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Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Revelation
Preparing to study the Book of Revelation
There are seven (7) things to remember about scripture:
1. The full authority of scripture
2. The Deity and Centrality of Jesus Christ
3. The Victory of the Cross
4. The Kingdom of God will come and time and conditions as we know it will end. God destroyed and recreated the earth once before, He will do it agaibn.
5. God commands we live Holy lives
6. We must anticipate the entire world being reached by Christ. (Scripture specificies how He does it and it's not the way we think ..
7. We must anticipate a falling away from the spiritual by many who claim to believe. The grey area of Christianity will disappear. (See Post on the Judas Vine)
There are certain truths to be realized from scripture and specifically the book of Revelation.
1. The church today needs to remove itself from denominationalism and move back toward a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Church nees to rediscover apostolic Christianity.
2. Scripture is not fallible - only those who read it casually and do not study every word and phrase.
3. To properly understand scripture, sentences or phrases must be placed in context and agree with all other scripture.
Over the centuries some of the most prominent theologians have avoided preaching and teaching Revelation. This is because they did not understand the true theme of the book and that the time was not yet come as ordained by God that we may understand it.
2nd Timothy 3:16 All scripture is profitable
Rev 1:3 - A two fold blessing is promised for the person who reads this book and lives by it.
This promise applies to all scipture, however, God ordained that this promise is registered in Revelation.
The entire bible is summed up in the book of Revelation, therefore, all scripture contains blessings.
The book of Revelation is complete truth summed up, however, many do not study it.
John wrote the book so that those in his day, being the Christian community would understand it in light of Old Testament Scripture and not one else. In other words it is written in code deceipered only by other scripture.
John identifies himself as the arthor of the book four times in Revelation and claims divine inspiration for the information: Rev 1:1, 1:4, 1:9 & 22:8......Rev 22:6
A lot of information used to verify events in the bible come from historical works that for one reason or antoher were excluded from scripture but nevertheless have remained as historical documents throughout history as historical resources.
This comes into play when giving consideration to the dating of the writin of Revelation by John. John was exiled to the lonely island of Patmos by the Roman ruler Domitian as punishment for writing that the Roman empire would quickly be rooted out. When domitian's reign ended John left Patmos and returned to Ephesus and lived out his life there. The book was probably written between AD 68 - 70.
The book of Revelation is full of figurative language and symbols because John is describing heavenly realities to earthly people, therefore, he must use physical comparrisons to describe spiritual truth. he ofter uses "as" or "like" to show these comparrisons. John works from the known to the unknown describing what he has seen by comparing it with what his readers things that are familiar to the reader. By using figurative language he was able to avoid censureship by the Roman government. john never mentions Rome by name, but everyone could imagine the identity of "the beast"
Remeber, John saw things we readily recognize today, but were unknown to him at that time. John would not have recognized tanks, helicopteres, missiles or even television.
There are seven (7) things to remember about scripture:
1. The full authority of scripture
2. The Deity and Centrality of Jesus Christ
3. The Victory of the Cross
4. The Kingdom of God will come and time and conditions as we know it will end. God destroyed and recreated the earth once before, He will do it agaibn.
5. God commands we live Holy lives
6. We must anticipate the entire world being reached by Christ. (Scripture specificies how He does it and it's not the way we think ..
7. We must anticipate a falling away from the spiritual by many who claim to believe. The grey area of Christianity will disappear. (See Post on the Judas Vine)
There are certain truths to be realized from scripture and specifically the book of Revelation.
1. The church today needs to remove itself from denominationalism and move back toward a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Church nees to rediscover apostolic Christianity.
2. Scripture is not fallible - only those who read it casually and do not study every word and phrase.
3. To properly understand scripture, sentences or phrases must be placed in context and agree with all other scripture.
Over the centuries some of the most prominent theologians have avoided preaching and teaching Revelation. This is because they did not understand the true theme of the book and that the time was not yet come as ordained by God that we may understand it.
2nd Timothy 3:16 All scripture is profitable
Rev 1:3 - A two fold blessing is promised for the person who reads this book and lives by it.
This promise applies to all scipture, however, God ordained that this promise is registered in Revelation.
The entire bible is summed up in the book of Revelation, therefore, all scripture contains blessings.
The book of Revelation is complete truth summed up, however, many do not study it.
John wrote the book so that those in his day, being the Christian community would understand it in light of Old Testament Scripture and not one else. In other words it is written in code deceipered only by other scripture.
John identifies himself as the arthor of the book four times in Revelation and claims divine inspiration for the information: Rev 1:1, 1:4, 1:9 & 22:8......Rev 22:6
A lot of information used to verify events in the bible come from historical works that for one reason or antoher were excluded from scripture but nevertheless have remained as historical documents throughout history as historical resources.
This comes into play when giving consideration to the dating of the writin of Revelation by John. John was exiled to the lonely island of Patmos by the Roman ruler Domitian as punishment for writing that the Roman empire would quickly be rooted out. When domitian's reign ended John left Patmos and returned to Ephesus and lived out his life there. The book was probably written between AD 68 - 70.
The book of Revelation is full of figurative language and symbols because John is describing heavenly realities to earthly people, therefore, he must use physical comparrisons to describe spiritual truth. he ofter uses "as" or "like" to show these comparrisons. John works from the known to the unknown describing what he has seen by comparing it with what his readers things that are familiar to the reader. By using figurative language he was able to avoid censureship by the Roman government. john never mentions Rome by name, but everyone could imagine the identity of "the beast"
Remeber, John saw things we readily recognize today, but were unknown to him at that time. John would not have recognized tanks, helicopteres, missiles or even television.
CHRIST AND HIS CHURCHES
Do you ever think about the day in which Jesus lived? Do you ever wonder what Jesus looked like?
I really don't think what he looked like is important, but it is important that I see him spiritually. The Bible does give us a picture of Jesus.
Revelation 5:10-15 In the book of Revelation we are going to "see" Jesus spiritually, with our spiritual eyes.
During His time on earth according to scripture Jesus was a servant. He came to minister to the world and to seek and save that which is lost. In Revelation we will see the glorified, risen body of Jesus Christ. We will see Him as Almighty god with eyes as a flame of fire that pierce and burn. This Jesus is the lamb of God, but is seen in Revelation as the judge before whom all humanity will stand and be judged. In Revelation chapter one He is seen as the Lamb of the tribe of Judah and His eyes are as a flame of fire. The picture in Revelation is a picture which John saw while he was a prisoner on the island of Patmos, in exlile.
John was undere duress when he wrote it as were most of the writers of the books of the bible. God has an excellent opportunity to speak to us when we are in distress. Throughout history it is in times of duress when people have experienced God the most and when they have been used more by Him.
Moses wrote the Pentetuke, the first five books of the bible, in the wilderness.
David wrote many of the Psalms while running away from Saul.
Isiah lived in difficult days and died as a martyr
Ezekiel wrote in exile.
Jeremiah's life was a life of trial and persecution.
Peter wrote his two letters just before he was killed.
When Paul was in Antioch he tried to prepare the Christians for a life of duress.
Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must go through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
It is through tribulation that people come into the Kingdom of God
Paul suffered much and gave his life for his belief in Jesus and the carrying of the gospel to the world.
Tribulation is the common heritage of the people of God. John did not escape persecution for it was his vibrant testamony for Christ that caused the Roman ruler to put him in exile on Patmos. There he was isolated from family and friends and interaction with any other human beings. In this setting John was given the most extensive revelation of Jesus Christ and the future events which will take place in establishing His kingdom. John was shut out from the world and shut up to God.
Patmos is a small island in the Agean Sea ten miles long and six miles wide. It is located ten miles southeast of Ephesus. Revelation 1:9 says John was there "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ" meaning he was there because of his stand for Jesus.
Exile was always preceded by scouraging and fettering. It was a time of trial and persecution. John was the patriarch and leader of the Church of Christ in Asia. he was a powerful preacher of the world of God and lived in Ephesus.
2nd Timothy 3:12 says all that live for Christ will suffer persecution. Satan's job is to stop the word of God from advancing. He does this by infiltrating the church with people who have spirits that are working for him. They work to disrupt, discredit and destroy the Pastor and the true Saints of God. He comes against the staff, teachers, deacons and any others in authority. He blinds the laity. If you are under persecution rejoice. If you are not examine the spirits that are guiding you, repent, and pray for deliverance.
John touted himself as the disciple Jesus loved. This was not pride, it was an explanation that he understood why he was persecuted. It is only through Jesus finished work on the cross that we are redeemed. There is a path to the cross but it is filled with trials and tribulations along the way.
Revelation 1:10 John says he "became in the spirit on the Lord's day". This means the normal bodily condition of limitation of time and space was momentarily set aside and he became in the spirit realm. He moved in the spirit realm in two directions, upward and forward. he moves upward to heaven to see things he could not have ordinarily seen. He moves forward into time to see the future he could never live in his body.
This is the "day of the Lord", not Sunday as many suppose. John was taken in the spirit to the day of the Lord. The greeks could not say this in the way the Hebrews say it. In the interpretation the Greeks had to say it the long way, therefore, the Lord's day is means the day of the Lord.
John was saying he became in the spirit, taken up to heaven and moved forward in time to see the universe in heavenly form and see ahead to the great day of the Lord.
John was ordered to see the vision, write it down and send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Our Lord kept reminding him to "write it down"
John sees seven golden candlesticks which are the seven churches. Lampstands are made for the night which tells us the church is the light of the world. Jesus said "I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day, for the night cometh" The day comes when no man can work, as long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.
Now that Jesus has been taken out of the world we will have darkness until he returns and it is day again. The Church is the only light in that darkness. Does our light grow dim? Jesus left the lampstands (churches) to provide light to His people until he returns.
In the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle stood. The locations of the seven chruches of that day were in a circle. John sees Jesus standing in the center of these churches. He is standing there as the Glorified, Risen, Son of Man.
Others have seen this Glorified, Risen, Son of Man;
Moses on the mountain saw him and came down the mountain with his face glowing with His radiance.
Saul saw him and fell down and claimed Him as Saviour.
Isiah saw Him, then saw himself and cried out " I am unclean"
Now John sees Him and falls at his feet as if he were dead. What John saw is for all of us because Jesus told him to write it down.
The phrase "son of Man" is found often in the Bible, several times in Ezekiel and at least once in Daniel. Seventy times it is used in the Bible to describe Jesus.
1. Notice Jesus position in the midst of his church Rev 1:2.. He wants to be in the center of His church Matt 18:20. He wants to be in the midst of His people. Is he the center of your life, your church?
2. The portrait of Christ: It is symbolic, but presented to us in human terms. I doubt if anyone could paint it.
Clothing: two parts of his clothing is described: a long flowing robe down to the feet.
Makes me think about Isaiah 6: In the year King Uziah died...the train of the Lord's robe filled the temple, a Golden Girdle wrapped around His breast.
Jesus girded himself with a towel to wash the disciples feed - but here in Revelation He is not the servant, but the risen Christ. In all His majesty.
John goes on to describe his face and his hair.
His head and his hairs were like wool, as white as snow; and is eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his stength.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
I am he that liveth, and was dead: and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Daniel 7:9 John sees Jesus standing in the midst of His churches closthed in a long white robe with a golden girdle about His waist and with hair like white wool and eyes as flames of fire.
John was the closest to Jesus while He was here. He saw Jesus eyes filled with tears, now what a sight this must have been to see Jesus eyes like fire, seeing all, knowing all. Nothing is hidden from Jesus, nothing escapes his eyes of fire. Scripture tells us the eyes are windows to the soul and through John's description of the eyes of Jesus he is ready to judge the nations of the world.
Hebrews 4:13 No one is going to fool God, His eyes pierce through our entire lives and he sees all our motives.
Psalm 11:4 His eyelids will try the children of men. his feet like unto fine brass, as if burned in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of many waters. Brass always speaks of judgement and the brass here speaks of judgement when Christ will put all His enemies and evey evil power beneath His feet. Burnished brass is like "military brass"
Isaiah 52:7 There are several contrasts here. His eyes and His feet. Now His mouth - His voice- His voice can be as soft as a bubbling brook, soothing, or the roar of a mighty body of water, the roar of the ocean.
His judgement comes in the circumstances of a wrecked world and a ruined church. His voice on judgement day will be the most awesome sound ever heard in the universe. We cannot imagine that sound.
Christ stand in the midst of His churches and He has in his right hand the Pastors of the churches. This is an encouraging word for Pastors. Preach the whole gospel brothers and do not dispair, Jesus has us in his right hand.
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Paul saw the face of Jesus on the day he was redeemed and was blinded. Jesus face is the central part of His being and represents everything He is. The bible is filled with records of the brilliance of Jesus face.
Matthew 17:2 The transfiguration
Acts 26:13 Paul is giving his testamony before his King and describes Jesus face
2 Peter 1:19 A day star arise in your heart.
Rev 22:16 And the bright and morning star.
The picture of Jesus standing in the midst of his churches is not a picture of the friendly Lord, it is the picture of the Lord mighty in judgment, protecting his church.
2 Thessolonians 2:8 and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, ans shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Every eye shall see him and they that pierced him.
When he comes all the stars will be gone along with the sun and moon. It will be dark. In this darkness caused by the tribulation events Jesus will come with a brightness.
Genesis 1:3 and God said, let there be light; and there was light.
Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights, there greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night.
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
Jesus was the light of Genesis 1:3 and he is the light of Rev 21:23
Revelation captures the expression on Jesus face: Here is the Son of Man, clothed with power and majesty,with awe and terror, that long royal robe, that golden buckle at the breast, the hair so glistening white, like snow on which the sun is shining. It is so bright it hurts the eyes. His eyes are flashing fire (judgment), eyes that read every heart and penetrate every corner of one's being, the feet glowing in order to trample down the wicked; the loud reverberating voice like the mighty breakers booming against the shore of Patmos; the sharp, long, heavy sword with two biting edges.
His appearance is too much for human eyes. It is an awesome picture of the one we will see face to face one day. This is Christ coming to purge his chruch.
John falls down in fear, but Jesus lays his hand on him and gives him three reasons not to fear.
1. I am the eternal God. I am the first and the last. There is none like me, I am first in the sense there is not other, last in the sense no other shall come after me. I am the living one, forever.
2. I am the resurrected Christ. I now live forever more.
3. Fear not, for I have the keys to hell and death. I alone hold the future in my hand. I am the righteous judge.
He is Jesus
He is the Christ
He is the faithful witness
He is the first begotten of the dead
He is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth
He is the one who loves us and washes our sin away with His own blood
He is the one who comes in the clouds
He is the one who was pierced for us on the cross
He is the Alpha and the Omeg, the beginning and the end
He is the first and the last and all that is in between
He is the Almighty El Shadi
He is the Son of Man
He is he that liveth and was dead and is alive for evermore
THIS IS THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST
HE IS LORD
John saw the awesomeness of His coming... John has written it down for us.
Friday, July 2, 2010
BIBLE STUDY
We Have Bible Study each Thursday Night at 6:30PM
Call 863 676 1187 To reserve your spot.
In depth study of the entire Bible. Some Recent Studies include:
Spiritual Warfare
Revelation
John
Hebrews
Romans
Daniel
This is a line by line study so needed by every Christian today.
We find the answers to all the hard questions.
We do not hurry through. The study of the book of Revelation typically lasts 18 Months
Call, they join us and grow your spiritual life.
Call 863 676 1187 To reserve your spot.
In depth study of the entire Bible. Some Recent Studies include:
Spiritual Warfare
Revelation
John
Hebrews
Romans
Daniel
This is a line by line study so needed by every Christian today.
We find the answers to all the hard questions.
We do not hurry through. The study of the book of Revelation typically lasts 18 Months
Call, they join us and grow your spiritual life.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Mystery Babylon
Rev. J. Frank Smith
The last few verses of Revelation 16 speak of the sound of Voices, and thunderings and lightenings coming forth. A great earthquake occurs greater that the world has ever seen before. A great city is divided into three parts. Immediately we would ask what City? The answer lies in Revelation chapters 17 –18. Is it Rome? Five times in Chapters 17 –18 Rome is called the great city.
“Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found”
The earth is shaken so violently the islands disappear beneath the water and mountain ranges are leveled. I am reminded of building mountains in a container with sand. Shake the container and the mountains are leveled. The earthquake is indeed the most violent and widespread the world has ever seen. If the mountains worldwide are leveled in this great earthquake there will be no building left standing save only those protected supernaturally by the hand of God.
Perhaps the most astounding thing of all is man himself. Scripture tells us in the middle of all this destruction there is no repentance. Instead they blaspheme God. They speak evil about the Lord, disobey him and rail against him. Out of their rebellion against God’s punishment they speak evil of the Lord. How can this be except they are apostate. It is sad to realize those who were once tolerant of, and themselves spoke of, a belief in God, to completely turn from Him in view of such total destruction by His hand.
This is a great warning to those who so loosely speak of God, but reject his son, Jesus Christ; to those who practice religion without a relationship with Jesus Christ. How fearful it is to contemplate these matters. Men refuse the gospel truth of Jesus Christ and thereby refuse a relationship with God. After the rapture their hearts are hardened because God sends a powerful delusion to believe the words of the liar Satan. Look at 2nd Thessalonians 2:7-12:
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way
Vs 8 and then shall that wicked be revealed, who the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Vs 9 even him, whose coming is after the work of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Vs 10 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Vs 11 and for this cause God shall send them a powerful delusion, that they should believe a lie.
Vs 12 That they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
We can see iniquity at work in our world today. Politicians believe they can promise the people what they are yearning to hear and then break those promises when elected. This is an accepted practice in America by politicians and voters, but it is a lie. Americans, we have become lazy and selfish, a nation of spiritual cowards allowing the government and the anti Christian people to decide our moral standards. We kill innocent babies before they are born out of selfishness. We lie and cheat to make more money. We are a nation that abuses the freedom God gave us, pushing the government to eliminate laws that check our moral decay and to adopt more laws that allow us to live in greater moral depravity. Liberal, immoral politicians are happy to give us our way. We have slipped from the standard of integrity that our founding fathers established and our leaders are no better. We are dangerously drifting into the “man is his own God” mentality that is the “Babylonian Spirit”. We, therefore, do not have to wonder how men in the tribulation are so evil they blaspheme God when he deals out corrective judgment instead of repenting and turning to him.
During this judgment that is on the other side of the rapture, God will send disobedient men a strong delusion which will harden their hearts and they will not be saved.
We come now to the judgments by which the end of the pre-messianic age is consummated. John now moves to describe the fall of Babylon, the world system and the bloody harlot. Then he gives a scene of the multitudes of heaven singing their song of hallelujah over the righteous retribution of the harlot, Babylon the Great. Then the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus himself, completes his worldwide conquest and the City of New Jerusalem descends from heaven to earth.
We have seen through the writings of John the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments and the vial or bowl judgments and the awful things that will happen. Judgment has indeed been apportioned and the enemies of God and his church are defeated. Let us not be captivated by the world system because Babylon has no future. The future is in New Jerusalem. If your name is not written down in the citizenship book of that city, you have a dim future. The only way for your name will be there in the book of that city is through your belief that Jesus is the Son of God and his sufferings and death were to cover your sins and you accepted His work of atonement. Then and only then will you have a personal relationship established with him and then and only then can he be your savior!
Back in Genesis 10 the whole world came together to build one religious system, the tower of Babel.
Genesis 10:4 “ and they said, go to, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach into the heaven: and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
The word Babylon itself is an interesting word in that it represents in scripture the false systems of religion that have grown up in our world since the tenth chapter of Genesis. Babylon is not just an ancient city, but also a system of thinking that grew out of the spirit that developed in that city. This spiritual system of thinking goes beyond the city of Babylon into religious practices since the beginning of mankind.
M.R. DeHaan, Md., Teacher of the Radio Bible Class said in his book “Revelation”
“Babylon was an ancient city, the capital of the Babylonian Empire, but in scripture, Babylon represents the program of Satan as opposed to the program of God. It began with Nimrod the rebel, of whom we read in Genesis 1, when he built the first Tower of Babel, which was destroyed by the coming of the Lord from heaven. It was a religious and political federation of all the nations of the world in opposition to God. Babylonianism has appeared in various forms, but always it has remained essentially the same. Whether Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian, or Roman form, it has sought to accomplish two objectives: a world-federation which denies the right of Christ to reign and a religious system which denies the authority of Jesus Christ.”
In our study of Revelation we have reached the end of the Tribulation period. Chapter 16 gives us a future glance of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ, but that actually takes place in Revelation 19. Between Revelation chapters 16 and 19 there are three chapters which discuss one great topic, the judgment that is the final judgment of God on the ungodly world-federation of the nations in the end time under the leadership of the last great world dictator. The beast we saw come out of the sea of people in Revelation 13, the antichrist and now the system of the antichrist is judged. Babylonianism begins way back in Genesis and comes to an end in Revelation 17-19 under the judgment of God.
Babel was an ancient kingdom that flourished for a long time before it was taken over by a stronger nation. For students of scripture the words Babel and Babylon have a much more important meaning. Babel was not only a great city, it symbolizes a political ideal and governmental system that survived the death of the city. This governmental system is still at the root of the world’s disorders. Babylonianism is the spirit of the antichrist that operates the world kingdom that opposes the Kingdom of God. It is also a religious system that challenges the Church of Jesus Christ. After the Flood, the descendants of Noah, forgetting the lesson they should have learned, turned from God and moved to a region to the North of Palestine in the area of the original Garden of Eden. Called the land of Shinar, it was in the area of the Euphrates River, one of the principal rivers of the Garden of Eden.
A ruler named Nimrod was the leader of this movement. He began building a great city called Babel that was to become one of the seven great wonders of the world. In the middle of the city he built a gigantic temple dedicated to a God named Belus, later called Baal. During the construction he also began building a tower, which we know biblically as the tower of Babel. The tower of Babel became the symbolism of Satan’s program throughout the ages that is in direct opposition to the plan of God. The city of Babel had great splendor. Two people, a man named Nimrod, and a woman named Semiramis ruled Babylon. The King Nimrod ruled politically and was the head of the Babylonian State and Queen Semiramis ruled religiously being the head of the pagan system of religion and idolatry. Politics and religion merged into one great gigantic system of worship under these two and this system spread across the world. The word Babel literally means the “gate to glory”. God, as you will remember, changed the “gate to glory” to the “gate of confusion” by changing the language of those who worked on the tower of Babel so they could not communicate thereby halting work on the tower. God did this not only to stop work on the tower but more important to stop man’s attempt to bypass God’s plan of salvation.
Semiramis the leader of the religious system gave birth to a son whom she claimed was conceived by a sunbeam. She touted him as the great deliverer of the earth. His name was Tammuz, a God whose name is referred to in Ezekiel 8:14. Tammuz was killed by a wild boar after reaching manhood, an event that sent his mother into mourning. She mourned for 40 days, weeping. According to his mother, he was raised from the dead as a result of her mourning. This perpetuated their legend and the mother-son deity established. The legend and the worship of this mother-son deity spread across the world. Semiramis was known by different names in different countries so the legend varies from region to region. In Rome this mother-son deity is known as Venus and Cupid. As the religion spread, the liturgy of worship began to be defined. Semiramis also became known as the “queen of heaven” and was worshipped by the presenting of a little wafer or cake. The period of the 40 days became known as lent memorializing the 40 days Semiramis spent mourning for her son. At the end of the period of lent a celebration of resurrection was held called the “feast of Ishtar”. Ishtar was Semiramis Asyrian name. Part of the celebration included the exchange of Ishtar eggs symbolizing new life. Our word Easter comes from the name Ishtar and our Easter Eggs are actually Ishtar Eggs. The pagan religion that resulted has remained underground for most of the time between Babel and today and is clouded in mystery. However the liturgy and customs it brought to the world continued. This false religion has shown up in Priestly Ablutions, sacramental rites, the dedication of virgins to the God, Purgatorial fires and the celebration of the “sign of the cross”. Many of these practices are still used today in various forms. You might also be interested to know the “sign of the cross” was actually the pointing out of the letter “Tau” which stood for Tammuz. The commonality of these rituals is that they came out of this Babylonian system, all a counterfeit of the truth, which is found in God and through his son Jesus Christ. This is not just ancient history. God became very upset when this false religion made its way into the Jewish nation. Jeremiah wrote about it and warned the Israelites of this false religion and God’s displeasure of it.
Jeremiah 44:15 "Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other Gods and all the women that stood by a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah saying,
Vs 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not harken unto thee.
Vs17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our Kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and say no evil
Vs 18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Israel had become heavily involved in the worship of the false religion. Read forward a few more verses and you will find Jeremiah admonishing them that their worship of the false religion was seen by God and prophesized his judgment would come. The lesson to be learned is that God has seen America’s sin; the murder of unborn children and the love of money, the worship of false Gods and He will respond. Greed is the reason for our present chaos and the faster we realize it and repent, the faster we will end our present problems. Jeremiah warned the people of this day:
Jeremiah 44:23 “ Because ye have burned incense, and because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day”
Ezekiel addressed the same issue:
Ezekiel 8:13 “He said also unto me, turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they d, vs 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 woman weeping for Tammuz. Vs15, Then said he unto me Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. Vs 16, and he brought me unto the inner court of the Lord’s house, and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the alter, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Vs17, Then he said unto me, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit to the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and lo, they put the branch to their nose. Vs18, Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.”
Ezekiel saw the women in the temple observing the 40 days of lent for the slaying of the Pagan Tammuz. The mother-son cult that was started in ancient Babylon with a system of worship that later moved into Rome when Cesar was Pontiphex Maximus was elected the great high priest. He became the high priest over this whole system of idolatry in the Roman Empire. When the office of emperor of Rome was eliminated the office of Bishop evolved into what is today, the office of Pope. Many claim the Pope is a successor of Simon Peter, but he is not. He is a successor to the High Priest of the heathen mysteries that began way back in Babylon. Constantine later rose to the throne in Rome and the first Pope assumed the title of Pontiphex Maximus and all those heathen associations and ceremonies that had their beginning with Nimrod by the worship of the “queen of heaven”, the eating of the wafer in honor of her, the doctrine of purgatory, the wearing of vestments and the observance of a 1001 lesser mysteries, were brought into the church and observed for over 1000 years all over Europe. Thus the Roman Catholic Church with all its God dishonoring doctrines and practices come into existence. The Roman Catholic Church is an amalgamation of the Christian church and the Roman Empire that took place when Constantine embraced the faith and merged the pagan religious practices with Christianity. He performed mass baptisms of government workers and the military and made Christianity the state religion. Unfortunately for Christianity all the pagan-Babylonian customs that had become a part of Roman practice were merged with the Christian faith. Today, many of these traditions still remain. If you ask most good, loyal Catholics today where these traditions come from, they have no clue. Study history and the facts will bear out their origin. In all scripture there is no such thing as the worship of a female deity. Women of God are never presented in scripture as anything but the humble servants of God; human vessels used by God for his purpose. Look at Revelation 17:5; the female deity that is worshipped is a false religion.
Revelation 17:5 “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
In the last days the religious system of man and the government of man will come together as the antichrist will marry this final form of Babylonian false cult that I believe is the spirit of religion that is in the world today. The marriage between the political system of that day and the religious system left here on this earth will complete and the final coalition world government of the antichrist. Satan will try to rule the world. What will follow prophetically is that this Babylonian system will be destroyed and the great city of Rome as well. Please understand, no present denomination is being condemned here, only the study of an evil world system that has infiltrated organized religion to the displeasure of God. This system, as said before, has infiltrated all denominations in various degrees.
Now you are prepared to understand why this is called the destruction of Babylon. It is the destruction of the Babylonian system of government and religion that we see today that has been incorporated into all denominations. The Catholic system happened to be the first. If you have any doubt about this, stay with us as we study in depth in the next few verses.
Revelation 17:1 “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked, saying unto me, come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: vs2, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Vs3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw the woman sit up on a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Vs4 and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. Vs5 and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Vs 6 and I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw I wondered with great admiration.
There are two Babylon systems, religious and political. They come out of Babylon where wicked men aspired to make a gateway to God because of their in defiance of God’s plan of salvation. Babylon was destroyed and has not been rebuilt to this date. Scripture seems to indicate it will be rebuilt, however, many believe the system of the original city was transferred to Rome. The system is still around and will be destroyed. In either case scripture says God will destroy both the city that is central to the system and the system in a great earthquake in the tribulation. It will flourish and become the Mecca the bible predicts but its doom has been pronounced. These events unfold in the chapters 18 and 19 of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 17 reveals a great whore described in the beginning as “sitting on many waters.” The Holy Spirit often depicts a woman as a symbol of a religious system, usually an evil system, with one exception being the reference to the true church symbolized as the bride of Christ. Any time she is described as a whore it is always references religious fornication. Reference is made to Isaiah 23:17; Isaiah 57:3-7; Jeremiah 3:2-9 Ezekiel 16:1-63; Ezekiel 20:30-32; Ezekiel 23:7-49; Hosea 4:12-19 and Nahum 3:4. The reference in Rev 17 is to idolatrous religious practices. The woman is not a political power because she is not classified as one of the kings of the earth. What she does is cause the kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth to be drunk with the “wine of her fornication” a term which means they indulge in the sin of her pleasure and it is addicting. Their indulgence in the sin of her pleasure brings them into the bondage of her evil. Their hearts are captured and turned to evil because of the lust of their hearts. Since fornication here refers to religious harlotry, her influence over the nations is religion. It is a religion that draws people in but denies the truth of God. It pleases because it is full of rituals and the preaching of physical pleasures. It may be well to note here that the true church of God is gone, but religion that pleases the lust of the flesh remains. The word whore in the Greek is pornea and translated as harlot. God is using this word to describe a religious system. This is a very offensive word but there is a reason it is used. The symbolism of spiritual adultery is never used of heathen nations who do not know God but always of people who carry the name of God while actually worshipping and serving other Gods. The New Testament church is portrayed in scripture as a virgin and is warned continuously of adultery.
James 4:4 “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God”
Following the rapture of the true church of God the false church or religious system will flourish and God identifies it as a whore or harlot because religion will join together with the evil political system to deceive the nations. The church will ignore God and rest on the political system. In Chapter 17 of revelation, the woman, that is the apostate religious system, is riding on the beastly political system. This counterfeit religious system will adulterate itself before God by choosing the world political system as the source of its power. The “woman” commits spiritual adultery because she unites demonic spiritual power with political power that is the heathen Babylonian system of the world. The last verse of chapter 17 clearly tells us the identity of this woman. She is the city that is the seat of the world’s system, a great city that reins over the kings of the earth. Many believe this can only be Rome, the city that ruled the world in John’s day. Chapter 17:9 reveals this city sits on seven hills. Rome was built on seven hills that are Abentene, Kallaen, Captalene, Esquileen, Polatene, Koronol and Bibinol. The color scheme is also mentioned there, purple and scarlet. The Vatican counsel that governs Rome wears purple and scarlet robes. She sits on many waters, meaning peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. Hers is a universal power. Rome is the logical place for a concentration of power. The Cesars reached out into the world from Rome. The church reached out from Rome to the rest of the world. It was from Sicily, which is near Rome, that organized crime reached out into the rest of the world.
Rome is certainly no stranger to power and political systems. The Roman system, centered in the Vatican, is a very strong political system. The one at the top of the power structure is the Pope himself. Under the Pope are the Cardinals, then the Roman Curier with its departments and commissions. The Papal diplomatic corps follows with its nuncios, internuncios and apostolic delegates. The ordinary government is beneath this structure, the extra ordinary government, the clergy made up of friars, sisters and nuns. Finally, at the bottom is the laity. How can anyone say it is only a religious system? There is no other religious system that gets a United States ambassador assigned to it because it is not only a religious system but a political system.
Revelation 17:3 gives us the position of the woman:
“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."
The woman is in partnership with the political system of the beast. They cooperate with each other in the same pursuit that is to rule the world. God is totally ignored. The seven heads and ten horns are the political system established by the beast during the tribulation period. This woman enjoys unlimited prosperity. She is literally decked out, arrayed in purple and scarlet color with gold, precious stones, pearls and a golden cup in her hand. There is a grave danger of any denomination or religion that becomes rich and powerful. The rise of material level brings a decline in spirituality and the church becomes spiritually powerless. God will not honor any system that becomes so materially rich it begins to imagine its doing well and has no need of him. Such quasi political-spiritual systems may present great liturgy, and impressive system of government and popularity among the masses. It may become a mysterious power that impresses men, but the power of God is not with them. They may be able to boast of silver and gold, but they cannot say, “take up thy bed and walk” for they have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. This woman is decked out but in her golden cup are abominations, and the filthiness of her fornication. Revelation 17:5 says her name is MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
There is a second warning to Christians here. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. When His leadership is negated the organization ceases to function as a church and becomes an apostate religious system with a governmental bureaucracy. It has a lot of function, but no power.
In summary, back in the beginning of history we find Babylon and the building of the tower of Babel. We have learned it is a system of idolatry that began in Genesis and continues to this day. This anti-god system has been centered in Rome since Cesar was elected Pontipas Maximus, a title that has been held by each Roman emperor from the time of Constantine. Constantine professed to be a Christian and the ancient pagan Babylonian mysteries were transferred completely into the Christian church. The entire system of Paganism was also incorporated into Christianity. The worship of “the queen of heaven, purgatory, the use of holy water, priestly ablusions, bells, candles, the celibacy of the priesthood, the dedication of virgins, prayers for the dead are some of the pagan practices drafted into Christianity. Men in Babel called it the “gate to God” but the Babylonian system is nothing more than a denial of God’s way to heaven; through the suffering of Jesus for sins and the atonement of his blood in sacrifice. Genesis 3:21 clearly revealed God’s way for he killed an animal, shed its blood, and used the skin to clothe the first sinners. God has made known his plan of salvation. Man must be saved through the shedding of the blood of an innocent substitute and by the death of another in payment for sins. The Babylonians denied God’s way and substituted their own works by attempting to build a tower that was to be their way to God. This is the spirit of religion formulated by Satan through the Babylonian world system that God warns us to avoid
Romans 12:2
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”
The last few verses of Revelation 16 speak of the sound of Voices, and thunderings and lightenings coming forth. A great earthquake occurs greater that the world has ever seen before. A great city is divided into three parts. Immediately we would ask what City? The answer lies in Revelation chapters 17 –18. Is it Rome? Five times in Chapters 17 –18 Rome is called the great city.
“Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found”
The earth is shaken so violently the islands disappear beneath the water and mountain ranges are leveled. I am reminded of building mountains in a container with sand. Shake the container and the mountains are leveled. The earthquake is indeed the most violent and widespread the world has ever seen. If the mountains worldwide are leveled in this great earthquake there will be no building left standing save only those protected supernaturally by the hand of God.
Perhaps the most astounding thing of all is man himself. Scripture tells us in the middle of all this destruction there is no repentance. Instead they blaspheme God. They speak evil about the Lord, disobey him and rail against him. Out of their rebellion against God’s punishment they speak evil of the Lord. How can this be except they are apostate. It is sad to realize those who were once tolerant of, and themselves spoke of, a belief in God, to completely turn from Him in view of such total destruction by His hand.
This is a great warning to those who so loosely speak of God, but reject his son, Jesus Christ; to those who practice religion without a relationship with Jesus Christ. How fearful it is to contemplate these matters. Men refuse the gospel truth of Jesus Christ and thereby refuse a relationship with God. After the rapture their hearts are hardened because God sends a powerful delusion to believe the words of the liar Satan. Look at 2nd Thessalonians 2:7-12:
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way
Vs 8 and then shall that wicked be revealed, who the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Vs 9 even him, whose coming is after the work of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Vs 10 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Vs 11 and for this cause God shall send them a powerful delusion, that they should believe a lie.
Vs 12 That they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
We can see iniquity at work in our world today. Politicians believe they can promise the people what they are yearning to hear and then break those promises when elected. This is an accepted practice in America by politicians and voters, but it is a lie. Americans, we have become lazy and selfish, a nation of spiritual cowards allowing the government and the anti Christian people to decide our moral standards. We kill innocent babies before they are born out of selfishness. We lie and cheat to make more money. We are a nation that abuses the freedom God gave us, pushing the government to eliminate laws that check our moral decay and to adopt more laws that allow us to live in greater moral depravity. Liberal, immoral politicians are happy to give us our way. We have slipped from the standard of integrity that our founding fathers established and our leaders are no better. We are dangerously drifting into the “man is his own God” mentality that is the “Babylonian Spirit”. We, therefore, do not have to wonder how men in the tribulation are so evil they blaspheme God when he deals out corrective judgment instead of repenting and turning to him.
During this judgment that is on the other side of the rapture, God will send disobedient men a strong delusion which will harden their hearts and they will not be saved.
We come now to the judgments by which the end of the pre-messianic age is consummated. John now moves to describe the fall of Babylon, the world system and the bloody harlot. Then he gives a scene of the multitudes of heaven singing their song of hallelujah over the righteous retribution of the harlot, Babylon the Great. Then the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus himself, completes his worldwide conquest and the City of New Jerusalem descends from heaven to earth.
We have seen through the writings of John the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments and the vial or bowl judgments and the awful things that will happen. Judgment has indeed been apportioned and the enemies of God and his church are defeated. Let us not be captivated by the world system because Babylon has no future. The future is in New Jerusalem. If your name is not written down in the citizenship book of that city, you have a dim future. The only way for your name will be there in the book of that city is through your belief that Jesus is the Son of God and his sufferings and death were to cover your sins and you accepted His work of atonement. Then and only then will you have a personal relationship established with him and then and only then can he be your savior!
Back in Genesis 10 the whole world came together to build one religious system, the tower of Babel.
Genesis 10:4 “ and they said, go to, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach into the heaven: and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
The word Babylon itself is an interesting word in that it represents in scripture the false systems of religion that have grown up in our world since the tenth chapter of Genesis. Babylon is not just an ancient city, but also a system of thinking that grew out of the spirit that developed in that city. This spiritual system of thinking goes beyond the city of Babylon into religious practices since the beginning of mankind.
M.R. DeHaan, Md., Teacher of the Radio Bible Class said in his book “Revelation”
“Babylon was an ancient city, the capital of the Babylonian Empire, but in scripture, Babylon represents the program of Satan as opposed to the program of God. It began with Nimrod the rebel, of whom we read in Genesis 1, when he built the first Tower of Babel, which was destroyed by the coming of the Lord from heaven. It was a religious and political federation of all the nations of the world in opposition to God. Babylonianism has appeared in various forms, but always it has remained essentially the same. Whether Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian, or Roman form, it has sought to accomplish two objectives: a world-federation which denies the right of Christ to reign and a religious system which denies the authority of Jesus Christ.”
In our study of Revelation we have reached the end of the Tribulation period. Chapter 16 gives us a future glance of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ, but that actually takes place in Revelation 19. Between Revelation chapters 16 and 19 there are three chapters which discuss one great topic, the judgment that is the final judgment of God on the ungodly world-federation of the nations in the end time under the leadership of the last great world dictator. The beast we saw come out of the sea of people in Revelation 13, the antichrist and now the system of the antichrist is judged. Babylonianism begins way back in Genesis and comes to an end in Revelation 17-19 under the judgment of God.
Babel was an ancient kingdom that flourished for a long time before it was taken over by a stronger nation. For students of scripture the words Babel and Babylon have a much more important meaning. Babel was not only a great city, it symbolizes a political ideal and governmental system that survived the death of the city. This governmental system is still at the root of the world’s disorders. Babylonianism is the spirit of the antichrist that operates the world kingdom that opposes the Kingdom of God. It is also a religious system that challenges the Church of Jesus Christ. After the Flood, the descendants of Noah, forgetting the lesson they should have learned, turned from God and moved to a region to the North of Palestine in the area of the original Garden of Eden. Called the land of Shinar, it was in the area of the Euphrates River, one of the principal rivers of the Garden of Eden.
A ruler named Nimrod was the leader of this movement. He began building a great city called Babel that was to become one of the seven great wonders of the world. In the middle of the city he built a gigantic temple dedicated to a God named Belus, later called Baal. During the construction he also began building a tower, which we know biblically as the tower of Babel. The tower of Babel became the symbolism of Satan’s program throughout the ages that is in direct opposition to the plan of God. The city of Babel had great splendor. Two people, a man named Nimrod, and a woman named Semiramis ruled Babylon. The King Nimrod ruled politically and was the head of the Babylonian State and Queen Semiramis ruled religiously being the head of the pagan system of religion and idolatry. Politics and religion merged into one great gigantic system of worship under these two and this system spread across the world. The word Babel literally means the “gate to glory”. God, as you will remember, changed the “gate to glory” to the “gate of confusion” by changing the language of those who worked on the tower of Babel so they could not communicate thereby halting work on the tower. God did this not only to stop work on the tower but more important to stop man’s attempt to bypass God’s plan of salvation.
Semiramis the leader of the religious system gave birth to a son whom she claimed was conceived by a sunbeam. She touted him as the great deliverer of the earth. His name was Tammuz, a God whose name is referred to in Ezekiel 8:14. Tammuz was killed by a wild boar after reaching manhood, an event that sent his mother into mourning. She mourned for 40 days, weeping. According to his mother, he was raised from the dead as a result of her mourning. This perpetuated their legend and the mother-son deity established. The legend and the worship of this mother-son deity spread across the world. Semiramis was known by different names in different countries so the legend varies from region to region. In Rome this mother-son deity is known as Venus and Cupid. As the religion spread, the liturgy of worship began to be defined. Semiramis also became known as the “queen of heaven” and was worshipped by the presenting of a little wafer or cake. The period of the 40 days became known as lent memorializing the 40 days Semiramis spent mourning for her son. At the end of the period of lent a celebration of resurrection was held called the “feast of Ishtar”. Ishtar was Semiramis Asyrian name. Part of the celebration included the exchange of Ishtar eggs symbolizing new life. Our word Easter comes from the name Ishtar and our Easter Eggs are actually Ishtar Eggs. The pagan religion that resulted has remained underground for most of the time between Babel and today and is clouded in mystery. However the liturgy and customs it brought to the world continued. This false religion has shown up in Priestly Ablutions, sacramental rites, the dedication of virgins to the God, Purgatorial fires and the celebration of the “sign of the cross”. Many of these practices are still used today in various forms. You might also be interested to know the “sign of the cross” was actually the pointing out of the letter “Tau” which stood for Tammuz. The commonality of these rituals is that they came out of this Babylonian system, all a counterfeit of the truth, which is found in God and through his son Jesus Christ. This is not just ancient history. God became very upset when this false religion made its way into the Jewish nation. Jeremiah wrote about it and warned the Israelites of this false religion and God’s displeasure of it.
Jeremiah 44:15 "Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other Gods and all the women that stood by a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah saying,
Vs 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not harken unto thee.
Vs17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our Kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and say no evil
Vs 18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Israel had become heavily involved in the worship of the false religion. Read forward a few more verses and you will find Jeremiah admonishing them that their worship of the false religion was seen by God and prophesized his judgment would come. The lesson to be learned is that God has seen America’s sin; the murder of unborn children and the love of money, the worship of false Gods and He will respond. Greed is the reason for our present chaos and the faster we realize it and repent, the faster we will end our present problems. Jeremiah warned the people of this day:
Jeremiah 44:23 “ Because ye have burned incense, and because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day”
Ezekiel addressed the same issue:
Ezekiel 8:13 “He said also unto me, turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they d, vs 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 woman weeping for Tammuz. Vs15, Then said he unto me Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. Vs 16, and he brought me unto the inner court of the Lord’s house, and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the alter, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Vs17, Then he said unto me, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit to the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and lo, they put the branch to their nose. Vs18, Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.”
Ezekiel saw the women in the temple observing the 40 days of lent for the slaying of the Pagan Tammuz. The mother-son cult that was started in ancient Babylon with a system of worship that later moved into Rome when Cesar was Pontiphex Maximus was elected the great high priest. He became the high priest over this whole system of idolatry in the Roman Empire. When the office of emperor of Rome was eliminated the office of Bishop evolved into what is today, the office of Pope. Many claim the Pope is a successor of Simon Peter, but he is not. He is a successor to the High Priest of the heathen mysteries that began way back in Babylon. Constantine later rose to the throne in Rome and the first Pope assumed the title of Pontiphex Maximus and all those heathen associations and ceremonies that had their beginning with Nimrod by the worship of the “queen of heaven”, the eating of the wafer in honor of her, the doctrine of purgatory, the wearing of vestments and the observance of a 1001 lesser mysteries, were brought into the church and observed for over 1000 years all over Europe. Thus the Roman Catholic Church with all its God dishonoring doctrines and practices come into existence. The Roman Catholic Church is an amalgamation of the Christian church and the Roman Empire that took place when Constantine embraced the faith and merged the pagan religious practices with Christianity. He performed mass baptisms of government workers and the military and made Christianity the state religion. Unfortunately for Christianity all the pagan-Babylonian customs that had become a part of Roman practice were merged with the Christian faith. Today, many of these traditions still remain. If you ask most good, loyal Catholics today where these traditions come from, they have no clue. Study history and the facts will bear out their origin. In all scripture there is no such thing as the worship of a female deity. Women of God are never presented in scripture as anything but the humble servants of God; human vessels used by God for his purpose. Look at Revelation 17:5; the female deity that is worshipped is a false religion.
Revelation 17:5 “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
In the last days the religious system of man and the government of man will come together as the antichrist will marry this final form of Babylonian false cult that I believe is the spirit of religion that is in the world today. The marriage between the political system of that day and the religious system left here on this earth will complete and the final coalition world government of the antichrist. Satan will try to rule the world. What will follow prophetically is that this Babylonian system will be destroyed and the great city of Rome as well. Please understand, no present denomination is being condemned here, only the study of an evil world system that has infiltrated organized religion to the displeasure of God. This system, as said before, has infiltrated all denominations in various degrees.
Now you are prepared to understand why this is called the destruction of Babylon. It is the destruction of the Babylonian system of government and religion that we see today that has been incorporated into all denominations. The Catholic system happened to be the first. If you have any doubt about this, stay with us as we study in depth in the next few verses.
Revelation 17:1 “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked, saying unto me, come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: vs2, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Vs3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw the woman sit up on a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Vs4 and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. Vs5 and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Vs 6 and I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw I wondered with great admiration.
There are two Babylon systems, religious and political. They come out of Babylon where wicked men aspired to make a gateway to God because of their in defiance of God’s plan of salvation. Babylon was destroyed and has not been rebuilt to this date. Scripture seems to indicate it will be rebuilt, however, many believe the system of the original city was transferred to Rome. The system is still around and will be destroyed. In either case scripture says God will destroy both the city that is central to the system and the system in a great earthquake in the tribulation. It will flourish and become the Mecca the bible predicts but its doom has been pronounced. These events unfold in the chapters 18 and 19 of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 17 reveals a great whore described in the beginning as “sitting on many waters.” The Holy Spirit often depicts a woman as a symbol of a religious system, usually an evil system, with one exception being the reference to the true church symbolized as the bride of Christ. Any time she is described as a whore it is always references religious fornication. Reference is made to Isaiah 23:17; Isaiah 57:3-7; Jeremiah 3:2-9 Ezekiel 16:1-63; Ezekiel 20:30-32; Ezekiel 23:7-49; Hosea 4:12-19 and Nahum 3:4. The reference in Rev 17 is to idolatrous religious practices. The woman is not a political power because she is not classified as one of the kings of the earth. What she does is cause the kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth to be drunk with the “wine of her fornication” a term which means they indulge in the sin of her pleasure and it is addicting. Their indulgence in the sin of her pleasure brings them into the bondage of her evil. Their hearts are captured and turned to evil because of the lust of their hearts. Since fornication here refers to religious harlotry, her influence over the nations is religion. It is a religion that draws people in but denies the truth of God. It pleases because it is full of rituals and the preaching of physical pleasures. It may be well to note here that the true church of God is gone, but religion that pleases the lust of the flesh remains. The word whore in the Greek is pornea and translated as harlot. God is using this word to describe a religious system. This is a very offensive word but there is a reason it is used. The symbolism of spiritual adultery is never used of heathen nations who do not know God but always of people who carry the name of God while actually worshipping and serving other Gods. The New Testament church is portrayed in scripture as a virgin and is warned continuously of adultery.
James 4:4 “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God”
Following the rapture of the true church of God the false church or religious system will flourish and God identifies it as a whore or harlot because religion will join together with the evil political system to deceive the nations. The church will ignore God and rest on the political system. In Chapter 17 of revelation, the woman, that is the apostate religious system, is riding on the beastly political system. This counterfeit religious system will adulterate itself before God by choosing the world political system as the source of its power. The “woman” commits spiritual adultery because she unites demonic spiritual power with political power that is the heathen Babylonian system of the world. The last verse of chapter 17 clearly tells us the identity of this woman. She is the city that is the seat of the world’s system, a great city that reins over the kings of the earth. Many believe this can only be Rome, the city that ruled the world in John’s day. Chapter 17:9 reveals this city sits on seven hills. Rome was built on seven hills that are Abentene, Kallaen, Captalene, Esquileen, Polatene, Koronol and Bibinol. The color scheme is also mentioned there, purple and scarlet. The Vatican counsel that governs Rome wears purple and scarlet robes. She sits on many waters, meaning peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. Hers is a universal power. Rome is the logical place for a concentration of power. The Cesars reached out into the world from Rome. The church reached out from Rome to the rest of the world. It was from Sicily, which is near Rome, that organized crime reached out into the rest of the world.
Rome is certainly no stranger to power and political systems. The Roman system, centered in the Vatican, is a very strong political system. The one at the top of the power structure is the Pope himself. Under the Pope are the Cardinals, then the Roman Curier with its departments and commissions. The Papal diplomatic corps follows with its nuncios, internuncios and apostolic delegates. The ordinary government is beneath this structure, the extra ordinary government, the clergy made up of friars, sisters and nuns. Finally, at the bottom is the laity. How can anyone say it is only a religious system? There is no other religious system that gets a United States ambassador assigned to it because it is not only a religious system but a political system.
Revelation 17:3 gives us the position of the woman:
“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."
The woman is in partnership with the political system of the beast. They cooperate with each other in the same pursuit that is to rule the world. God is totally ignored. The seven heads and ten horns are the political system established by the beast during the tribulation period. This woman enjoys unlimited prosperity. She is literally decked out, arrayed in purple and scarlet color with gold, precious stones, pearls and a golden cup in her hand. There is a grave danger of any denomination or religion that becomes rich and powerful. The rise of material level brings a decline in spirituality and the church becomes spiritually powerless. God will not honor any system that becomes so materially rich it begins to imagine its doing well and has no need of him. Such quasi political-spiritual systems may present great liturgy, and impressive system of government and popularity among the masses. It may become a mysterious power that impresses men, but the power of God is not with them. They may be able to boast of silver and gold, but they cannot say, “take up thy bed and walk” for they have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. This woman is decked out but in her golden cup are abominations, and the filthiness of her fornication. Revelation 17:5 says her name is MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
There is a second warning to Christians here. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. When His leadership is negated the organization ceases to function as a church and becomes an apostate religious system with a governmental bureaucracy. It has a lot of function, but no power.
In summary, back in the beginning of history we find Babylon and the building of the tower of Babel. We have learned it is a system of idolatry that began in Genesis and continues to this day. This anti-god system has been centered in Rome since Cesar was elected Pontipas Maximus, a title that has been held by each Roman emperor from the time of Constantine. Constantine professed to be a Christian and the ancient pagan Babylonian mysteries were transferred completely into the Christian church. The entire system of Paganism was also incorporated into Christianity. The worship of “the queen of heaven, purgatory, the use of holy water, priestly ablusions, bells, candles, the celibacy of the priesthood, the dedication of virgins, prayers for the dead are some of the pagan practices drafted into Christianity. Men in Babel called it the “gate to God” but the Babylonian system is nothing more than a denial of God’s way to heaven; through the suffering of Jesus for sins and the atonement of his blood in sacrifice. Genesis 3:21 clearly revealed God’s way for he killed an animal, shed its blood, and used the skin to clothe the first sinners. God has made known his plan of salvation. Man must be saved through the shedding of the blood of an innocent substitute and by the death of another in payment for sins. The Babylonians denied God’s way and substituted their own works by attempting to build a tower that was to be their way to God. This is the spirit of religion formulated by Satan through the Babylonian world system that God warns us to avoid
Romans 12:2
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”
Saturday, June 12, 2010
St Louis Trip
Terry and Doris SingingTerry is playing his Grand Piano with one hand and the Keyboard with the other.
I always did love this guy's music
Terry and Roxy Collins
Terry, Doris and Terry's GrandaughterTerry and I were best friends in High School, and we still are.
Class of 1965, Lake Wales High School
St Louis, The gateway to the west
Doris and Terry Singing while Terry plays.
The Mighty Missippi was out of her banks
Way out!
We visited our good friends in St Louis recently. If you are in the area, buy some floor covering from them. They'll even clean your carpet.
Driving along the Missippi
Above- Doris Relaxing at the Home of Terry and Roxy Collins near St Louis
Doris playing the player piano
A relaxing evening
Doris and Roxy
We visited several sites along the Missippi River
The World Famous Arch in St Louis with the Missippi River in the foreground
Thou Fool
Matthew 5:21
You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement
v2 22
But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
"Raca" is Hebrew and an expression of murderous anger.
Calling a brother in Christ stubborn,bull headed, without sense, having judgment that is always wrong, degrading comments without regarding another's thought patterns are all examples of "Raca".
Why is God so hard on this?
Because a saved person is a child of God, the image of Christ in the Father's eyes. When you come against a person with Christ living in them, you are taking on Jesus himself.
Criticizing comes from an evil heart, one that is in rebellion against God. The spirit of the anti-christ lives in such a person. Unjust anger is the same as murder, because the attacking person is killing Christ again.
Anyone rebelling against God has an evil heart. They may get away with this crime here, in modern day Babylon, but will never beat the wrath of God in His court.
This is clear because Jesus brings up the conversation about this issue and calls it murder. Love one another, don't criticize a brother in Christ. Be reconciled and use the word of God as your filter in seeing others.
You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement
v2 22
But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
"Raca" is Hebrew and an expression of murderous anger.
Calling a brother in Christ stubborn,bull headed, without sense, having judgment that is always wrong, degrading comments without regarding another's thought patterns are all examples of "Raca".
Why is God so hard on this?
Because a saved person is a child of God, the image of Christ in the Father's eyes. When you come against a person with Christ living in them, you are taking on Jesus himself.
Criticizing comes from an evil heart, one that is in rebellion against God. The spirit of the anti-christ lives in such a person. Unjust anger is the same as murder, because the attacking person is killing Christ again.
Anyone rebelling against God has an evil heart. They may get away with this crime here, in modern day Babylon, but will never beat the wrath of God in His court.
This is clear because Jesus brings up the conversation about this issue and calls it murder. Love one another, don't criticize a brother in Christ. Be reconciled and use the word of God as your filter in seeing others.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
They Will Hate You
They will hate you
John 15:18 (the words of Jesus).. If the world hate you, know that it hated me before it hated you.
1 John 3:13 Marvel not my brethren, if the world hat you. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
There is no doubt the religious people of the day killed Jesus. It was the hierarchy of the church backed by the people that murdered our Lord. Why ???
You may often wonder why people attack you or are insensitive to you, maybe even mean and nasty to you even though you have nothing against them and love them. Here are the answers.
Matthew 10:22 An ye shall be hated of all men for my name sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosever therefore will be a fiend of the world is the enemy of God.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
vs 17: and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
John 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father.
John 17:14 I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Through these passages we can find the reason why so much conflict, argument and hatred is brought against Christians, in the home, in society and in the world.
The unsaved absolutely rant and rave against Christians because the unsaved hate Jesus, the cross of Jesus and the gospel of His Resurrection. They do not even realize what they are doing. They just have a deep abiding hate and cannot verbalize in any way but to curse people of God. They attack with a viciousness that is surprising, unyielding, uncompromising and without repentance.
Scripture is clear about the fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peach, kindness, gentleness and self control are the marks of God's people. When a person's life diplays anything but these things, God is not in them.
Bod is love and those who do not love are not of God. Get hold of any way you wish, but the person who is always in a turmoil with others and always on the attack belittling others is not of God but has a devil.
It does not take a great theologian to come to this conclusion from scripture. The Holy Ghost who give scripture life and power tells us that the person who hates, has malice, revelry, withchraft (manipulating to get their own way) hatred, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies are led by the law and not the spirit of God. (Galaations 5:21-23) The love of God is not in a person whose life shows these fruits. They are in a lost condition, yet will accuse you of every kind of wrong doing you can imagine. They are unsettled and living in the same hell in this life they willl inherit in the next. They are following Satan into an eternal separation from God.
We will deal in the next paper how we should treat people like this. See that segment entitled "What do we do with the lost and backslidden".
Jesus and all the scriptures makes two thing abundantly clear.
1. If anyone follows Jesus, the world will hate them because it hates Him.
2. Christians are not to judge (that is condemn others for their behaviors) we are, for the kingdom's sake, to inspect the fruits of ourselves and others. For us, to make sure we are on the right track, for others so that we may know how we are to minister to them. Hatred, bitterness, wrath, accusations (which is judging) and spite are signs of very powerful demonic activity in a persons life. These are signs of friendship with the world, which is emnity against God (hatred and rebellion against God). Such are heavily influenced by Satan, for God has none of these characteristics. The Christian life mimics the character of God as lived out in Jesus, not at once as the heathen would judge, but over time. Christianity begins at the cross with varying degrees of lostness and sin realized, confesses, repents, then leaves carrying the cross becoming more like Jesus with every passing moment. They never leave the cross because they carry it with them. Jesus said, "take up your cross daily and follow me".
If their spiritual growth stops or regresses it is a sure sign Satan has stopped their progress, which means they are yielding to the ways of the world under the convincing dialog of Satan or their trip to the cross was not a sincere one.
Paul, in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, listed in Galations 5:19-21 the fruits of Satan. In the order they are listed is divinely inspired. They are all results of demonic activity, hatred of God. Any of these are examples of hatred toward God. The ones considered more serious to the heathen are listed first. There are those listed which are for those who think they are good. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies. The religious crowd, the ones who think they abide by the law, the ones who have confidence in the law and are dependant on it for their salvation are the same spirit as the Sadducee's and Pharisees who killed Jesus, who was love, grace and peace.
Paul says in Galations 5:23, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The next writing will be on how true Christians are to minister to people in this condition, both the saved and unsaved.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Winter Haven Ministry Event 2/21/2010
Every Event Starts with PrayerThis event was held on Sunday 02/21/2010 at the Amphatheater on Lake Silver in Winter Haven, Florida
Some were just passing by and were drawn in.
Backgroun music for prayer by an annointed young man.
We ministered in prayer.
We hear the word.
We ministered to the depressed.
We came together as the body of Christ.
No boundaries
No Barriers
Prayer is foremost at all events.
Pastor Frank in the prayer group
Everyone listened intently to what God brought to us that day!
An annointed, inspired artist painted a Picture of our Jesus!
Everyone was blessed
Pastor Darby's Church Choir
Tim Williams and Pastor Frank talk about the PUP project that Tim has been called to carry out. PUP stands for Polk Under Prayer. It's objective is to place Holy Angels at all roads that lead into or out of Polk County. A strip of anointed oil has been placed over all lanes of highway at the county line and a prayer has been given at each location asking God to have angels inspect every vehicle that travels into or out of this county and to bring under conviction to those who seek evil and we asked God to bring them to a state of submission and repentance. If they will not submit to God's way of living, then the prayer is to have them incarcerated or removed from the county. We pray salvation for each person and the full knowledge of Jesus Christ as Savior. We are asking God to make His presence known when each person crosses this annointed line.
The results were immediate. There have been a number of arrests for drugs and drug manfacturing in Polk County since this project began. We are hoping to spread this project to all towns in Polk County so that God's protection and influence will be felt throughout the entire county. We encourage people to do the same with their drive ways and property lines.
America must turn back to God so that He will heal our land. The church is commanded to be the body of Christ and take the lead in the battle against Satan.
Don't just talk about Spritual Warfare in your Church, DO IT!
God has given His children the authority through Christ!
Thank you Jesus !!!
We must come together!
Pet owners were blessed. Dogs have to eat too!
Pastor Frank in the crowd of volunteers
God bless all the volunteers !
Clothes were donated
Singing and Praising the Lord
God Bless the technicians
The musicians were wonderful.
Pastor Frank's lovely wife Doris in the background.
She took many of the pictures.
She is always working behind the scenes.
God Bless the Pastor's wife!
Tim Williams and Teresa in the background
Technicians in the foreground from Carltons Music!
Getting ready is a lot of work, but a labor of love!
God Bless the Cooks
Pastor Ron Bos puts these events together and carries the burden for a lot of expenses. 
Pastor Frank looks over the bibles!
The group of volunteers who come together for these events are from many denominations, and many ethenic groups and many churches in the area. We are the body of Christ. Here there are no barriers, we are one, representing Jesus christ to the world! That's the way it should be! Praise God for this wonderful move of His Spirit. Pray for this effort, join this effort, give to this effort and you will be blessed. We hope to broaden the scope of this effort and spread out across the county. Let us know if you would consider helping to bring this ministry to your town.
Getting ready is a lot of work, but a labor of love!
God Bless the Cooks
Pastor Ron Bos puts these events together and carries the burden for a lot of expenses. Someone donated 500 New Testament Bibles; what a blessing!
Pastor Ron owns Country Chicken and Fish just north of the hospital in Winter Haven. Go by and eat with him. He also gladly accepts donations of bibles, clothes, backpacks and money to keep these events going!
Pastor Frank looks over the bibles!
The group of volunteers who come together for these events are from many denominations, and many ethenic groups and many churches in the area. We are the body of Christ. Here there are no barriers, we are one, representing Jesus christ to the world! That's the way it should be! Praise God for this wonderful move of His Spirit. Pray for this effort, join this effort, give to this effort and you will be blessed. We hope to broaden the scope of this effort and spread out across the county. Let us know if you would consider helping to bring this ministry to your town. We are praying for you!!!!
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