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| Earl Gillespie |
Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots
Chapter 17
Constantine was the first Roman emperor to support Christianity and was said to have become a Christian. During the reign of Constantine, Christianity became an accepted Roman religion. Constantine proclaimed the Edict of Milan, in 313, granting religious freedom to all. This was a departure from previous emperor's persecutions of the Christians. The church that had flourished under persecution now become at ease under the protection of the Roman emperor as it began to enjoy the earthly richness and power afforded it by the state. The church that was once shrouded in secrecy now began to glory in its wealth and impressive sanctuaries. This relationship symbolizes a political-religious system that contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire. Christianity was dealt a serious blow, the devil unsuccessful in his attempt to destroy the church from without was able to attack the church from within. Jesus condemned this type of arrangement.
The formation of the United States was based upon a firm belief in God but demanded a separation of church and state. When the President of the United States made an overture to the churches through “faith based initiatives” many church leaders embraced the idea. Funding was made available to grow and build new ministries and renovate old churches. Government sponsored programs are now being taught in the church. In essence the governments of today are redefining morality and many religious denominations are finding themselves in a compromised position. Jesus condemned this type of arrangement. How can they walk together except they agree?
When God’s divine laws and ordinances are broken down and reshaped, the sacredness of marriage and morals goes with it. Some religions on earth today are hotbeds of immorality. Secret clubs or fraternities within the church structure that advertise and support a blatant disregard for the Word of God. The law of God, the first and greatest commandment, Jesus said, is to “love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:29,30). To bestow such honor on a god of money and status is spiritual harlotry!
The resources need to bring about the destruction of the family structure was provided for by the government. Modern day governments make laws that are not in accordance with the scripture. Many churches and denominations have lost their way, they are in bed with the government and is forced to enact and teach the policies of the government rather than those of the Word of God, because they have taken the money. The Romans did it, the British sought to prefect it and America once stood against it. It is called committing spiritual adultery.
This woman in Revelation 17 has turned the hearts of kings and multitudes of the king’s subjects to gods other than Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. She is the mother of every “ism” and false religion that has been born since Cain thought he could satisfy God with an offering of his own choosing. That takes in every church, religion and cult that does not give Jesus Christ and His verbally inspired Word pre-eminence in every detail of worship.
This scarlet-clad female is “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF EARTH.” That dates back a long way. She conceived and gave birth to the first spiritual adulterer. She is the mother of them all, just as Israel (nationally speaking) is the mother of our Lord and Saviour.
When and where did the “mother of harlots” begin? We read in the tenth and eleventh chapters of Genesis that the beginning of the kingdom of Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, was Babel . . . or “Babylon.” It was in the land of Shinar where the people of earth dwelt and “were all of one speech.” The Scriptures imply that these people all came together under the leadership of Nimrod - which name means “rebellious panther.” That is exactly what he was . . . he was a forerunner of the Antichrist. At his suggestion and under his leadership the people determined to build a city and a tower to reach up into Heaven . . . into God’s house, if you please! They intended to get to Heaven in their own way and in their own fashion by the labors of their own hands. This is the act that God punished, it was not the building of the tower. Remember God knows what's in the heart and this is what he deals with.
Bible history tells us that Nimrod was a mighty organizer. He enslaved the people and made them work for him for mere bread. He was the first earthly king; he founded “king craft” and tyranny. He said he saw a golden crown in the sky, he had one made like it, and he wore it - setting himself up as a form of deity. Without a doubt, many worshipped him as God. The Bible tells us that the people who were going to build a tower into Heaven wanted to “make a name for themselves.” They wanted to be independent of God.
They wanted to organize and become one, never to be separated and scattered over the face of the earth. Read carefully Jeremiah 13:11; 33:9; Ezekiel 39:13 and Zephaniah 3:20. History goes further to say that Nimrod made a great statue of his wife, Semiramis, and set it up in the capital of his empire. That capital was “Bab-el,” or our word Babylon. The word Babel means “gate to god” . . . not the true God of Heaven and earth, but Nimrod’s image-god.
It was a denial of God’s way to Heaven and a denial of salvation by grace. No doubt this was the beginning of image worship. It is possible that the image of Nimrod’s wife was the first image of a woman to be set up in a temple for worship. We live by the Word by learning from the mistakes others made, not bt doing them.
Nimrod was a Heaven-defying founder of a new religion, bypassing the true God of Heaven. It is a mistake to think that idolatry was the gradual outgrowth of well-disposed but unenlightened human thinking. Idol worshippers came into prominence suddenly. Idolatry was born in intentional rebellion against God. It was born in the heart of the forerunner of the false messiah, Antichrist. God stopped the city, stopped the building of the tower, scattered the people to the four corners of the earth and brought about a confusion of tongues; but the people did not forget the idol worship Nimrod had taught them. Godless forms and rituals have been handed down through the ages, and the most remote tribe on earth has its idol. They worship the sun, the moon, trees, snakes, cows . . . “the abominations of earth.”
Even in nominally Christian America the influence of idol worship is reflected in the images seen on dashboards of automobiles, in jewelry worn today, and even in contemporary art and modern music. The nations were “drunk with the wine of her fornication.” What is the wine of fornication? Turn on your TV set and watch the lineup of new shows. The wine of Babylon, “mother of harlots,” is none other than her debauching system of idol worship and carnal system of self-exaltation against God. Read carefully I Corinthians 1:26-31.
By actual recorded fact, more than two-thirds of the earth’s population today is worshippers of idols. The spirit of Nimrod and Babylon is still living.
All the governments of the earth today lean more to the spirit of Babylonianism (which represents everything opposed to God), than toward the Spirit of God. Earth’s governments will license men to sell products and indulge in business that will damn souls by the million. The spirit of Babel which symbolizes a political-religious system will be here until God says "enough" and Jesus puts it down forever.
Where will you be when the Scarlet Woman rides out? Will you be in Heaven with Jesus, on earth with Antichrist, or in hell with the screaming millions of the damned? It all depends upon whether you accept or reject the Lord Jesus. Read John 1:11-13; John 3:18; Hebrews 2:4; Romans 10:9, 10, 13.
Continued Tomorrow
THE LAST FORM OF GENTILE WORLD-POWER
Revelation 17:8-18
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