One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.’ 3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the Great the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth. Revelation 17:1-5
The Basic Bible Truth
We see the city nation of Babylon throughout the pages of the Bible. The first mention of her is early in Genesis, and the final judgment poured out upon her is recorded late in the book of Revelation. It is evident, as one reads the Bible cover to cover, that God holds her responsible for the initial introduction of many forms of idolatry and religious heresies. Secular archeological and historical studies bear this thought out in detail. Satan was at work in this nation, and we still see some of the influence of it today.
The Object
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The Lesson
As a culture, we have celebrations that date back centuries. These holidays have evolved over time to include traditions that seem innocent and benign, and probably are for the most part. But the initial introduction of certain practices we generally associate with our festivities is rooted in something quite dark—Babylon. Satan was in control of Babylon at its inception and throughout history he kept his hand in her practices. It is no coincidence that this city showed the world its opulence, and its religion. And those enamored with both, carried their message far and wide. Following is a list of only some of the holiday traditions that have their origin in ancient Babylon.
Genesis includes the story of a great leader in the early world known as Nimrod. Archeology gives us the name of his wife and a few details about their lives. This early Babylon, called Babel in Genesis, was an attempt at world domination and influence. They were a very powerful couple ruling the world until a hunting accident that took Nimrod’s life. He was killed by a wild boar, and Semaramis, his now widowed wife, did not want to lose her position of authority. She had grown accustomed to being royalty. So she developed a plan that included convincing the world that she was not just royalty, but divine as well. She was a god and her husband had also been a god and had simply gone back to where he had originally come from. As part of a brilliant campaign to remind her subjects of her claims of divinity, she developed a logo of sorts and published it throughout her kingdom. The very first time we see what we know today as the common Valentine shaped heart, was in early Babylon. It was a symbol in their culture to remind them of Semaramis’ claim to be a god. A call to worship, as it were.
Semaramis also included the eating of pork into her festivities. It was a reminder to the people of Nimrod’s tragic end when he was killed by the wild boar. Today, many of us eat a traditional meal of ham on Easter. The idea of an egg as a religious symbol, the rabbit as a fertility symbol, all were introduced by Babylon.
As time went along, this female world leader became quite promiscuous, and one of her indiscretions led to a pregnancy. She convinced her followers that she had been miraculously impregnated by her departed husband and that the newborn child would also be god. His name was Tammuz. They celebrated his birthday on what we now know as December 25th. In ancient Babylonian language, “yule” means “child”. The tree became a symbol for the divine son Tammuz.
The Babylonian religious machine was a very powerful, heavily structured system that taught baptismal regeneration, salvation by works, the existence of a purgatory like place and prayers for the dead, idol worship, and much more. The Babylonian word for priest was “Khana”. They worshipped the Ba’al of the Old Testament with child sacrifice. In their culture, a priest was to obtain his food by taking part of the sacrifice as his own. It’s not difficult to see where we get our word cannibal.
The subtle traces of Babylon exist still today. Dividing the day into 24 hours was their idea. Separating an hour into 60 equal portions was also their genius. They also developed the signs of the zodiac and explained astrology in detail. God holds her and her religious system accountable for introducing many heresies into the world. And Old Testament and New declare that she will one day be punished for her atrocities.