Lesson #42

REVELATION AND THE SECOND COMING
LESSON #42
THE ROOTS OF MYSTERY BABYLON – REV 17 – GEN 10

• MEMORY VERSE: MAT 7:13

• INTRODUCTION:
• JESUS CHRIST HAS HIS BRIDE, THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH, RAPTURED AND TAKEN OUT OF THE WORLD BEFORE THE TRIBULATION BEGINS.
• SATAN HAS HIS HARLOT, CALLED, MYSTERY BABYLON IN REV 17:5,7.
• THE WORD, MYSTERY, IN THE BIBLE MEANS = SOMETHING THAT IS HINTED AT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, BUT IS NOT FULLY REVEALED OR EXPLAINED UNTIL THE NEW TESTAMENT.
• WE ARE GOING TO LOOK BACK IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND IN HISTORY AND FIND THIS ONE WORLD RELIGION. WE WILL FOLLOW IT DOWN THROUGH TIME. THEN WE WILL SEE HOW THE BOOK OF REVELATION REVEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS MYSTERY RELIGION.

• READ REV 17:1-6 MYSTERY BABYLON
• THIS WOMAN THAT REPRESENTS THE WORLD FALSE RELIGION IS CALLED THE “MOTHER” OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS. WHY?
• SHE IS CALLED A MOTHER BECAUSE THIS WORLD FALSE RELIGION HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE BOOK OF GENESIS. THIS RELIGIOUS SYSTEM HAS A SPIRIT OF UNGODLINESS WHICH SPAWNS THE CULTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD DOWN THROUGH HISTORY.
• IN REALITY, JESUS SAID THAT THERE ARE ONLY TWO RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD: (MAT 7:13-14) (MAT 12:26)
• =1= THE WORSHIP OF THE GOD, JEHOVAH, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. (JOH 14:6)
• =2= THE WORSHIP OF SATAN THROUGH ALL OTHER RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD.
• WHERE DID THIS HARLOT MOTHER BEGIN? WHAT ARE THE ROOTS?
• READ GEN 10:8-10 NIMROD
• HE WAS MIGHTY IN THE EARTH. (8)
• THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF HERO WORSHIP.
• HE WAS A MIGHTY HUNTER (9)
• THE WORD HUNTER MEANS = REBEL OR WE SHALL REBEL.
• HE HUNTED HUMAN BEINGS TO EXERCISE POWER OVER THEM.
• HE HUNTED HUMAN BEINGS TO KILL THEM IN OPPOSITION TO GOD’S COMMAND CONCERNING THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE. (GEN 9:6)
• NIMROD BEGAN THE SYSTEM OF HUMAN SACRIFICE.
• BABEL WAS NIMROD’S KINGDOM.
• BABEL WAS A CITY STATE THAT LATER CAME TO BE CALLED BABYLON.
• THE WORD BABEL, MEANS = “GATE OF GOD” AND “CONFUSION”
• NIMROD THOUGHT THAT IF THEY BUILT THE TOWER HIGH ENOUGH, IT WOULD REACH TO HEAVEN, AND HE COULD SIT UP IN THE HEAVENLY TEMPLE ON THE TOP AND RULE THE WORLD LIKE A GOD.

• THE NAME FINALLY COMES TO MEAN, “CONFUSION”, BECAUSE OF THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. IT IS ACTUALLY A PLAY ON HEBREW WORDS: babel, MEANING GATE OF GOD; AND balal, MEANING CONFUSION.

• IT WAS AT BABEL THAT PAGAN ASTROLOGY AND ALL PAGAN RELIGIONS FIRST CAME INTO BEING.
• WHEN ALEXANDER THE GREAT CONQUERED BABYLON, PAGAN PRIESTS AND THEIR MYSTERY RELIGIONS MOVED WEST TO ESTABLISH RELIGIOUS CENTERS IN GREECE AND LATER ROME. ALEXANDER SET UP HIS CAPITAL IN BABYLON PLANNING TO REBUILD THE CITY, BUT HE DIED SUDDENLY. IT WAS NOT GOD’S TIMING TO HAVE THE CITY REBUILT.
• BABYLON BECAME THE CAPITAL FOR THE SELEUCUS FAMILY OF KINGS INCLUDING ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES IV THAT WE DISCUSSED IN OUR STUDY OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL.
• THE ORIGINAL SITE OF THE CITY OF BABYLON FELL INTO RUIN. ARCHAEOLOGISTS DID NOT FIND THE ORIGINAL SITE UNTIL EARLY IN THE 19TH CENTURY.
• FINALLY, SADDAM HUSSEIN BEGAN REBUILDING THE ORIGINAL CITY OF BABYLON TO RECAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE KINGDOM OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR THAT WE SEE IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL. HIS EFFORTS STILL EXIST IN PART TODAY IN IRAQ. IN THE RECENT GULF WAR THE AMERICAN ARMY DESTROYED MUCH OF SADDAM’S EFFORTS.

• THE STORY OF NIMROD, SEMIRAMIS, AND TAMMUZ – THE DISPERSION OF THIS RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OVER THE WORLD:
• TRADITION SAYS NIMROD’S WIFE WAS CALLED SEMIRAMIS. SHE WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE BABYLON “MYSTERY CULTS” AND THE FIRST HIGH PRIESTESS OF IDOLATRY.
• SEMIRAMIS HAD NO CHILDREN WHEN HER HUSBAND, NIMROD, WAS KILLED BY A RELATIVE, TYPHON. THE RELATIVE CUT HIM INTO 14 PIECES AND SCATTERED HIM OVER THE WORLD. SEMIRAMIS GATHERED 13 PIECES AND EMBALMED THEM. SHE COULD NOT FIND THE LAST PIECE, WHICH WAS HIS MALE ORGAN. SHE MADE AN ARTIFICIAL ONE AND WORSHIPPED IT.
• THIS PRACTICE WAS THE SOURCE OF THE FERTILITY CULTS AROUND THE WORLD, INCLUDING THE WORSHIP OF THE MALE ORGAN.
• NIMROD THEN BECAME THE GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD AND THE SUN GOD IN EGYPT.
• SEMIRAMIS GAVE BIRTH TO A SON WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN CONCEIVED MIRACULOUSLY BY A SUNBEAM FROM DEAD NIMROD, THE GOD OF THE SUN THROUGH THE FALSE MALE ORGAN.
• THIS SON WAS CALLED, TAMMUZ. HE WAS CONSIDERED A SAVIOR OF HIS PEOPLE. HIS NAME MEANS = “TRUE SON”. TAMMUZ WAS KILLED BY A WILD BEAST AND MIRACULOUSLY BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE. SEMIRAMIS TRAVELED TO HADES TO BRING TAMMUZ BACK TO LIFE IN THE SPRING. THEREFORE, HE IS THE GOD OF VEGETATION AND NEW LIFE. THE SIGN OF THE CROSS WAS A SYMBOL OF TAMMUZ’S LIFE GIVING POWER AND THIS SYMBOL WAS SACRED TO BELIEVERS IN TAMMUZ.
• SEMIRAMIS LATER MARRIED HER SON, TAMMUZ. THE MOTHER/SON UNION WAS THE BEGINNING OF GODDESS WORSHIP THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. EVENTUALLY THE NAMES OF THE FATHER AND THE SON BLEND TOGETHER BECAUSE BOTH WERE THE HUSBAND OF THE MOTHER. THEREFORE, SOMETIMES NIMROD IS BAAL AND AT OTHER TIMES TAMMUZ IS BAAL.
• IDOLS OF SEMIRAMIS AND TAMMUZ AS MOTHER AND CHILD WERE WORSHIPPED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD BY VARIOUS NAMES, ALL HAVING HALOS AND SUN BURSTS DENOTING SUN WORSHIP AND SEMIRAMIS AS QUEEN OF HEAVEN. YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THE SYMBOLS IN THE ART OF THE WORLD, INCLUDING CHRISTIAN ART.
• WHEN PEOPLE WERE SCATTERED AT BABEL, THIS RELIGION WAS SCATTERED OVER THE EARTH.
• THE NAMES OF NIMROD, SEMIRAMIS, AND TAMMUZ CHANGED THROUGH TIME AND FROM CULTURE TO CULTURE, BUT IT IS THE SAME RELIGIOUS SYSTEM THAT CAN BE TRACED THROUGH ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY.
• IN ANTHROPOLOGY THESE RELIGIONS ARE ALL CALLED THE “MOTHER/CHILD CULTS”, OR THE “MYSTERY CULTS”.

• THE THREAD OF MYSTERY BABYLON THROUGH HISTORY:
• DURING THE RULE OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR, CONSTANTINE, HE TURNED THE ROMAN EMPIRE TO CHRISTIANITY AND MADE CHRISTIANITY THE STATE RELIGION. PEOPLE WERE GIVEN THE CHOICE TO CONVERT OR DIE. AS A RESULT THERE WERE MANY CONVERTS THAT WERE NOT BORN AGAIN. IN ORDER TO APPEASE THE PEOPLE, CONSTANTINE PERMITTED A BLENDING OF THIS OLD PAGAN RELIGIOUS SYSTEM WITH THE NEW CHRISTIANITY. (SEE NOTES ON REV 2:12-17 PERGAMOS, LESSON #08)
• THE CAPITAL OF MYSTERY BABYLON WAS CHANGED TO THE CITY OF PERGAMOS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BABYLONIAN AND MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRES. IN THE TIME OF JOHN, THE AUTHOR OF REVELATION, THE HEADQUARTERS OF MYSTERY BABYLON WAS IN PERGAMOS.
• JEZEBEL OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BECAME THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF THIS RELIGION IN 1KIN 16:30-33.
• REMEMBER REV 2:20-22 MENTIONED JEZEBEL AS A FALSE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM IN THE CHURCH. IT IS THIS SAME PAGAN RELIGIOUS SYSTEM FROM BABYLON.
• THE ROMANS MADE JULIUS CAESAR THE “SUPREME PONTIFF” (HIGH PRIEST) OF THE BABYLONIAN RELIGION IN 63 BC. THEREFORE, ROME BECAME THE SUCCESSOR TO BABYLON AS THE CENTER FOR THIS RELIGION. OTHER EMPERORS ALSO TOOK THE TITLE OF “SUPREME PONTIFF” (HIGH PRIEST).
• SCRIPTURAL NAMES FOR THE GODS OF THIS FALSE RELIGION IN THE BIBLE:
• CHEMOSH (NUM 21:29 JDG 11:24 1KIN 11:7, 33 2KIN 23:13 JER 48:7, 13, 46)
• MOLOCH, MOLECH, MOLOK (AMO 5:26 ACT 7:43 LEV 18:21 LEV 20:2-5 1KIN 11:7 2KIN 23:10 JER 32:35)
• MERODACH (JER 50:2)
• REMPHAN (ACT 7:43)
• TAMMUZ (EZE 8:14)
• BAAL, BEL (NUM 22:41 JDG 2:13 JDG 6:25-32 1KIN 16:31-32 1KIN 18:19-26, 40 1KIN 19:18, ETC.)
• ASHTORATH (JDG 2:13)

• SUMMARY: MYSTERY BABYLON
• WHENEVER YOU HAVE A COMPROMISING BLEND OF ANYTHING, YOU DON’T GET THE PURE OF ANYTHING. THEREFORE, DOWN THROUGH HISTORY WE HAVE A BLENDING AND CHANGING OF THIS SYSTEM TO FIT THE DIFFERENT CULTURES OF THE WORLD. THAT IS THE REASON IT IS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE THE THREAD THAT WE CAN TRACE WITH ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY THROUGH TIME BACK TO BABEL IN GEN 10.
• CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS RELIGIOUS SYSTEM THROUGH HISTORY:
• DRUG CULTURE IN RELIGION
• ASTROLOGY
• BLACK MAGIC
• SATAN WORSHIP
• HUMAN OR ANIMAL SACRIFICE IN PAGAN RELIGIONS
• IMMORAL SEXUAL PRACTICES IN RELIGION
• HERO WORSHIP
• GODDESS WORSHIP
• MIRACULOUS APPARITIONS
• SPIRITISM
• DIVINATION
• CALLING UP DEAD SPIRITS, ETC.
• APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY
• READ REV 13:11
• THE BEAST WITH TWO HORNS REPRESENTS THE FALSE PROPHET IN LESSON #36.

• ONE HORN REPRESENTS THE WORLD FALSE RELIGION OF MYSTERY BABYLON. (REV 17)
• A MIXTURE OF PAGAN RELIGION AND APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY.
• IN OUR NEXT LESSON WE WILL DEFINE APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY AND LOOK FOR THE EVIDENCE OF IT TODAY TO SEE WHERE IT WILL LEAD IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.

• THE OTHER HORN REPRESENTS THE WORSHIP OF THE ANTI-CHRIST AS GOD (WORLD POLITICAL/ECONOMIC BABYLON) (REV 18)

HOMEWORK
A STUDY OF APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY AND MYSTERY BABYLON
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHERFOR CORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF THE ROOTS OF MYSTERY BABYLON:
• IF YOU RECOGNIZE IN YOUR OWN LIFE ANY OF THE PAGAN BELIEFS, WORSHIP, OR PRACTICES THAT WE DISCUSSED IN THIS LESSON, YOU NEED TO REPENT OF THEM AND ASK GOD TO FORGIVE YOU.
• READ REV 18:4
• READ 1JOH 1:9
• GOD IS FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE YOU IF YOU ASK HIM.

• PREPARATION FOR A STUDY OF APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY AND MYSTERY BABYLON:
• READ THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES:
• 2THE 2:1-4
• 1TIM 4:1-2
• DEU 4:2
• REV 22:18-19
• WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY THAT IS SPOKEN OF IN THESE VERSES?

• MEMORY VERSE: COL 2:8