mary: "Whatever He says to you, do it."
4) on the outside of the crowd. Wanting an audience with her Son, she is, for all time, put on an equality with all believers.
5) at Jesus' death. She is told that John will care for her now, and she for him. No hidden message here.
6) at the resurrection. Definitely "upstaged" in the narrative of the Gospel writers by another Mary, the one who received His great forgiveness and loved Him so dearly, the Magdalene.
7) at Pentecost. One of many filled with the Holy Ghost.
One picture the Bible does not paint of Mary is a woman clothed with the sun and surrounded by a crown of stars. A careful reading of Revelation 12 reveals that this woman is none other than Israel, as seen by Joseph. (Genesis 37:9)
My friends, this is the Bible's picture of Mary! All else you may have heard comes from the traditions of man, as found especially in the heart of Babylonian worship!
We will talk more of this at later times in this story.
In chapter 8 of Luke, as we continue our trek through the New Testament, we see one of the saddest accounts ever recorded. Here Jesus is requested to leave an area because some exorcized demons have ruined the means of gain of a group of pig farmers. The striking thing to one who has seen Jesus represented as a power-monger through the centuries, is that He simply walks away! No attempt to force His will on the unwilling and un-wanting.
This same spirit of meekness is recorded in chapter 9, where He must rebuke His zealous disciples, fresh from the mount of transfiguration and imbued with visions of power. They desire to use their new-found authority to crush opposition to Jesus. Jesus says to them, "The Son of man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. "
In "Babylon" it is not like this, as later sections of this book will painfully portray.
What Jesus taught, He lived. What He lived, He desires His followers to live. We see Him in John, chapter 13, literally taking upon Himself the form of a servant, washing the feet of His followers. Thus He sets the pattern for all future leaders in the church.
Yes, the phrase must be "in the church," not "of the church." There is one leader of the church.
13: THE ACTS and the EPISTLES
Luke also gives to us the book known as "Acts," the actions of the apostles and early Christians. Paul emerges in that book as a leader equal to Peter in authority, yet with a totally different ministry.
A quick aside: With Paul we have a definite record of a visit to and stay in Rome. (Acts 28) For Peter we have tradition, some of it not too reliable, and I Peter 5:13, where Peter greets his readers from "Babylon." If indeed Babylon is Rome, as the early Christians knew, we must concede that Peter was there at one time. We must not concede the traditions of men regarding his stay there, however.
If however Babylon is Babylon, a place, as mentioned above, then inhabited by many Jews, it would not be a thing unimaginable that Peter, apostle to the Jews, was writing from there!
We do know that Peter's main ministry was to the Jews, after he used his other "key" to open the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles. After that, the apostle to the Gentiles is unquestionably Paul. It is only natural that Paul end his life in the Gentile capital.
Before the end of his life, Paul sends us some insights helpful in a study of Babylon:
II Corinthians 6:14 18: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? ... You are the temple of the living God...therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord...I will be a Father to you."
While this passage may have a broad application, it is amazingly the same word given to John, years later, when speaking specifically of coming out of Babylon. And both Paul and John are echoing Isaiah. (Isaiah 48:20 and 52:11)
In chapter 3 of I Corinthians, Paul confirms that the only foundation for the church is Jesus Christ. We all become workers on the building, or little stones added to the building. But the foundation is already laid.
Galatians is a classic treatise on the subject of grace and freedom in Christ. Though it was written specifically to combat Judaizing tendencies, it is a warning that the purity of the Gospel can soon be lost in the wake of false teaching:
"I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you...there are some who trouble you...if any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed...O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?...You observe days, months, times, and years...I am afraid for you, that I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."
Away then with the myth of a 300-year period of church purity. The church very early had tares sown in its midst. Not always was there a Paul or a Peter to combat the growth of these weeds. Slowly but very surely the Pentecostal power and light was suffocated, and replaced by the teachings of men. Spiritual gifts did not wane because God decided to replace them with a spiritual Book, but because men were not seeking God with their whole hearts. The same is true today...
But God always has a remnant. To them the call continues,
Come out, come out, be separate!
In Ephesians, Paul tells us (chapter 5) of the varied forms of ministry in the church. The apostles who gave us the Scriptures are included in that ministry. Their word is as binding today as it was then. Let no modern apostle come against the apostolic foundations already laid.
In II Thessalonians 2:3 is the prediction of the great apostasy.
In 2:7, the statement that the mystery of iniquity was already working in the church! This was not long after Pentecost. And not long after the flood-time revelations directly from Heaven, the Chaldean priests began their rituals. How soon we forget!
In Timothy are further warnings about later years. The Spirit is so specific and urgent about these things, perhaps because the time for their beginning was near to Paul's time, not the very last days. The Spirit says in I Timothy 4:1-5:"...some will depart from the faith...forbidding to marry...commanding to abstain from foods..." etc.
And some in these days will have a "form of godliness," but deny the power of godliness. (II Timothy 3:5)
These warnings should bring 20th-century images to our minds.
14: JOHN
The last of the New Testament writers, in order of appearance in the Bible, and in actual time, is John, the beloved. A young man when he shared those precious years with Christ, he outlives all the others and is still writing near his death. (A.D. 90?) To him is given the final glimpse of things to come, a revelation strong enough to receive from God a warning that to it nothing is to be added and from it nothing is to be subtracted.
First, an important word from John's Gospel. That book is filled with images and allegory. Jesus is herein called the "Word," "Bread," "Light," a "Door," a "Shepherd," "Resurrection," "Life," a "Vine." Keep that in mind.
John, who by the Spirit remembers such things, tells us the story of Jesus and the disciples as they discuss the eating of the very flesh and blood of Jesus. Jesus says He will give His flesh" for the life of the world. This He indeed does when He dies on the Cross.
Now, Jesus knows that the Jews are literally eating the flesh of a literal lamb every literal Passover. He is not here substituting lamb-eating in the flesh for human-eating in the flesh. But He is saying that His sacrifice will now substitute for all the physical sacrifices they have made. And He is replacing physical eating with spiritual eating.
He tells the assembled people to labor for the food that endures. He says that coming to Him and believing on Him will fill the appetite. The coming and the believing, thus, are the eating and the drinking of which He speaks. Later He adds that the flesh profits nothing, but the Spirit profits everything. (all from John 6)
The Babylonian cult picks up on this "hard saying" of Jesus and makes it even harder. To this day millions remain bound by the idea that they must take the literal body and blood of Jesus, and that the only way to receive such is at the hands of a Roman priest!
Back to Pagan Rome, A.D. 90:
It is the Rome of the Caesars that is playing the part of the harlot, Mystery Babylon, in John's day. But John, by the grace of God, is given the final disposition of that harlot in the book that brings all written revelation to a climactic finish.
One view of the end-time world structure is found in chapter 13, where a creature with 7 heads, 10 horns, and characteristics of all of Daniel's animals (Daniel 7) is followed by a creature that is a combination lamb and dragon. The two creatures are seen working in harmony, helping each other exist.
It would seem that the final world ruler is being assisted by a world religious leader, and that their domains are coexistent. Such has it ever been with Babylon. She speaks for "God" as a "lamb" in innocence and gentleness, but uses the power of men when needed. (The secular arm, she calls it.)
Not so with God's true Kingdom, which uses the power of God to speak to men.
The final unveiling of Babylon in Scripture is a forthright statement of name, location, position, destination...a rather clear-cut brief that is hard for the seeing to miss.
I must confess immediately to my own blindness for so many years, caused by the improper arrangement of priorities. I stand amazed now that I could not see these things for so long, though I stood so close to the facts. But, it is of great deceit which I write. I offer myself as a witness to the cunning subtle ways of Babylon.
The reformers knew about these things. Great men of God since then have identified this Mistress of the Night. The silence of our day is baffling.
Later we will study the life and writings of men like Luther, Calvin, Knox, Zwingli, Huss, Wyclif, and others from the 1300's on, regarding the Roman question. The tracing of this teaching will make it plain that only in our day (perhaps since Vatican II) has the heat been taken off Babylon.
Much is being made in these days of the occult, of secret organizations, conspiracies, etc., and perhaps rightly so. But what of the headquarters? What of the city on seven hills? Did we really misread the Book? Or are we misreading the present situation?
And there is now another factor to be considered. Saddam Hussein was, since the late 70's, rebuilding the ancient city of Babylon. Using some of the original bricks from the ruins, workers restored several temples, an amphitheater, and the Marduk Gate. The Tower of Babel was also in the plans, and all was scheduled for a 1994 completion. (World Press Review, Feb. 1990; N.Y. Times Magazine, Nov. 26, 1989; New Yorker, October 19, 1987) [Much of the plan came to pass.]
What should the Bible believer make of all this? God said through Isaiah (13:20-22) and Jeremiah (50:39, 40) that Babylon would be desolate forever. No one would ever live there again. And, portions of their surrounding prophecies seem to be fulfilled.
I believe that we have here one of those "mixed" words, common to the prophets whose mouths were filled with words from an all-knowing God who is not always bound to our chronology. Both in Daniel and the Psalms, for examples, God speaks of two things at the same time in predicting both Christ and anti-Christ. Some of Psalm 22 could refer to David, while much refers to Christ. Daniel 11 refers to several known historical figures, then jumps into unknown territory talking about a "willful king." The gaps of Isaiah 9:6-7, coupled with Daniel 9:26-27 are further evidence that the prophets were most limited in their understanding. For the great age in which we now live, the age of grace during which God in His longsuffering calls a Gentile people to Himself, was hardly seen by these men of God. No, in fact, it took special revelations to Peter, Paul, Cornelius, and others, for that message to take hold.
Now, God told us by the Prophet Daniel, and He cannot contradict Himself, that the fourth "beast" -Rome- will be the final world empire, except for the 10-nation confederation run later by antichrist. We live in the days of the fourth beast now, and it seems that its final form (ten horns ) is near. So, what of Babylon in this same time frame? From all the prophecies of Scripture regarding this city, I am forced into these conclusions:
1) God has some unfinished business with physical Babylon.
2) Babylon's latest manifestation in Rome, is also slated for destruction, at the hands of the antichrist.
Let's look more closely at what John saw in the first century. Let's , in fact, compare very closely the message of Revelation 17 with that of Revelation 18: First the similarities...
• In 17 and 19(which is a celebration of what goes on in 18), she is called the whore. So in whatever form she assumes through the years, she is unfaithful to the Lord, in contrast to His pure chaste bride.
• She is clothed in purple and scarlet. Babylon is forever very rich and very powerful.
• Fire seals her doom.
• She is a "great city."
If we come to the conclusion that Revelation 17 and 18 describe two different places, the above similarities are not insurmountable difficulties. But if we decide they are two descriptions of the same place, we must contend with the following problems:
• Chapter 17 is introduced by one of the angels of the previous bowl judgments. 18, by an angel of great authority, akin to the one seen by Ezekiel (43:1-2).
• 17's angel conducts John on a tour to the "wilderness", reminding us of the symbolism of Zechariah. It pictures a present reality in spiritual language. In 18, there is no symbolic language. It foretells a future reality in actual description.
• 17's Babylon exists before the ten kings are set up, and is destroyed by them. 18's Babylon is mourned by the merchants of earth, presumably the 10 kings also.
• In 17, the blood of saints and martyrs of Jesus (New Testament realities) is making the whore drunk. In 18, the blood of prophets, saints, and all slain on earth is uncovered (Old and New Testament times).
• Judgment on the great harlot in 17, opposed to judgment of the great city in 18.
Chapter 17 seems to be a personalized vision for John, complete with commentary and explanation. 18 returns to presentation of fact with no extras.
What are some of those explanations of chapter 17?
• She is sitting on seven mountains that correspond to the seven heads of the beasts, and seven kingdoms. First, let's get straight the word "oros" in Greek. It is translated mountain or hill in the New Testament, because its basic meaning is a "rising or rearing." Size is not a factor in the word. So the seven hills of Rome are perfectly described by the word John uses. Nevertheless it is not without significance that there are seven world-kingdoms (referred to as mountains in Scripture) upon which Babylon has sat: Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, Pagan-Papal Rome, the 10-horn kingdom of the end times. There can be no question that the Holy Spirit here signifies for John's understanding, and consequently for ours, that it is the city of Rome which is being described.
• The ten horns have received no power at the time of this prophecy. Nor have they yet. But the fourth beast, Rome, still exists. A revived Babylon only recently has been a possibility.
• "The woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." This is spoken in explanation to John. John understood perfectly what the angel was saying! In his day only one city so ruled. How painfully John knew what the angel meant!
Babylon is always a study in confusion. I confess this is no exception. But there can be no doubt of the fact that the woman on seven hills is Rome; the facts also support a tie-in of chapter 18 with the Old Testament prophets, whose words will not be allowed to drop to the ground unfulfilled. Oh yes, when all is said and done, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.
In Hislop's book (p. 6), you will find a picture of a medal made by Pope Leo XII. His own image is on one side. On the other is that of a woman with a cup. In Latin are the words (translated) "The whole world is her seat." Oh my God, how long until your people see the truth of Babylon!
So, is it your conclusion, as is possibly mine, that there are two cities referred to in Scripture as "Babylon"? One, the last-day representative of spiritual Babylon, seated in Rome, destroyed by her neighbors under antichrist's influence, and the other a restored Babylon resurrected by antichrist to serve as a statement of his power to surrounding nations, and to challenge the "other" Babylon? Is this in fact an eastern answer to western power?
Thus, the antichrist, called the "8th" king, as a resurrector of ancient Babylonia or Assyria, becomes one of the "7" kings. (I refer to the mystery mentioned in Revelation 17.) He is also Daniel's "11th" horn among the "10". Ancient Rome and ancient Mesopotamia seemingly resurrect at the same time, clash, and are both destroyed by fire. But the fire reserved for the old city is probably of a nuclear variety, to render it permanent.
But the destruction of Babylon does not destroy the plan of the Enemy. He is simply finished with religion that does not center on his person, the great Lucifer. At this point he will incarnate antichrist, move his headquarters to Jerusalem, sit in the temple (the Jewish temple) of God, and call himself God Almighty. About then it will be closing time for earth's history as we know it.
The workings of the antichrist and the final events of man's stay here are all interesting, meant to be understood by God's people. But they are not within the parameters of this present work. My focus must remain "Mystery Babylon."
As we continue on this walk through history, I want to build on the foundation which has been laid by God in His word, a testimony which the apostles and prophets were faithful to record and hand to us so that we could without hesitation identify what is and what is not of God. Those who are now grounded solidly in this Word, much of which I have tried to share in these pages, will be able to comprehend a little of the heart of God, His grief and pain, His hurt and disappointment, as they will see so many of His ways trampled by those wearing His name.
As Mark Antony's Shakespearian character says, "If you have tears, prepare to shed them now." For in part two we will document how the church of Jesus Christ came under the influence of Babylon, and remains largely under that influence to this day.
the Scarlet Threads series was first created in 1992 by Bob Faulkner.
