REV2023-17
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The god of this world named Satan the Adversary of God—has two viruses he has been infecting all of humanity with since the dawn of the human race:
Religion (making my own way to God) & Materialism (things are more important than God)
-Religion is trying to achieve God’s favor by human achievement.
-Materialism is seeking physical things (pleasures, possessions, power) more than God.
The seventeenth chapter of Revelation describes the doom of the Babylonian system. This system is seen as a woman portrayed as a harlot. She seems to be a symbol of Satan’s world religion. This chapter records the demise of the counterfeit church Satan founded at Eden—the one he has worked on ceaselessly ever since. The beast (Satan’s incarnation as a false Jesus) finally destroys the apostate church and sets up unhindered satanic worship (via the beast and false prophet’s work). To make this happen, Satan’s ultimate goals in the world today are to forge global unity politically, religiously, and financially.
To understand Rev 17/18 we have to go back to Genesis
Satan’s church began officially at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9. This is the beginning of organized religion, nearly 24 centuries B.C. Here, in the fertile plain of Shinar, probably very close to the original Garden of Eden, the first spade of dirt was turned for the purpose of devil worship.
The first full-time minister of Satan was Nimrod, Noah’s wicked and apostate grandson (Genesis 10:8-10). Secular history and tradition tell us that Nimrod married a woman who was as evil and demonic as himself. Her name was Semiramis. Knowing God’s promise of a future Savior (Genesis 3:15), Semiramis brazenly claimed that Tammuz, her first son, fulfilled this prophecy.
Semiramis thereupon instituted a religious system that made both her and her son the objects of divine worship. She became the first high priestess. Thus began the mother-child cult which later spread all over the world. From Babylon, it spread to Phoenicia under the name of Ashteroth and Tammuz. From Phoenicia, it traveled to Pergamos in Asia Minor. This is the reason for John’s admonition to the church of Pergamos in the book of Revelation: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is” (Revelation 2:13).
