Babylon II

After the flood, Nimrod founded Babylon. He was the son of Cush, who was the son of Ham, who was a son of Noah.

God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, which was part of Old Babylonia. Babylon and the Chaldeans are used interchangeably in the Bible, as in Jeremiah 50:1 and 8. In other words, Abraham was called out of darkness and out of confusion. A confused gate of God. Abraham was called out of Babylon.

Israel, God's true church on earth, began with a call to come out of Babylon. Christianity, God's true church on earth, ends with a call to come out of Babylon (Revelation 18:1-4).

If Israel, God's true church, was held captive by literal Babylon, is it possible that Christianity, God's true church today, could be held captive by a spiritual Babylon, that is a confused gate to Heaven?

For two thousand years, Israel looked and longed for the Messiah, yet when He arrived they were confused about His coming and they crucified Him.

For two thousand years, Christianity has been looking for the Second Coming of the Messiah. Is it possible that we could be so confused about His coming that we reject Him again in the person of His saints, the true believers?

The religion of Babylon was to bow to the image of man. It was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide - sixty-six, the number of a man. In the last days, those who are called out of Babylon do not receive the number 666 (Revelation 14:8-9 and 18:1-4).

Around 700BC, Isaiah mentions Cyrus as saying to Israel to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1). Babylon, a great fortress of a city thought to be imperious to attack, fell to Cyrus, King of Persia, in 538BC.

The river Euphrates ran through the walled city of Babylon. Up stream there was a dry lake bed. Cyrus diverted the water of the river into the lake bed and had his soldiers march into the city on the dry river bed. The drying up of the water of the great river Euphrates caused the fall of Babylon (Revelation 16:12).

This paved the way for three kings of the east (Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes), who in turn issued decrees for the children of Israel to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1-7). The action of these kings of the east allowed God's true people to come out of Babylon.

Enemies of God's people are sometimes referred to as "King of the North" because instead of coming directly east from Babylon or northeast from Nineveh, Nebuchadnezzar, Shalmaneser, Sargon, and Sennacherib came down from the north along what is called the Fertile Crescent. It begins in the Tigris Euphrates Valley, traveling north to Haran and south to Jerusalem. This avoids the desert between Babylon and Jerusalem, and it is the route taken by Abraham.

The Assyrian Kings Shalmaneser and Sargon overcame the northern ten tribes of Israel, while Sargon's son, Sennacherib, was overcome at the gates of Jerusalem when the Angel of the Lord smote 185,000 of his soldiers. The kings from the north were not friendly to Israel; the kings of the east were.

Both the northern 10 tribes of Israel and Judah in the south had been seduced into worshipping Baal. He was the son of El, father of the Phoenician gods. Baal was the god of agriculture, of seed germination; in other words, life. He died in the Fall but was resurrected in the Spring.

Baal was a false Christ!

Harper's Bible Dictionary states that after the Hebrews returned from Babylon, they never again worshipped Baal. Therefore, coming out of Babylon may be equated with ceasing to worship a false Christ.

The true people of God were in Babylon because they had been worshipping a false Christ. When they came out of Babylon, they ceased to worship this false Christ.

It is apparent from Revelation 18:1-4 that the true people of God will, at this time in the last days, be in Babylon. Why are they there? Have they been worshipping a false Christ?

About 900BC, another incidence of Baal worship occurred when Elijah brought all Israel to Mt. Carmel and forced a decision: worship the true God or Baal the false Christ. Elijah settles the issue by bringing fire down from heaven.

Just as John the Baptist went before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah at His first coming, so there is to be an Elijah (Message) "… before the coming of the Great and Dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5).

Does this Elijah (message) come in the last days because God's people have been worshipping a false Christ? In the last days, it is the powers of evil that bring down fire from Heaven in the sight of men according to Revelation 13:13.

On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in the form of fire. Is there to be a false Holy Spirit in our future? In our present?

While John the Baptist performed no miracles before the first coming of Christ, it is quite clear from scripture that the powers of evil will perform "miracles" before the Second Coming (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-11; and Revelation 13:14; 19:20). The three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13-14 which work "miracles" are said to be like frogs. How do frogs catch their prey?

In the whole history of Israel, God's true people were out of harmony with the truth that had been given more so than they were in harmony. We Christians look at their record and think, "Weren't those Jews dumb?" However, in condemning the Jews we condemn ourselves, because the history of the Jews is the history of human nature.

God created man in His own image but man rebelled against God. The Second Person of the Godhead comes to this earth, taking on human flesh to save man. What does man do? Man kills God. Man kills God.

What man was it that killed God? Was it the wild man from Borneo? Was it the savage man from darkest Africa? Was it the primitive man from the Amazon Jungle? Was it the criminal man - the robber, the murderer, the dealer in illegal drugs? Was it the atheistic man?

No. It was the religious man! The religious man who sat on the back pew and did little to help the work of the church?

No. It was the leaders. That's right, the leaders of God's true church on earth. Although it was Rome, the political power that executed Christ, it was instigated by the leaders of the church.

The Apostle Paul tells Christians that the things that happened unto the children of Israel are for their examples (1 Corinthians 10). Has human nature greatly changed since Christ's day?

There will be a time of trouble, a time of tribulation in the future (Daniel 12:1 and Matthew 24:21). Many Bible students are looking for some political power to turn on God's true people. This well may be true but why will this be done? If the past enlightens the future, it could be because religious leaders of an apostate church call for it. In looking for future signs and lying wonders, should not we be looking within? Within the church instead of in the political realm?

There is enough error within the Christian church for everyone to have some. No doubt there are true believers on each side of an issue.

In 1054, there was a division between east and west in the church over the issue of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the use of graven images. One side is right while one side is wrong.

In Europe in the 1500's, the Protestants split from the western church over justification by faith. One is right and one is wrong.

Some believe that in the Communion Service, the bread and wine are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ, while others believe the bread and wine are symbolic.

Some hold that those baptized as children should be rebaptized when they reach maturity.

Then there are differences on the mode of baptism. John Calvin taught predestination. Jacob Arminius favored free will. Reformed churches, Presbyterian and Baptist, lean toward Calvin, while Anglican, Methodists, Nazarene, and Holiness Churches lean toward Arminius.

And so on and so on. Without being harsh, critical or condemning, one must acknowledge that within Christianity itself, there is a lot of confusion. A lot of confusion. A lot of confusion.

This point bears repeating. Across the spectrum of Christianity, from Eastern Orthodox to Neo-Pentecostalism, THERE IS A LOT OF CONFUSION.

If God would wink at the ignorance of Pagan intellectuals at Athens (Acts 17:29-30), surely He can wink at some of the differences among Christians today. But the time is coming when this will not be true.

In the 12th Chapter of Revelation, a woman is used as a symbol of the church, which brings forth a man-child who is to rule the nations, and who is taken up to heaven. The woman flees into the wilderness for 1,260 days or time, times and half a time. She is persecuted by the dragon, which personifies the Devil. This is the same period of time found in Daniel 7:25 where the little horn power (anti-Christ) was to wear out the saints of the Most High. In Revelation 11:2-3, we see that 1,260 days is 42 months or 3½ years.

The woman is the church. She is persecuted by the dragon, and hides in the wilderness for 3½ years.

In Revelation 17, there is another woman, a harlot, and upon her forehead is written MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT. Now, if the woman of chapter 12 is the true church, this woman must be the apostate church.

She sits on a scarlet colored beast. In chapter 12:3, Satan is represented as a red dragon. She sits on 7 mountains and is said to be that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17: 9,18).

Verse 10 says, "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come …".

Throughout their history, the children of Israel had some connection with the great powers of the civilized world:

1. Egypt - Abraham and Jacob;
2. Assyria - Overcame the 10 Northern Tribes;
3. Babylon - 70 years captivity;
4. Persia - Freed from Babylon to return to Jerusalem;
5. Greece - Petty Greek King Antiochus IV persecutes Israel between
Malachi and Matthew; and
In John, the Revelator's day, these five kings were fallen. Rome ruled
at the time;
6. Rome - One is; and
7. ______ - Not yet come.

The woman on the beast is said to be that great city which ruled over the kings of the earth. Of the six nations listed, only two were known by the name of their capital city: Babylon and Rome. The Apostate woman with Babylon written on her forehead is Rome. The seven mountains on which she sits are the seven hills of Rome.

The Preterist system of prophetic interpretation, mostly held by liberal Christians, maintains that the time of the anti-Christ is passed and that it applied to Nero or some other Roman emperor of that time.

The prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7 tell us that the 4th kingdom was Rome. From Babylon, it was the 4th kingdom but from Egypt the 6th kingdom which now is, in the time of the book of Revelation.

How long was Rome to last? It appears to be longer than what has been generally believed. The preceding kingdoms, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, had been states which controlled religion. In Daniel 7, the Roman power is said to be diverse, different from the other kingdoms. Diverse is mentioned 4 different times. How was Rome different, diverse from the other nations?

Rome began as a state which controlled religion. As the empire crumbled under the weight of the barbarian invaders, these Germanic tribes were converted to Christianity and Rome evolved into a religion, headed by the Bishop of Rome, which controlled the state. It became the Holy Roman Empire which dominated European politics for centuries. The Bishop of Rome became the Pope.

In the 1500's, the Protestant Reformers pointed to the Pope as the anti-Christ and one reformer likened the period of domination by the Roman church as the period of Babylonian captivity. The historical facts are clear that dissenters who refused the teaching and authority of Rome were persecuted, tortured, and put to death, sometimes by burning at the stake. Catholic scholars admit that it was an embarrassing time in the history of Christianity.

Rome countered the Reformer's accusation that the Pope was the anti-Christ by showing that no Pope reigned for exactly 3½ years. Jesuit Priest Francisco Ribera wrote a book in 1590 showing that the anti-Christ must be in the future. Thus began the Futuristic school of prophetic interpretation, which today is very popular among conservative Protestants.

However, the Reformer's protest had effect, and Rome began losing both its spiritual and political power. Some believe that the Reformation gave the papacy a spiritual wound by the sword.

The dominant political power in Europe during much of the 1700's was France, which supported Roman Catholicism. During the French Revolution, the church was expelled from France in 1793. Bibles were forbidden, collected, and burned. In 1798, a French army entered Rome and took the Pope prisoner, many believing that this was a physical wound by the sword. The power of the Roman church came to an end in 1798. Later the wound would be healed.

How long had the papacy dominated the religious scene? It was in 533AD that the Roman Emperor Justinian, residing in Constantinople, issued a decree making the Bishop of Rome head of all the Holy Churches. However, there were three Arian powers, not Christian, which opposed the Roman Bishop. Two occupied Italy, preventing him from exercising this newly granted power. Justinian sent an army under General Belisarius and these powers, Vandals, Heruli and the Ostrogoths, were defeated, so by 538AD Rome was clear so that the bishop could exercise his authority.

How long had Papal Rome existed? From 538 to 1798 is 1,260 years. From 533 to 1793 is 1,260 years. Many students compute prophetic time using one year for each day. See Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6.

Substituting a year for each prophetic day allows the time periods of the Bible to coincide with the reign of the Medieval Church headquartered at Rome for 1,260 years:

Daniel 7:25 - Wear out the saints/time, times, ½ time

Revelation 11:2 - Tread under Holy City/42 months
11:3 - Clothed in sackcloth; 1,260 days

Revelation 12:6 - Woman (church) in wilderness; 1,260 days

Revelation 12:14 - Woman nourished from serpent/time, times, ½ time

Revelation 13:5 - Composite Beast to blaspheme/42 months

No pope reigned for exactly 3½ years but the papacy itself existed for 1,260 years as a persecuting power while true believers, the woman, hid in the wilderness. The Medieval Church is the woman riding the scarlet colored beast with BABYLON written on her forehead.

Babylon is a confused gate of God. Somehow during the Dark Ages, the established church confused the gospel and this was the very heart of the issue with the Protestant Reformers, who held the true gospel, while Rome stood on a confused gospel.

Today most students are aware that indulgences - repentance from sin - were sold and dissenters were persecuted by the Apostate church, but few understand the real difference between the confused Roman gospel and the true Pauline gospel of the New Testament. Why?

Noted theologian Paul Tillich said that when he came to this country from Germany in the 1930's, Reformation Theology was almost unknown at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

The history of Israel demonstrates that man - fallen, finite, and fallible man, who sees through a glass darkly will, if given time, confuse the truth of God. In the Christian era, the Roman Catholic Church has had the most time and has confused the gospel. American Protestantism has slowly but surely been following in the footsteps of Rome and is forming an image to that Apostate church. We must remember that God's true people are in these Christian churches and will be called out at the time of Revelation (Revelation 18:1-4).

Prior to Rome, the symbols given to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, and John the Revelator, represented political powers. We have seen that Rome evolved from a political power to a religious power. Therefore, we must consider that prophetic symbols coming on the scene after Rome may well be religious powers; churches, that is.

Liberals adhering to the Preteristic school of prophetic interpretation, see the anti-Christ in the past.

Conservatives hold to Futurism, which originated in Rome, saying that the anti-Christ is future.

There is another view which might have termed the Historic school. As there will be two comings of Christ so there will be two comings of the anti-Christ. The beast receives a deadly wound but the deadly wound is healed. One past and one in the future. The characteristics of the one in the past will help us identify the one in the future. The heart of the issue will be the gospel.

Those Jews who did accept Jesus at the First Advent had to give up things they had believed all their lives: things they had learned from their parents, things they learned at the Synagogue from the Rabbi, and things they had learned at the Temple from the Priests. Things they had learned in God's true church.

The Jews were looking for a Messiah who would restore the kingdom to Israel, make their enemies His footstool, rule the nations with an iron rod, and bring peace to His people.

What kind of Messiah did God give them? A Suffering Servant who was led as a lamb to the slaughter, who took the blame for every offense against God and man. One who was meek and lowly of heart.

We may be sure that those believers called out of Babylon, a confused gate of God, will have to give up things - Babylonian things - that they have believed all their lives. Yet the differences between the true and the false are difficult to discern. Will we be willing to give up things we have believed all our lives? The Spirit of God must enlighten us.

For information on the issue of the gospel during the Protestant Reformation, please request a five-part series, "Man and His Inclination to Evil". These articles tell much more.

In Acts 10:35, the Apostle Peter tells us that there are true believers in every nation. The Angels (Messengers) of Revelation 14:6-10 present the everlasting gospel to every nation. It goes forth as the locust army in Joel. The true gospel exposes the confused gospel of the Apostate Christian religion and Babylon is proclaimed to have fallen, fallen. The angel (messenger) of Revelation 18:1-4 again proclaims twice: Babylon is fallen, is fallen. God's true believers are called out of the false religious system with its confused Roman gospel.

In summation, we see that Israel, the church in the wilderness (Acts 7:38), had its origin when Abraham was called out of Babylon. At the end of world history, God's true people will be called out of Babylon (Revelation 18:1-4).

Babylon is a confused gate of God. Sin has confused man and, given time, man will confuse the truth of God. The religion of Babylon is to bow to the image of man. It was sixty cubits high, six cubits wide - sixty-six.

God's true church on earth, Israel, was held captive by Babylon. Babylon fell when the Euphrates River was dried up. The imagery of Revelation 16:12 depicts the fall of Babylon. Babylon's fall is plainly announced in Revelation 14:8 and 18:1-2.

It is the fall of Babylon - exposure of the confused gospel - that enables God's true people to come out of Babylon (Revelation 18:4) and to their true home, the new Jerusalem.

The woman of Revelation 12 is identified as the true church, which must hide in the wilderness for 1,260 years.

The woman of Revelation 17 with MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, written on her forehead, is shown to be the Medieval Church headquartered at Rome for the 1,260 years. She is said to be drunk with the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus. A fitting description for the Roman Catholic Church during the Dark Ages. She is a different church today but still advocates the confused gospel that infiltrated Christianity in these very Dark Ages. American Protestantism is forming an image to the Roman Church by preaching, teaching, and practicing the confused gospel.

It will be difficult to believe that the gospel with which we grew up here in American Protestantism is not, repeat, IS NOT the everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6), which goes to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. That which causes the fall of Babylon. But it is God's message and it will be proclaimed with a loud voice before the return of Christ.

The last words of Jesus to His people were, "Surely I come quickly". Even so, come Lord Jesus!

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