The End times as God Reveals them Pt. 54 Final False Religion and Ancient Mythologies.

I previously noted that the global religious system of Babylon will be judged in Revelation 18 and the global economic/political system of Babylon will be judged in Revelation 18. As we study through Revelation it seems apparent that the ancient city of Babylon will be rebuilt at some point in the future. I already mentioned some of the more recent work that has been done in this regard.  

The following link will take you to an excellent and understandable article "Babylon in Bible Prophecy" published by Thomas D. Ice, Director of Pre-Trib Research at Liberty University. I think you will find this article offers helpful insight. 

 https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1090&context=pretrib_arch

The woman clothed in scarlet & purple.

Revelation 17:3  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. 4) 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: 5) And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 

John is going to share with us more of what he saw about the End Times religious system.  We see that he is still "in the spirit" meaning that just like Old Testament prophets, the Spirit of God carried him to heaven expressly to see these great future things. 

Much of the imagery John used is closely connected to the Roman empire. Notice how John describes the global religious system. The apostate religion is depicted as seated on a scarlet colored beast. The color scarlet was connected with the sins of lust, prostitution and infidelity. Scarlet is referencing spiritual adultery by committing idolatry as l have noted in our last post.

We already know that the beast is the one world government ruled by Antichrist.  The seven heads and 10 horns makes the connection to the beast in Revelation 13:1-10. Seven heads point to the future rulers of the revived roman empire. Thus, we can see that the global religious system of the End Times will be intimately connected with the power of the Antichrist's global government of that time. 

The woman (or the great whore) is dressed in both purple and scarlet colors. Purple typically symbolizes royalty and we already noted the meaning of scarlet. The trappings of wealth and power are in view. She will wear valuable things made of gold, gemstones and pearls.

She will also carry a golden cup. What does this represent? It represents a mixture of false religious systems which is why John said the cup contains filthiness and fornication. Thus, this cup symbolizes the final idolatrous religious system.

Babylon was source of false religion.

Genesis 10:8-12  And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9) He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10) And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11) Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 12) And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. 

Nimrod was a wicked man who founded the city Babylon. Genesis 11:1-9 records the story how all mankind had one language and one heart to commit spiritual fornication by building a tower and naming their own "god". God put and end to their rebellious endeavor and confounded the one language into a multitude of languages. 

As an interesting side note, through history, almost all civilizations have a flood tradition like Genesis 6-8. This could only happen as the people were scattered abroad and God separated the land mass into the continents. They carried the memories of flood events into the lands and places where they were dispersed. They also carried memories of false religion into their new places of community.

There is a mystery religion associated with Nimrod, his wife Semiramis. Most of the cuneiform tablets tell a tale of Nimrod being cut down in his prime and Semiramis miraculously conceiving a child named Tammuz. It was a deception designed to promote the fulfillment of the "seed of the woman" prophecy in Genesis 3. 

Thus, we have an ancient mother and child recognized as deity and they generally established an order of religious virgins who became temple prostitutes. This ancient mystery religion passed on to the Persians when they conquered Babylon. The mythologies of Greece and Rome reflect those ancient Babylonian religious elements.

John tells us that the woman, the great whore, has a title on her forehead that says "Mystery" because the future one world religion will be connected to the ancient pagan mystery religions that trace their lineage back to Babylon and Nimrod.

The rest of her title makes sure that we know the origin of idolatry, spiritual fornication and the lust driven sensuality attached to its practices. 

Religious persecution will come.

Revelation 17:6  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 her, I wondered with great admiration. 

What is the woman (representing the one world religious system) going to do? Persecute and murder all who refuse to take the mark of the beast or who refuse to bow down and worship his image. John found all of this utterly astonishing if not overwhelming. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

False religion leads to spiritual adultery. Believers must be on guard against giving up sound doctrine or failing to treasure and teach God's truth. 

A one world system of political power and religion will arise early in the tribulation after the rapture of the church. 

Titus 1:9  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 

May the Lord grant us strength to hold fast to sound doctrine and to faithfully teach it to other believers. 

Bob