What Does It Mean to Be Holy?

Just what does it mean to be holy? By looking at someone's outward appearance, do you think you can tell if they are holy or not? You can't tell. We judge people by their outer appearances, but God doesn't care about what is on the outside. It has nothing to do with it.

Did you know that in Iraq, thousands of people are coming to Christ? That is something that the media doesn't share with us, but it's true. These people worship Jesus Christ under the penalty of death. We don't have to deal with persecution here in our churches, so why do we hold back in our worship of Him?

1 Chronicles 15:28-29 ~ "So all Israel  brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres. And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out the window and saw King David dancing and rejoicing, and she despised him in her heart."

If we're going to dictate what worship should or shouldn't be, let's focus on what the Bible says it should look like. If we were to see these same people like King David and the people of Israel in our churches today, singing and dancing in the streets, we would think they are Pentecostal. Get over what you think is acceptable in worship in the church.

Today we want to focus on the 4 things we need to guarantee for our worship.

1. We want to be specific about our worship. (Presenting ourselves holy.)

Because Jesus has saved us. Because He is awesome in power. Because He is our salvation and righteousness and hope. Being specific is being holy.

Hebrews 12:14-15 ~ "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled."

Becoming a dedicated vessel of worship.

1 Chronicles 16:26-32 ~ "For all the gods of people are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. Ascribe to the LORD, O clans of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, The LORD reigns! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it."

Nehemiah 9:3 ~ "And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God." 

2. We want to be constant about our worship. (In all things and at all times.)

Under King Solomon, worship was offered up to the LORD, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Psalm 33:1-3 ~ "Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts."

Psalm 40:3 ~ "He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD."

Psalm 96:1 ~ "Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!"

Revelation 5:9 ~ "And they sang a new song saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,"

If we walk with an attitude of worship it will affect everything we do. Try it for just one day and see what happens. It can't be contained.

3. We want to be passionate about our worship. (Be careful, God is alive.)

God is living and He is alive!!! If you research the word enthusiastic from the 1828 dictionary from Noah Webster, we can see that based on the Greek origins of the word, "En" means indwelling or eternal. "Thusi" means God, and "astic" means spasm. We should all be enthusiastic unto the LORD in our worship.

1 Chronicles 29:20-21 ~ "Then David said to all the assembly, "Bless the LORD your God." And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king. And they offered sacrifices to the LORD, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the LORD, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel."

Nehemiah 8:6 ~ "And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground."

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 ~ "And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves without regard to their divisions, and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." the house, the house of the LORD was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God."

First there was the cold, legalistic formality of worship that died. Second, under David a revival in worship was renewed, and third, with King Solomon, worship was something desired.

4. We want to be expressive about our worship. (Giving God our best dance!).

2 Samuel 24:24 ~ "I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing. "

Hebrews 13:15 ~ "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name."

Psalm 29:1-2 ~ "Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness."

We have all heard the saying, "Tooting your own horn," but did you know that the meaning came from the Bible. It was in the story of the widow who gave two mites. In those days, they used to take a large horn and turn it upside down, so the large mouth was on the ground and the small opening was on top. As people came by to drop in their offerings, the amount of the offerings could be heard by the crowd and people would applaud. Then the widow came and placed her offerings of two mites, about a 1/3 of the size of a penny, into the offering place and no one applauded, but Jesus acknowledged her offering as being worth more than all the others. She gave all the money she needed to stay alive for the day and held nothing back from God. She knew she would go home and die because she had nothing left to live on for the day, but Jesus acknowledged her offering over those who gave more. What is your daily net worth? How much are you offering God each day?

We want to make very sure we are not like Jesus warned about the religious leaders of the day, those who would stand in the temple and say their lengthy prayers in public so that they could be heard, not caring if God heard it. They were doing it for public acknowledgment. We need to ensure our worship is for God alone. Nothing more. We want to make sure our worship is not what man dictates it should be.

2 Samuel 6:12-16, 20-22 ~ "And it was told King David, "The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. And when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn. As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart. 

"And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself! And David said to Michal, 'It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD - and I will make merry before the LORD. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be hold in honor."

Psalm 29:2 ~ "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness."

We all express ourselves differently in worship and we need to devote ourselves to Him when we do it! 

Are You Married to a False Religious System?

I remember some 20 years ago when I thought about Bible Prophecy and the signs in the world at that time, I might be able to point to 1 or 2. Now however it is so easy to point to more than a handful and those readying us for the Tribulation Period to come in ways we have never seen before. They are paving the way for the things we have been studying in the Book of Revelation, Daniel and Ezekiel to come true with 100% accuracy.

We have the creation and revival of the European Union, which will be foundational support for the platform of the Antichrist to come. We see things being stirred up by Russia in the nation of Syria. Research Isaiah 17 to see what will happen to the city of Damascus instead of the National Enquirer. We see the formation of the Euro in comparison to the decline in the US dollar and how that is impacting the world economies.

You have the European Union that has formed a governing power in their portion of the world. We have the G7 which manage the world's finances and global economies worldwide from 7 nations of the world.

These 10 nations listed on the top are the policy makers in the European Union and they have originated from the Ancient Roman Empire without exception. You have Etienne Schneider appointed as the Defense Minister, which commands the EU forces, Chief General in Germany.

We have the image above of the European Leaders signing the European Union Constitution in Capitoline Hill, Rome. Remember our study into the Seven Hills of the Ancient Roman Empire, Capitoline Hill was mentioned as one of those seven hills. They are signing this Constitution in front of the statue of Pope Innocent X as noted in the Washington Post on October 29, 2004.

We know from our Bible study through Bible Prophecy and into the Book of Revelation that the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation Period will be the rise of the Ancient Roman Empire from which the Antichrist will rule from.

Revelation 13:1 ~ "And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads."

Daniel 7:7-8 ~ "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beast that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things."

Revelation 17:12-13 ~ "And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast."

Daniel 9:24-27 ~ "Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in every lasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the world to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a trouble time. And after sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the price who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."

This tells us of a coming man representing the world, who will come to the nation of Israel and offer a peace plan, a road map to peace, a UN resolution. We know this to be the seven years Tribulation Period, also known as Jacob's Trouble. Jacob was renamed to Israel. There have been many attempts at nations trying to broker a peace treaty with the nation of Israel and its neighbors. Not any other nation. That alone should make you sit up and take notice.

We've seen it since 2005 on the front page of papers like the New York Times and LA Times where we have national leaders attempting to broker a peace agreement, but so far none of them have lasted. It is almost like God is telling us to wake up and pay attention. We have known terrorist leaders like Muhammad Abbas trying to get a grip on what is happening without any sincere attempts behind them. We have had numerous new stories claiming an attempt at peace between Israel and Palestine to end the violence there.

Daniel 9:27 ~ "And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."

2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 ~ " Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and be saved."

We know that one person will rise in the last days after the Rapture, to usher in this promised prophecy and he will create peace between Israel and her neighbors with a signed peace treaty that is to last 3 1/2 years. The question you need to ask yourself is, is there at temple currently in Israel today? We know that they isn't. Can you go online right now and donate money to the rebuilding of the Israel's temple? Yes, you can!

There are blueprints that are completed than a few select have been privileged to see. They even have the corner stone under intense security waiting for that moment when Israel is granted permission to rebuild their temple.

We know that the value of the US dollar to the Euro has been in decline for quite some time now. Out of 65 of the central banks, approximately 37 of them have shifted away from the dollar in favor of the Euro and we see this being played out daily in the stock exchanges and the world economies. Most countries in Europe won't accept the US dollar and you need to exchange it to be able to buy and sell anything in those countries. Even the US Central Intelligence Agency is taking notice of this.

We know that the European Union does not support the right of Israel to exist as a nation and slowly America is wavering in her support as well under Obama's administration for the first time ever. The European Union or EU is the foundation for the revival of the Ancient Roman Empire from which 10 kings will dictate what happens in the other 25 nations. We have seen the image on the Euro, depicting the woman riding the beast and she will enjoy incredible peace and prosperity. She won't be using US dollars but Euros.

These 10 nations are meeting to get away from a currency that can't be counterfeited, to avoid what the US has had to suffer by the illegal trafficking, terrorism and drugs in US dollars and illegal transactions.

It is the EU that is considering a cashless society dealing with numerical transactions that would put a stop to terrorist activity and illegal drugs and trafficking. This should truly wake you up to what is happening all around the world.

Do you know Jesus Christ personally or are you married to some pagan religion that goes through practices that you don't even know what you are doing?

Are you just reciting prayers when God says in the Bible not to repeat the same prayers over and over again?

Are you even connected to what Jeremiah 44 condemns as those who worship the Queen of Heaven?

Are you married to a system or does your heart belong to Jesus Christ?

Remember the Bible is clear on what one must do to enter heaven. You must be born again. You must put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. He died on the cross for your sins and the Bible promises that if you confess your sins to Him, you'll be saved.

If you are looking for an earthly system to intercede for you before God to get you into heaven, you have missed the grace of God and you're standing before God on your own merits. It is no wonder that many of you are wondering why you feel so horrifically insecure right now because you are!

Wouldn't you want to be absolutely 100% certain that if you died today, you'd be in the presence of God without any doubts?

Trust in Jesus Christ alone, for our hope is not in this world or anything it offers us. The good news for those whose hope is in Christ alone:

Daniel 2:44 ~ "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever"

Revelation 19:11-20 ~ "Then I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, "King of kings and Lord of lords." 

"Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the bireds that fly directly overhead. "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with hit the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped the image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur."

Tomorrow we will study more ways man has rejected God and invented worship systems that bring us this much closer to the fulfillment of these final prophecies of the Bible.

One Size Fits All?

We have all seen it.

The label, "One Size Fits All" but we know that is far from being true. One size doesn't fit all from clothing to just about anything. Today, we are going to recap everything we have learned in our study of Revelation 17 up to where we left off and I've added some references for you in regards to some of the things we have been studying. Remember, don't take my word for it, do the research yourself, I highly encourage it.

Revelation 17:1-18 ~ "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prositute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk." And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations." And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, "Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other had not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

"And the angel said to me, 'The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth."

The false church is based on a global deception that will be the most accepting of all the religions of the world into one. Remember that all of this comes to a head at the conclusion of the Tribulation Period. The seven bowl judgments are being poured out on a Christ-rejecting world. The word to note here is "judgment." God is coming to judge and pour out His righteous judgment on this false religious system and now is that time finally.

What we discover here is that this false religious system is one of spiritually pornography, it's idolatry. Anything that leads you away from Jesus Christ, whether pagans, idols, rituals or false paths is false.

To recap remember all of this future vision is given to John, the oldest disciple of Jesus somewhere in 90-95 A.D. while he is sitting on a volcanic desolate island called Patmos, to rot there by the Emperor of Rome as a prison sentence, but God used this as a theater to show him future events that would come to the world.

The city we are learning about in this chapter is none other than Rome. It was the ruling city of John's day, the seat of Emperors and a central power at that time. John was referencing a false religious system that had Babylonian roots, a pagan worship system that has been embraced by the nations of the world.

The Roman Empire had taken civic powers and mated them with religious worship. Remember Emperor Constantine was the first to do this. His official title was Pontifus Maximus Constantine, even before it was used by the Catholic church as the title for the Pope. The Roman Catholic Church believes that the apostle Peter was the first pope. You can find a plaque in St. Peter's Basillica in the rotunda inlaid in the floor that states that. So how could Peter before a pope if he was married to his wife and had a mother in law that Jesus healed?

This goes all the back to the worship of Emperors in Rome and predates this to the point of Babylonianism.

Remember that Babylon was founded by Nimrod, who wanted an alternative to worshiping God. You can read about it in Genesis 10 and 11. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord, which is not a compliment, it meant he was in competition with God for the souls of man. That is why he built the tower of Babel, to shoot an arrow into heaven and dethrone God. You might ask where is that in the Bible?

First of all read Genesis 10 and 11 first, and then you will have to step outside of religious history to study the life of Nimrod. He was inviting people to another way to heaven.

We studied that he had a wife, Semiramus, who isn't mentioned in the Bible by name, but the worship of her is, in Jeremiah 44 as the Queen of Heaven. This was more than 5000 years ago. They had a son found in Ezekiel 9, called Tammuz. Remember that Semiramus wept for 40 days to the gods of the underworld to send back her son from the dead. That time was called Lent.

It is the mother of all cults that beckons man to trust in some other system than God alone. The very image of the mother and child was unearthed before there was ever a Catholic church and if you saw it today you'd think it was of Mary and Jesus. It is an ancient pagan image that has nothing to do with Mary or Jesus and can be found in numerous cultures by different names, but it began with Semiramus and Tammuz.

An interesting side note is that when Saddam's nuclear reactor was destroyed by Israel in was named by Saddam as Tammuz. 

You might ask, how could a road of false religion from so long ago be present even in John's Day, but how can a false religion from John's day be so prevalent in ours and it's only going to grow and get worse?

To highlight what we touched on yesterday quickly...To road to identifying Babylon is that is will be a system having "global" powers. What religious system in the world today has global powers?

Her identity is as clear as it was in John's day. Her location is clear, remember we are given a description in Revelation 17 as to where is city resides. The seven heads are seven mountain or hills and they are in Rome. Roman has always had the seven hills and we learned their names yesterday as part of the Roman Empire. The interesting thing if you research this, sometimes they added another hill, but instead of adding it to the count, they simply deleted another one, so there was always just seven. You will have to research this in secular history but it is interesting to note there was never more than seven, why?

Her attire is clear. Remember she is naked but clothed in red and purple robes. Her influence is clear. She sits on many waters, which are the nations, peoples, tongues and multitudes, which is the entire world. The sea of humanity. This has never stopped being a global system, it was in John's day and it will rise in prominence again in the very near future. It has always been in the lives, some religious form in the acts of people who worship. The question is whom or what is going worshiped? We will study that in more detail later.

It is a system having a "glorious" position. She will be granted swift access to the world. Remember the museum painting we looked at yesterday?  This is a painting from the 1800's which depicts Revelation 17 with some interesting details.

It showcases men of political influence of the time, a number of them with crowns bowing down to worship her. The multi-headed beast is depicted as a dragon which in previous studies we know the dragon in the Bible is Satan, here it is going to be one man who is the antichrist, having received his powers and influence from Satan. Notice the churches in the background.

The woman is seated on the beast, and is the Babylonian worshiped system that has been unearthed throughout archaeology. This is the false church.

The beast is standing on two rivers and we know that Babylon was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. She will dominate the world's religions. We are already seeing this moving into position as more and more churches are becoming more tolerant of the world and less likely to stand with the Bible.

It is a system of "grand" prosperity. One of unlimited wealth. The woman is clothed in purple and scarlet. The priests of Semiramus had to wear purple and red to serve in her worship services. The governing council of men were required to all wear red and had to be virgin men who would dedicate their lives to the worship service. The priestesses were virgin women who were required to swear an oath that they would dedicate their life to this purpose of worship and service.

Interesting to note that the Bible says concerning a pastor or overseer of a church that they must be a husband to one wife. Hmmm....

More tomorrow!

Exposing the Origins of our Cultural Traditions

Whenever I find myself reading the Bible, it always use to amaze me at how the Israelites could fall into the religious practices of the nations around them when they had seen what following God could do and what disobedience would lead to, yet like a dog goes back to its vomit, this is precisely what they did. Israel was constantly tempted by the Babylonian cults, and it is where we fall into Satan's subtlety's like palm reading, rabbits feet, good luck charms, white magic, tarot cards, fortune cookies and even purgatory and lent. All of these things have their origins in Babylonian cults regardless of how innocent and cute they might appear. There are all kinds of things in our culture and traditions today, that we fail to stop and consider or even question their origins, that they have Babylonian roots.

As we have looked back into Jeremiah 44:15-17 ~ "Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 'As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, n the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster."

This spells out the worship of Semiramus and Tammuz.

Ezekiel warns us in Ezekiel 8:12-14 ~ "Then he said to me, 'Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, 'The Lord does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.' He said also to me, You will see still greater abominations that they commit. Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz."

Each of them had their own personal shrines of his own idols. All of these things had their origins in the Bible, but then Satan twisted them and made them seem okay. Semiramus and Tammuz, you might say are not things I worship, but have you considered the origins of those statues and idols you do have that may in fact have Babylonian roots?

Purgatory predates the origin of the Catholic church, they didn't invent it. It was from the Babylonian culture.

Lent was established 5000 years ago, remember, when after 40 days of weeping and lamenting Semiramus prayed to the gods of the underworld to send back her son Tammuz. When he was resurrected, they celebrated. This is all pagan worship and this story appears in most cultures but with different names and worship styles.

Mary and Jesus, the Mother and Child or Madonna and Child, is an example of pagan worship. That very image of a mother holding a baby with a crown above her head, has been unearthed in archaeology more than 4000 years ago in ancient Babylonia, regardless of what you may have been told or taught as part of your religious upbringing. The worship of the "Holy Mother Of Heaven and Child" is what it has been called. Again if you don't believe this, please research it for yourself.

The Temple of Pan from ancient Philippi in Caesarea is where we also get the name Bacchus. It goes by another name as well, Tammuz. His name changes but his worship doesn't. We get the word 'panic' from this.

You might argue that you're not worshiping it like it is being revealed here, but that is the subtleness of Satan's antics. A twist just a bit, and you can see what he does. You can't worship the Queen of Heaven and that is what Jeremiah and Ezekiel were warning Israel not to do. If you want to know more the ancient names of Semiramus and Tammuz from various cultures, see my blog post.

In fact if you look into the King James Version of the Bible in Acts 12:4, Easter is found in the Bible.

Acts 12:4 ~ "And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people."

This isn't a reference to Easter, a spring time celebration, but of Ishtar's celebration in Ancient Roman Empire. This was pagan Rome, not the Christian church doing the celebrating of Lent and Easter. After their festivities, they were going to bring Peter out and kill him. 

As her cult priesthood spread westward from Babylon, a method of priesthood began in Jesus' day as the Nicolaitans. Nico = Lords and Laitans = people. Religious rulers or lords over the common people. 

Revelation 2:15 ~ "So also you have some who  hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans."

By the way, the Nicolaitans practiced an ancient Babylonian rite, "The Seccessional Hierachy." A true minister of God will point you to Christ. That is why the Bible says that there is but one mediator between us and God, Jesus Christ. 

This is the very reason that Moses was reprimanded by God for bringing forth water from a rock and saying that he deserved all the glory for it when the Israelites were thirsty, a direction violation from God. Moses took the glory like it was coming from him, but God called him on it and resulted in Moses not being allowed into the Promised Land. 

Numbers 20:7-12 ~ "and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.' And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?? And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ' Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the lands that I have given them."

This Babylon in Revelation 17 is called a whore because (1) she is easily accessible = all roads lead to her, (2) she's deceptive = taking on a cultural form, and (3) she's dangerous = the souls of mankind are in her hands. 

Remember that we read that she is riding a beast, we will see later that the beast will be none other than the political antichrist. 

Remember we saw this image on the Greece version of the Euro coin. 

This is the Greece 5 Euro coin from 1996. As you can see a woman riding the beast, in her flowing robes, upon the water. If you were to purchase this coin it comes with a document that describes who this is. The waters are the sea of humanity, the woman is Europa who has been captured by the beast, Zeus taking her on a trip to conquer the world. Now not every Euro coin has a woman and beast on it, but if you research it for yourself, you will see for yourself what is apparent in front of us than many do not understand how prevalent this really is in the world. In fact a postage stamp depicting the very same image of the woman and beast also contains a little cupid like figure on it. Remember what we studied before, Cupid is the name for Tammuz in the Roman culture. 

This all points to a world that will worship Babylon or her origins in their religious system that has been a false one since the beginning of creation. We will be exposing even more tomorrow in our study. Hope you will join us.

Can You Recognize A Fraud in the Church?

I heard it stated that the easiest way to know a counterfeit or fraud is not to study the fakes, it's the understand the truth or the originals, the legitimates. For example to know if a dollar bill is fake, you don't study all the fake dollar bills, you study the real one so when you see a fake one, you can easily tell it's fake.

The same can be said of false churches, believers and even pastors or religious systems. The only way we can tell what is true from what isn't is to know our Bible and keep it wide open when making comparisons. That is the only sure fire way to know what is true of God and what isn't.

Jesus, Himself, promised that in the last days there would be false impostors, and only believers who are in touch with God, by knowing their Bible, can know for sure who is from God and who isn't. Where can we find these false impostors? In the church! For Satan to sow seeds of deception is the best place to begin, and he's been doing it for 1000's of years.

Just because your church is founded on tradition, doesn't mean it's biblical. The only way to know for sure is to measure it by the Bible. Judge it by the Bible or be swept away by deception. No one is exempt outside of God's Word.

When asked, the one person most people in all of history would want to meet is Jesus Christ. He is without a doubt the most influential person in history even if you don't believe in Him. The Bible promises us all that one day, we will all see Him face to face. We know for a fact that just listening to Jesus talk and teach was amazing to listen to.

Mark 12:37b ~ "And the great throng heard him gladly."

Matthew 7:28-29 ~ "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."

Jesus illuminated the minds of those who heard His words with an obvious truth, that among the works of God, there is an ever present danger of man made religion.

There is either the Babylonian system or there is the true worship of God in relationship to Christ. Either salvation based on works to earn God's favor, which is false and a removed religion, mechanical in nature; or there is the humble approach to God saying that you need His help to save you from your sins, like the thief on the cross, and create a relationship with Jesus.

The danger comes when you take them both and try to melt them together. Jesus promised us that there would be impostors.

Matthew 13:24-30 ~ "He put another parable before them saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?" But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

Jesus liked to use parables to help illustrate His point. Parable or "para" means to put near or to put along side, a parable is a teaching method that puts alongside your mind a graphic truth!

Jesus promises that in the midst of the church, impostors will rise up so that you can't tell the believer from the unbelievers. So deceiving it will be in the last days that you won't be able to tell.

Matthew 13:37-41 ~ "He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,"

Our study today reveals to us a man-made religious system that will envelop the world and will be globally accepted and endorsed by a a future global community. This system existed before the foundation of the church in the day of Pentecost, and it exists even more so today. They become so comfortable and unrecognizable, that if we are not careful, we can be swept away by them as well by its deception.

This is why we need to know and follow our Bible more than any traditions and any commands of men. I don't condemn any religious group of people but instead use the Bible as my basis for discovering the truth instead. It is the same system I ask you to apply for discerning the truth from the lies.

Revelation 17:1-7 ~ "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with who the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.' And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations." And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, 'Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her."

God is providing an understanding of what He wants you to know, an illustration. This woman is dressed like a church that eats the saints alive. You can research throughout history of the persecution of the church. This is what we need to be doing throughout this study is to do the research yourself, and with the Bible wide open to see what is true and what is lies from what the world would have you to believe. We can read in the Bible for example that Nimrod and Tammuz existed and while Semiramus isn't mentioned by name, her worship system was.

More on that tomorrow.

This One Post Might Cost Me More Readers Than Any I've Written!

This one blog post today might just cost me me entire blogging and social media readership, but as I have always promised, I am sharing my insights on the Bible study through the Book of Revelation and in doing so, I am shining the light of God's Truth into the dark places of the world that we might wake up and be exposed to the Satanic influence that is permeating our culture and world today with such innocence that we might all find ourselves like John did, marveled and shocked at what is revealed.

This one post will probably cause quite a bit of controversy and the one thing I ask is simply if you would research all of this today for yourself. The one thing I believe might happen is that this post creates more curiosity and cause more people to open their eyes to what is happening all around them in the world today.

We are going to be digging even deeper into the mystery surrounding Babylon and the cult system of worship that began there, including looking into the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah from the Bible and gaining an understanding of the word, "Purgatory." Is it biblical or is it grounded in myth?

The one question I would ask you if you are reading this today, is do you trust in Jesus alone or in a church, religion, system or tradition?

Remember from our study yesterday we learned a bit about the origins of the Babylonian cult worship. If you haven't read it, please do so by clicking here. It will help understand what we are studying today. Israel began to adopt this Babylonian cult worship.

Jeremiah 44:15-17 ~ "Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: "As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster."

Ancient Israel was bowing down to Semiramus, even Jeremiah warned them to stop worshiping.

Ezekiel 8:12-14 ~ "Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, the LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land. He said also to me, "You will see greater abominations that they commit. Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz."

Every person in Israel had their own personal idol in their homes. According to the Babylonian cult, Semiramus' acts of priestly intercession confirmed upon her the power to deliver a soul from what the Babylonians called the doctrine of (Perga-tory). Her religious system went out in the world.

You can read more on this in the book, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, written in 1853 by more than 270 authors who contributed to his research. Not one person today has ever disputed his writings.

Revelation 2:12-13 ~ "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan dwells."

The region of Pergamos was in the place now part of Turkey and extended into the region of Iraq. At the time of Jesus Christ, the headquarters of the Babylonian cult was in Pergamus. The church called it Satan's seat, or the Temple of Zeus. This actual temple has been relocated and can be found in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin, Germany today. Semiramus was worshiped there. It is where emperor worship began. Emperors used the term Pontifus Maximus, which is Latin for Emperor of the Roman Empire. Check ancient Roman History for more on that. All the Caesars obtained that title and that is why the Roman Empire was worshiped and the emperors were worshiped as gods.

This is why there was such an issue when Christianity came on the scene, because you either worshiped Jesus Christ as Lord or you declared Caesar as lord.

The ancient Babylonian cult married itself into the ancient Roman Empire. This is the key to the century we are living in today. This is why it is so important today to see the rise in Europe's power and might. It must happen and it is!

The ancient Babylonians when they worshiped Semiramus as the priestess of Heaven and Hell, remember when her son Tammuz died, she prayed him out of hell and death.

So why did Jesus write the letter to the church of Pergamum?

Because its root is Perga-tory, Perga-mum. Perga-mus. Catholics didn't invent purgatory. The popes didn't invent purgatory. This has been in the minds of men and women since Babylon. It is not new.

The museum of Pergamum is located in Berlin, Germany because the German's stole it from Turkey. I am including pictures of the Museum of Pergamum, the Ishtar Gate, and the Temple of Zeus and you can research it for yourself and visit it today if you find yourself in Berlin, Germany. It got its name from Jews and Christians as the throne of Satan founded in roots from Babylonian worship. Tammuz in some cultures was worshiped as the moon god.

In the Assyrian Empire which reaches into southern Russia today, worshiped Semiramus and Tammuz as Isthar and Tammuz.

In Phoenicia, they were worshiped as Ash-Tar-Ta and Baal.

In Egypt, they were worshiped by the names Isis and Horace.

In Greece, they were worshiped by the names Aphrodite and Eros.

In Rome, they were worshiped by the names Venus and Cupid.

In Islam, they don't know the name of their god, so they simply refer to him as Allah, but if you research it further, they worship the moon god. What is on the temples as a symbol of their faith? The crescent moon.

Semiramus was declared to be the intercessor for the world, and that Tammuz was the deliverer of the world, and born in Babylon was the cult of "Mother and Child."

Do you remember how long Semiramus lament, pray and wept for her son? 40 days. They referred to it as "Lent!" After the resurrection of Tammuz, there was a great celebration in honor of Semiramus (Isthar) and Tammuz of feasting, drinking, and of orgies. A very special gift was exchanged, a decorated egg was given to worshipers of Isthar, her name for 2000 years is not Ishtar, but by the Chaldean word, "Easter."

Don't believe me, again research this for yourself.

The Babylonian Empire has always recognized the egg as a symbol in fertility. If you gave an egg to someone and they accepted it and took it from you, then you would engage in sexual orgies with that person.

That is why John was so marveled and shocked at what he was seeing at the opening of Revelation 17. He understood exactly what was happening. It is hard to gain an understanding of the traditions we grew up with as children, but again research it all for yourself. It is challenging reading and studying this and it is no wonder we find ourselves shocked today and how this Babylonian culture is all around us without us being any wiser until hopefully today.

Uncovering the Secrets of Ancient Babylon

Did you realize that the ancient city of Babylon is mentioned in the Bible more than 290 times and is second only to Jerusalem? It is a real geographical location that has been discovered by archaeologists and is found in modern day Iraq today, not too far from Baghdad. We need to understand that Babylon in the Bible has two references when we hear it, one is the city and the other is the government and religious system that also has a spiritual application attached to it.

The Babylon of old is going to be resurrected in the last days. There will be a power base there and religions from all over the world will coalesce there. Babylon is found in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

We need to understand how to use the Sword of the Spirit, however in dealing with temptation that will grow in frequency in the last days. Far too many people use their "swords" incorrectly when faced with temptation. Just because you can quote a scripture or verse from the Bible doesn't mean that you are using it correctly. Just like picking up a sword doesn't mean you can use it as designed. That is why it is so critical for believers of Jesus, to get into their Bible more and really apply it to their lives the way God has designed it.

Let's see how Paul the apostle gave advice to the pastors he was speaking with in Ephesus:

Acts 20:27-32 ~ "for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And now, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and given you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

This is so true today! From within our own churches, people will rise up and use the Word of God to deceive you and lead you astray. This was true in Paul's time and we see it still happening and growing in frequency and intensity even today.

All cults and occultic beliefs and practices can be traced back to ancient Babylon worship from tarot cards, to white magic, astrology, ouija boards to flat out Satanic practices. It is all related to the current cults that we see in our world today. The Bible teaches that the name and/or term Bablyon will make a great comeback upon the world's scene before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. It is being reassembled as we speak. In the last 2000 years, the Babylonian worship system has been reawakening and has been drastically increasing in the last 500 years.

What makes this so important?

It was the place of man's first attempt to overthrow God. Despite it being located in the region known as the cradle of civilization and yes it is in the geographical location between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Babylon introduces relgion instead of relationshp with God. Notice as well the map at the top of this page, the city of Nimrod exists today, but spelled Nimrud. Mosul is what used to be Nineveh!

Genesis 10:8-10 ~ "Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erch, Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

Notice the first city he established and one I am sure we are all aware of, the city of Babel. Let's break that word down because remember, how many languages were in the world at that time, only one, and probably Greek. So looking at the Greek language, we see that "BAB" means gateway or entrance and "EL" means God. So Babel means the Gateway to God.

It was discovered by Nimrod as one of the first cities he created in his kingdom. His occupation was not a builder, but an archer or hunter. When the scripture says, "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD", this was not a compliment. "Before" means the face of, against, contrary to, the LORD.

Nimrod was literally the forerunner of the Antichrist as he as lead by what the Bible calls the spirit of antichrist. He got to the top of his tower when it was finished, and shot an arrow into the heaven in an attempt to bring God down.

He had a wife named Semiramus and she was and is known for being the first Priestess of Heaven and Hell. Semiramus had a son named Tammuz. Seriramus said that she had become pregnant by a beam of light that descended from heaven and thus Tammuz was born and grew into the spirit of his father, Nimrod and under the care of his mother Semiramus, and as was his father's talent, so it was Tammuz, that he became a hunter. In so doing the young man was brutally killed by a wild boar and buried. But his mother, as the sole Priestess of Heaven and Hell began to plead with the gods of the underworld and for 40 days her lamentations grew (the babylonians called her lament = LENT) so great and her prayers so fervent, that by her intercession, the gods released Tammuz and he was risen from the dead.

This ancient myth is more than 1000 years old. It is found in the Greek and Roman mythology and any of these myths have their roots in demonic based stories. Israel adopted this Babylonian cult worship. Did you realize that?

These people really lived, but the myths and legends surrounding them was twisted and delivered, and always contains an element of truth in them.

If you look at a Greek Euro coin, you will see Europa riding on a beast, the god Zeus riding across the seas in an attempt to conquer the world. Isn't it interesting that we find a woman riding a beast in Revelation 17?

All these things that we an uncovering is not so innocent as people would have us believe.