539 B.C. Babylon has fallen again, this time to Medo-Persia.
Before we discuss two great civilizations that imbibe Babylon's wine, let's visit contemporary prophet Zechariah (530's B.C.) for an astonishing look at a future Babylon:
Zechariah 5: 5-11 relates the vision of a measuring container covered by a lead disc. A woman sitting on the inside is described as wickedness. (As a woman is portrayed in Revelation 17:3-5). Two other women carry this evil to Babylonia where a house is to be built for it, at the proper time!
So the Holy Spirit is speaking the same message to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and John! There is a Babylon in the earth, there has been for a long time, there will be almost until the end. But God has not forgotten His promise to judge her swiftly and permanently.
TO MEDO-PERSIA and GREECE
Some of the Babylonian system changes, some of it stays the same, in the kingdom of Medo-Persia. One thing that certainly continues is a hatred of Jews. The Bible's book of Esther tells the story of an early Nazi named Haman who thinks he has the answer, the final solution...
God protects his people, and takes care of Haman, too.
We shall not stay here long, but long enough to point out familiar features of Babylonianism. First there is the ever-present syncretism, mixing and confusing.
Not wanting to offend, only to rule in peace, the Persian King visits Egypt, succeeds the Pharaoh, and becomes a god on earth, just like all the Pharaohs do.
But in Babylon, the Persian King (Cyrus) declares himself to be Marduk's choice. He claims that Marduk has searched everywhere for a righteous ruler, and finally found such in himself, Cyrus.
Though successor Darius becomes a Zoroastrian, ruling by the grace of his Ahura Mazda, and believes his god is the only way, the people under him continue to be divided, and polytheism flourishes.
As we shall point out later, there is some historical evidence that the historic Chaldean religion that traces back to Nimrod is now asked to leave the area altogether and winds up in Pergamum.
The god Mithra, a later Roman favorite, seems to have his beginning in the Persian period.
Where you find polytheism, syncretism, anti-Semitism, you are at or near Satan's throne. And when one who can be traced back to Babel is in charge, well, it's time to flee.
330 B.C. Rising side by side with Persia is Greece. Her entrance to the unfolding drama brings more of the same themes.
Greece, like the others, enforces no creed in its religion, supports a multitude of gods and -especially-goddesses.
To the Minoans, principal players in early Greek civilization, the earth is a woman, says Rose in his Religion in Greece and Rome. Vegetation is her offspring, and earth-mother is married to sky-father, Zeus.
In the excavations of the earliest civilization of Greece, one will find frequent mother/child representations, but few such artifacts of a father figure. Father, truly Babylonian, is remote and unapproachable. Access through a female is the quickest way to the blessings of heaven.
Zeus, further, is a year-god who is born, dies, and is "born again" on a regular cycle (reminding one of the current ecclesiastical calendars!) Thus he is the child of the earth-mother! She thus becomes the "mother of god."
Hera (meaning lady) is the first such goddess in Greece, followed by Artemis (Roman Diana), Athena, and Aphrodite. They all seem to share characteristics with the original, Semiaramis.
Apollo, son of Zeus, another hunter-shepherd-protector personage later becomes the personification of the Sun. (All of this patterned after Nimrod.)
Of course, every sun must have a moon, and soon Artemis/Diana fills that role (previously filled by Semiaramis/Ishtar).
If this is all beginning to sound familiar, I'm proving my point. The point is that Satan continues to create a system of worship to which can be added or subtracted various elements, to blend with whatever culture demands. What he knows God will do, and has already done, is his general theme, but his own innovations are obvious too, when comparing God's written revelation to Satan's religious traditions.
Thus Satanic religion - hear well - in every culture and age is forever a mixture of what is perfectly true and what is absolutely demonic.Hislop's summary is excellent:
"the idolatry of the whole earth is one...the great gods of every country...are called by Babylonian names...all the paganisms of the human race are only a wicked and deliberate, but yet most instructive corruption of the primeval gospel first preached in Eden, and through Noah afterwards conveyed to all mankind...a system first concocted in Babylon, and thence conveyed to the ends of the earth, modified, and diluted in different ages and countries..."(p. 224)
And:
"All who have paid the least attention to the literature of Greece, Phoenicia, or Rome, are aware of the place which the ' Mysteries ' occupied in these countries...in all essential respects these mysteries in the different countries were the same. " (p. 12)
Of course, the Babylonian religion is not limited to the "great" world powers. Other lesser lights imbibe what the mother of harlots births. But our concern in this study is to follow the "headquarters" of Satan, the very seat of his authority politically and spiritually.
And our travels now take us naturally to the "Eternal City" itself.
Look for Bob Faulkner's creations on http://professorenglish.org There you will find a variety of Scripture studies, including a through-the-Bible course, in video, audio, and text. There are works about the Christ, the antichrist, the rapture, and more.
For those who love North Korea, I have created http://chosunhouse.com.
As for me, I'm a man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving in tentmaker style with my wife and my local church in Chicagoland.
Contact me at diakonos3@gmail.com
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