In the
last Book of the Bible, John the Apostle writes about a
Great Religious System present during the Tribulation
Period which is described as a great counterfeit, known
as BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION" that can be traced all
the way back to the early days of the' Old Testament!
Revelation
17:5,
“And
upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON
THE GREAT,THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH.”
John
wonders in amazement as to how this great counterfeit
religious system has been present since the beginning of
time. He calls it a "harlot"!
To identify the ‘Mystery Religion' we must go
all the way back to the Book of Genesis 10 & 11
where we learn about Noah's great Grandson, Nimrod, who
lived some 200 or 300 years after the flood.
Genesis
10:8,
“And
Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the
earth. 9 He
was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is
said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
10 And the
beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad,
and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11
Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded
Nineveh…..”
Historians
tell us that Nimrod developed a following behind him for
his ability to protect the people from wild animals that
roamed the earth in that day. Genesis 10:9 speaks of his
reputation as a mighty hunter. Nimrod also contrived the
idea of gathering the people into walled cities to
protect them from
the wild animals. Leaders of Freemasonry claim that this
Nimrod was the founder of what
is known today as the lodge of
Freemasonry.
Albert
Mackey in his HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY, states on page
601,
“The
Legend of the CRAFT in the Old Constitutions refers to
NIMROD as one of the founders of Masonry..”
As
a great deliver and protector of the people, this Nimrod
became the first world dictator, and he built two of the
greatest cities and empires the world has ever known,
Babylon and Nineveh! (Gen.10:8-11)
Sadly,
how often power helps corrupt a man ... Nimrod also
began to lead people away from his grandfather, Noah's
God. (Josephus, Antiquities 1:4:2) He built a system of
study of the stars, astrology, occultism and devil
worship. The Tower of Babel was built for this purpose
and in defiance to God to escape and survive another
flood if God should send one.
It is
because of this we read in Genesis 11:4-9 that God
scattered the people to form the various nations and
confounded their language. AS we will see, when the
people scattered, they took aspects of this Babylon
Mystery Religion with them, and this is why we aspects
of a Mother/Child worship all over the world, even in
countries where missionaries of any type had ever been!
Before
this occurred, let's get some more details about this
Babylonian Religion Nimrod and his wife founded. Secular
history and tradition tell us that Nimrod married a
beautiful, blond-haired woman who was as evil and
demonic as himself! Her name was Semiramis. She and
Nimrod contrived a system where by she, Nimrod, and her
son would
be objects of worship!
Knowing God's promise of a future Savior
(Gen.3:15), she claimed that Tammuz, her son, fulfilled
this prophecy...
Having
developed the city of Babylon into one of the seven
wonders of the ancient world, she was the real
mastermind behind the Babylon 'Mystery Religion' ...This
is all spelled out in detail in a well-documented book
entitled 'THE TWO BABYLONS by Alexander Hislop.
It can be purchased from CHICK PUBLICATIONS at
www.chick.com. or (909) 987-0771.
It documents how she, Semiramis,
developed a system of a celibate Priesthood which
was answerable to her and the High Priest, Nimrod, who
was known by the title of 'Pontiff' or Pontifex Maximus
... meaning 'bridge-maker'.
This High Priest Nimrod was supposedly the
‘BRIDGE’ between this life and the life to come
….He was also known as the 'fish god' ....DAGON... and
this is why a fish-mitre hat was worn by the High
Priest. We still see these fish-mitre hats worn by
priests today! It
was in the shape of a fish open mouth.
Semiramis knew an unmarried celibate priesthood
would be more devoted
to the religion and to her and her husband.
Hislop tells us the regular priests wore black robes,
which was the color of Satanism & the occult...(Fausset's
Bible Ency.p291). Hislop also documents that Nimrod had
a council of 12 priests to assist him in the temporal
and Political affairs of running the empire, and they
were called "CARDINALS' and they were dressed in
Scarlet & Red
robes (Hislop,p210).
Another
distinguishing mark of the priests of Nimrod, later
known in the Old Testament as Priests of Baal….. was
the Clerical tonsure, and initiation rite in which the
priest of Nimrod has the top of his head sheared bald,
while the edges of the hair allowed to remain as a
ring...in honor to Nimrod who was also worshipped as the
SUN-GOD! (Hislop,p222)
For this reason God forbade it in Leviticus…
Leviticus
19:27,
“Ye
shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt
thou mar the corners of thy beard.”
Leviticus
21:5,
“They
shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall
they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any
cuttings in their flesh.”
(Flagellation?)
Besides
a celibate priesthood, Semiramis developed a system of
female devotees known as vestal virgins, later to be
known by the Chaldean word, NUN, which means
"Daughters of Nimrod" (Hislop,223)
Their
'duty' in service to their 'god' Nimrod in this
Babylonian priesthood was to'sexually' serve the
unmarried priests and monks since these men were not
allowed to marry and have wives …...This was seen as a
form of worship to their god. This kept the priests
satisfied and happy in the priesthood, not to mention
keeping them from turning homosexual.
History attests to the horror of countless
abortions which arose from this immoral system as
countless bodies of babies have been found near convents
and monasteries thru history. ( See picture and details
in Babylon Mystery Religion by Ralph Woodrow, page
116,117) Many
such gravesites for the aborted babies of these
Nun/priest relationships were found in the underground
tunnels between Convents and Monasteries in Spain and in
Rome. By
the 1936, the citizens of Spain were so outraged of this
debauchery; they attacked and burnt many of the church
buildings to the ground! (See Woodrow, above).
Nevertheless, forbidding to marry resulted in
much HOMOSEXUALITY among priests and the public allowed
this immorality to continue to keep the priests away
from their wives and daughters, according to Woodrow.
To this day, history attests that the priesthood
has proven a drawing net to homosexuals.
Semiramis
claimed her 'Mystery Religion' possessed the highest
wisdom and revealed 'Divine secrets' and that members of
the Babylonian Religion would be the only ones to
receive 'salvation' to heaven after completing a series
of 'religious works' beginning with 'Baptism' by the
Babylonian Priest and ending with 'prayers for the
dead’ Hislop
says these became known as ‘Sacraments’. Semiramis
taught that devotees did not immediately enter 'heaven'
at death, but went to an intermediate place known as
PURGATORY (Hislop, p169).. This held the family to
remain 'faithful' to ' the Babylonian Priesthood to
assure their loved one could 'move on' to heaven!
Property and money could be donated to the
Babylonian Priesthood and this would 'help' get the one
out of purgatory sooner...This later became known as
‘Indulgences', according to Hislop.
The
Priests also had control over the devotees because
Semiramis compelled the people to confess to a
Babylonian Priest at least once a year and to do penance
according to the degree of the sins committed. Sins were
categorized by their seriousness as either 'mortal' or
'venial' sins. Of course, none of this was in the Bible.
The original purpose of the confessional was to keep
tabs on any rebellion or uprising in the empire! This
was effective because people were compelled to confess
every sin...moral, ethical, ... whatever, to the
priest--omission of any sin could forfeit salvation! The
problem of a celibate....unmarried priesthood of males
... hearing the intimate private sexual confessions of
married and single women ... eventually would lead to
trouble as one would expect ... and it did.
A former Priest, Father Chiniquy, tells in his
book THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, & CONFESSIONAL
that if married men and fathers knew the intimate
questions that were asked of the wives and their
daughters in the confessional booths, they would run the
priests and their confessional booths out of town!!
This book is also available from Chick
Publications at the address above at www.chick.com.
Later
on when the Babylonian Religion moved to Egypt, these
priests imprinted the initials of Nimrod, Semiramis, and
the son Tammuz on the wafer-cakes which were eaten, in a
MASS CEREMONY', as the priest placed the wafer on the
tongue of the person ...
In the
Egyptian language ,Nimrod, Semiramis, and tammuz were
known as Seb, Isis, and Horus... thus IHS were imprinted
on the wafer cakes ... Many Christian churches still
have this religious symbol of IHS on their church
furniture and have no idea what it stands for!
Devotees
of this Babylon Mystery Religion would make the mark of
a ‘T' with their hand across their chest in honor of 'Tammuz'
...later called genuflecting. We see this 'Tammuz' being
worshipped in the Old Testament times in Ezekiel
8:13,14!
"He
said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt
see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then
he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S
house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat
women weeping for Tammuz."
H.L.
Willmington tells how this 'Babylon' Religion spread
thru out the world and in the Old Testament became known
as 'Baal' worship...(The King is Coming, p76)
Starting
to fit together?
What
was the teaching of Semiramis' Satanic Church?
That
Semiramis herself was the way to God. She actually
adopted the title "Queen of Heaven."
We read
about the worship of Semiramis in this Baal Worship in
Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:25,
"The
children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire,
and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto
other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
(Notice
this provokes God to anger!)
44:25
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your
mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will
surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn
incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink
offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows,
and surely perform your vows.
Adherents
believed that she alone could administer salvation to
the sinner through various sacraments, such as the
sprinkling of holy water.
They
believed that her son Tammuz was tragically slain by a
wild bear during a hunting trip, but was, however,
resurrected from the dead forty days later. Thus, each
year afterward the temple virgins of this cult would
enter a forty-day fast as a memorial to Tammuz' death
and resurrection. This
was later called 'LENT'...(according to Hislop, THE TWO
BABYLONS)
Based
upon the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 of a coming Messiah,
She claimed now she was CO-MEDIATRIX with her son.
LENT…..
which is observed for forty days, ending with Easter, is
derived from the Babylonian system of mysteries.
Perhaps
you wondered why you never found the word mentioned in
the Bible?
After
the forty-day fast, a joyful feast called Ishtar
(another name for Semiramis) took place. At this feast
colored eggs were exchanged and eaten as a symbol of the
resurrection. An evergreen tree was displayed and a yule
log was burned. Finally hot cakes marked with the letter
T (to remind everybody of Tammuz) were baked and eaten.
This
pagan festival of 'Ishtar' was celebrated hundreds of
years before Christ, and it is even mentioned in Acts
12:3,4! The
name has slightly changed to 'Easter'... One can see the
resemblance - "Ishtar - Easter"...
Acts
12:3,4 "And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he
proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the
days of unleavened bread.)
4 And
when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and
delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep
him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the
people.
The
prophet Ezekiel was called by the Lord to go to the
temple and see this cultic practice in process. Ezekiel
watched the women of Israel observing the forty days of
Lent for the slaying of the pagan, Tammuz. The Lord
called this an abomination (Ezekiel 8:13-14).
“He
said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt
see greater abominations that they do. 14
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the
LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold,
there sat women weeping for Tammuz.”
Here we
see women weeping for Tammuz, whom Semiramis claimed was
the 'resurrected' Nimrod!
God
calls it an abomination!
Thus
began the mother-child Cult which later spread all over
the world.
From
the dispersion at Babel in Genesis 11, we see the
Babylon Mystery Religion spread worldwide!
Missionaries have been shocked to find 'Mother
and Child' worship in pagan countries where the Gospel
has never been taken!
It is the Babylon Mystery Religion!
From
Babylon it spread to Phoenicia under the name of
Ashteroth and Tammuz.
From
Phoenicia, it traveled to Pergamos in Asia Minor. This
is the reason for John's admonition to the church at
Pergamos in the book of Revelation: "I know thy
works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat
is . . ." (Rev. 2:13).
In
Egypt the mother-child cult was known as Isis and Horus.
In
Greece it became Aphrodite and Eros.
In Rome
this pair was worshiped as Venus and cupid.
Clarence
Larkin, in his classic, DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH, on page
140, traces this Babylon Mystery Religion down through
history until it enters Rome:
"The
city of Babylon continued to be the seat of Satan until
the fall of the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires,
when he shifted his Capital to Pergamos in Asia Minor,
where it was in John's day. (Rev.2:12,13 see verse
quoted above)
When
Attalus, the Pontiff and King of Pergamos, died in B. C.
133, he bequeathed the Headship of the "Babylonian
Priesthood" to Rome. When the Etruscans came to
Italy from Lydia (the region of Pergamos), they brought
with them the Babylonian religion and rites. They set up
a Pontiff who was head of the Priesthood. Later the
Romans accepted this Pontiff as their civil ruler.
Julius Caesar was made Pontiff of the Etruscan Order in
B. C. 74. In B. C. 63 he was made "Supreme
Pontiff" of the "Babylonian Order," thus
becoming heir to the rights and titles of Attalus,
Pontiff of Pergamos, who had made Rome his heir by will.
Thus, Julius Caesar, the first Roman Emperor became the
Head of the "Babylonian Priesthood," and Rome
became the successor to Babylon. The Emperors of Rome
continued to exercise the office of "Supreme
Pontiff" until A. D. 376, when the Emperor Gratian,
for Christian reasons, refused it. The Bishop of the
Church at Rome, Damasus, was elected to the position. He
had been Bishop 12 years, having been made. Bishop in A.
D. 366, through the influence of the monks of Mt.
Carmel, a college of Babylonian religion originally
founded by the priests of Jezebel. So in A. D. 378 the
Head of the "Babylonian Order" became the
Ruler of the "Roman Church." Thus Satan united
Rome and Babylon in One Religious System."
Soon
after Damasus was made "Supreme Pontiff" the
"rites" of Babylon began to come to the front.
The worship of the Virgin Mary was set up in A. D. 381.
(All the outstanding festivals of the Roman Catholic
Church are of Babylonian origin.) Easter is not a
Christian name. It means "Ishtar," one of the
titles of the Babylonian Queen of Heaven, whose worship
by the Children of Israel was such an abomination in the
sight of God. The decree for the observance of Easter
and Lent was given in A. D. 519.
The
"Rosary" is of Pagan' origin. There is no
warrant in the Word of God for the use of the "Sign
of the Cross.") It had its origin in the mystic
"Tau" of the Chaldeans and Egyptians.) It came
from the letter "T," the initial name of
"Tammuz," and was used in the "Babylonian
Mysteries" for the same magic purposes as the
Romish Church now employs it. Celibacy, the Tonsure, and
the Order of Monks and Nuns, have no warrant or
authority from Scripture. The Nuns are nothing more than
an imitation of the "Vestal Virgins" of Pagan
Rome."
(The
Above taken from Clarence Larkin's DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH,
page 140 ff)
David
Jeremiah, Popular Radio preacher On his TURNING POINT
radio program, gives a similar survey in his Book,
ESCAPE THE COMING NIGHT, pages 168-175.
Does
this now help to understand what the Apostle
John in the Book of Revelation was meaning when
he referred to 'Babylon Mystery Religion'?
It even
astounded John to see this great Mystery Religion still
present at the end of the Ages, having been present as
an enemy to the Gospel of Jesus Christ all of these
years!
