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! 

Is Worship a Big Part of Your Life?

We are picking up today with our continued application of taking what we have learned in Revelation 17 and finding out how this applies to our life today. We learned all about the false religious system that has its roots in Ancient Babylon and how that is infiltrating its way into the religion people practice today, because it is simply the way they have always done it. So how can we be sure we are not falling into the same trap?

We learned that there are four things we want to ensure we are not doing. We only got to the first one yesterday which was never be unwise in your worship. You can read more about that here if you missed it.

When we do what we're supposed to do when it comes to our time with God, our hearts will kick in and we see God for who He is. "Things" don't connect us to God. It is the connection we have between us and God. It's the expression from our hearts that make these things acceptable, like bowing down, kneeling, lifting up your hands, covering yourself with a prayer shawl, etc. People have a tendency to look at us funny when we worship a God that we can not see.

1 Peter 2:4-9 ~ "As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stand in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

How we worship is determined by our heart. When you know Him more, worship will become a dynamic part of your life. It will be expressed different, but it will become important to you.

2. We never want to legalize worship. (Mandates never work.)

Mandating the acts and art of worship. It's not found in the Bible. Worship is a spontaneous and creative moment with God with you alone. There is a time to express ourselves. It is different for everyone. There is NO one way to worship, that is when it becomes legalized worship. Everyone doing it all the same way, all the time.

You are bound in a routine or legalism if you can't express yourself freely in worshiping God.

Romans 7:6 ~ "But now that we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code."

2 Corinthians 3:6 ~ "who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

3. We never want to sterilize worship (Establishing a form kills).

Is it possible that we have confused the holiness of God and the Glory of God with man-made formalism, and rituals. The order of how we conduct church service?

According to the Bible, there is no set way to conduct a church service, whether worship after the message or before the message. Just like people think worship time allows them extra time to not be late to church, as long as they get there before the message starts. They don't appreciate worship and God warns against this practice of robbing Him of it.

Malachi 3:8-10 ~ "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you blessing until there is no more need."

Worship is all about Him and it is all for Him. Worship groups simply lead us in worship. They are not there for us to enjoy. Some people don't like certain forms of worship. They don't like guitars, they don't like music loud, and I would caution you if that is you today. In fact research 1 Chronicles 15 and 16 today. This is radical worship you will find here in the Old Testament. You have sterilized worship when you say, worship needs to be the same way it always has been.

You're not growing up, you're growing older, spiritually. If you grow up spiritually, you become more like a child biblically. If you grow old in your growing up, you begin to sterilize things and it has to be cookie-cutter worship.

2 Chronicles 1:3-4 ~ ~ And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of the meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness was there. (But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.)"

For 100's of years, the Ark resided in the tabernacle of Moses, but David had the Ark of the Covenant, not in Gibeon but at Jerusalem, outside and away from Moses' tabernacle. It had been sterilized by sin. David had made a new tabernacle. It was personal. It was new. It was available. It was where God was!

Don't save your act and art of worship for church on Sunday, give it to God and worship Him anywhere you want, in your car, at home, on a mountaintop! Remember that the Holy Spirit dwells in your life as a believer and our bodies are now the temple of the Lord. We don't have to go to church to worship Him. We can do it anywhere! No more sacrifices are needed. Jesus paid it once and for all with His blood, and that alone should be reason enough to worship Him!

4. We must never fossilize worship. (Holding on to the Past). 

Psalm 27:4 ~ "One thing I have asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, and to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple."

Notice the one thing David wants more than anything in this world. To worship and be in the presence of the LORD. Worship is the single most thing that we will be doing in heaven, time to practice that now!

We Are All Worshipers, What Are You Worshipping?

We all worship something in our lives, even Atheists. It's not a question today of "are" you a worshiper, it's a question of "what" are you worshiping?

Humans are created to worship. We just need to ask ourselves honestly, what and who are we worshiping?

If you're an Atheist, are you worshiping at the altar of Chuck Darwin? Are you worshiping your own intellect? Are you worshiping, "Fill in the blank"?

Every culture discovered by man has a system of worship and has practiced it despite anyone's beliefs or unbelief's. Even Communism worships at the altar of Lennon's philosophy, thinking and words. They all worship men.

The worship of Ancient Babylon has crept into every culture since the opening chapters of the Bible. To authenticate this, you need to go all the way to the civilization of Nimrod and the city of Babel.

Revelation 17:1-5 ~ ""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 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."

We notice the many names given to this woman found in Revelation 17, the first being mystery. Paul referred of the doctrine of the church as a "mystery." This represents a false church system. She is also Babylon the great. Third she is the mother of prostitutes or harlots. This is the birthplace of abominations. This is not referred to a sexual, physical harlotry or fornication. This is religious adultery, yielding to someone or something other than God, Himself.

God doesn't want to be #1 on a list of 10. He wants to be #1 on a list of 1. He does not want competitors in your life as a believer. Would you say that you are a believer of Jesus Christ today?

You would be indicting yourself before God, man and the angels if you said that you are a believer of Jesus Christ. People can determine the truth of that by what you choose to worship. So how does Revelation 17 apply to our lives today?

It all boils down to the issue of worship, man's passion and desire to worship. Jesus said, "You're either worshiping Satan, the devil, who you don't have to believe in to be worshiping him, by the way. Just be in disobedience to God. Or you worship the God of heaven and earth.

It's either black or white.

One way or the other.

As humans, we throw up a wall the minute because we don't like to hear black and white. We have been brought up in a culture of absolute liberalism and whatever is relative, so goes it. We have plenty of bumper stickers to prove that or sayings. "If it feels good...do it." "Look out for Number 1!"

The world doesn't say to love your neighbor, it says to love yourself first. It is all about survival of the fittest! The Bible on the other hand, says No to all of that. It is considered self-worship and idolatry, also spiritual adultery when our allegiances are given to something or someone other than Jesus Christ.

In an article found in Delta's Sky magazine there is an article by Tanja Mohn called, "Carnival would be nothing without its music." I found a particular quote interesting in light of what we have been studying:

"And why shouldn’t it be, with Carnival’s lusty history? Most accounts point to the ancient Greek spring festival honoring Dionysus, the god of wine, as a prototype of Carnival. The Romans continued the idea with Bacchanalia and Saturnalia, festival days when slaves and their masters would exchange roles. These pre-Christian celebrations are thought to have been adapted by the Roman Catholic Church for the period preceding Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Before the 40 somber days of Lent, when Roman Catholics abstained from eating meat, a party was definitely in order."

You can figure out quite a few of the reference mentioned here, but this goes to show you how Ancient Babylon and its influences are just about everywhere. We know that Dionysus is the god of wine and goes back to a different name in the Greek culture as Eros. We have mentioned here Baccahnalia and Saturnalia,  which are forms of Bacchus, the Roman name for Tammuz and Saturnalia, the Roman name for an agricultural deity that ruled over the world and from where Christmas traditions were developed. The interesting thing to note is it was adapted by the Roman Catholic church with the beginning of Lent. We know where the origins of Lent came from. Semiramis who lamented for her dead son Tammuz to be resurrected from the underworld for 40 days to the gods. 

Paganism was, is, and will be a threat to true worship. We want to look at certain things about our worship in this next three part study. If Babylonianism is in the Catholic or Christian worship systems today, how can we make sure that we are pure, healthy worshipers of God? 

There are 8 things we are going to study in depth with the first being:

1. We want to guard against being unwise in our worship. 

Satan demands worship. He deceived 1/3 of the angelic host to obtain worship. He infiltrated the Garden of Eden to get Eve to divorce herself from the obedience of God to listen to his false doctrine to worship Satan via the temptation. He surfaces again when Jesus' ministry commences and Satan comes to Jesus to tempt Him, saying to Jesus, "If you will only bow down and worship me, I will give you the kingdoms of the world." It is all about worship to Satan. 

It's all about worship when it comes to God. 

The battleground is earth and the war being waged right now if for your soul. What are you choosing or not choosing to do. What will you yield to or not yield to. What will you let yourself be free to do or not to do. It is all determined in the mind. What do you allow in and what do you allow to happen.We never want to be unwise in our worship. Knowing His person. We want to be smart about our worship. 

John 4:23-24 ~ "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

The only way we can know more of God is through reading His Word, the Bible, every day. Then it is worshiping Him through our Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit residing in us as believers. Making ourselves available to Him. Declare that intention in your prayers to Him. It's the expression of worship that can be found practiced in every culture of every civilization. 

No one can know our thoughts or the intentions of our hearts, although they can come close through spending time with us. The Bible declares us to be the Temple of God. Something we take for granted when you really think about it. 

We really need to careful. 

Acts 7:47-49 ~ "But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophets says, 'Heaven is my thrones, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?"

1 Corinthians 3:16 ~ "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

We are all created in the image of God. You are worth more to God than any temple or shrine built for Him. Don't live your life religiously going through the motions without personally knowing what is is like to have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling inside of you. 

More tomorrow....

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.

Understanding the Origins of Ancient Babylon and It's Influence on the Church

We have been studying both in our Bible, and through various resources on the Internet on the roots of Ancient Babylon and how it has influenced and infiltrated the church even today into a false religious system that is slow gaining a rise to power in both politics and influence in religion. As we have been studying Revelation 17, we can now come to an understanding of why so many churches refrain from teaching on the Book of Revelation, based on what we can study and reveal in this sole chapter. Does it just make you want to research this further? It is what I highly encourage and recommend that you do, as well as open your Bible to see how they connect the seemingly innocent dots in the picture that is starting to be revealed here.

We know that God's whole purpose at this point is to levy judgment on this false religious system once and for all. It has been committing spiritual pornography with the world and the church and is represented by the woman, the beast and the waters found in Revelation 17. The only influence we should want to have in the world is simply for salvation and nothing else. We know that this false church will rise to assist the antichrist in his rise to power in the last days and will be an indulgent religious system that is also levying persecution against the true saints of the church.

This is an unholy church. We need to be extra careful where we allow our hearts, our minds and our feet to cross the threshold of church on Sundays. We need to ask ourselves these questions. Is the church your attending a Spirit-filled, Bible-believing, Jesus-exalting, sin-fearing church that is alive? Is it alive with the hope of reaching others for Jesus Christ? Does it address sin or simply make you feel good?

The church we are studying today is the origin of sin. That is what makes this church or religious system different. It begs us to answer a simple question really?

How can you conduct counseling in the church on marriage and parenting, if you aren't married or have children?

1 Timothy 4:1-3 ~ "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons, through the insincerity of liars who consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth."

Catholic doctrine is not founded on the Bible. Search for these things yourself. It has it roots in ancient Babylonian rituals, images and practices. Daniel says that this false religious system will answer the worlds cry for money and peace.

Revelation 13:16-18 ~ "Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of man, and his number is 666."

We know that there are three distinct images or symbols in Revelation 17, the woman, the beast she is riding, and the waters. We know the waters are the symbol for the sea of humanity, the woman is Europa and the beast is Zeus on the Euro coin, but why are these images on the Euro coin? Most will simply say that these are just part of Greek mythology, but look into the roots. 

What is the connection? A woman rides the beast. Do you have any idea about the origin of Cupid, that cute symbol for Valentine's Day. This image is on a stamp along with the image of the woman and the beast riding over the waters, along with a dolphin.

We have learned in our previous studies that this little chubby angelic being with a bow and arrow is the son of Nimrod, from Genesis. His name was Tammuz. His father was an archer and so is Tammuz. Nimrod's wife was Semiramis, also referred to as the Queen of Heaven, from the Bible. In the Greek Mythology, the woman and child are referred to as Aphrodite and Eros, and in the Roman Mythology it is Venus and Cupid. The names have simply changed through the culture and ages but the roots began with Semiramis and Tammuz.

The dolphin image on the stamp underneath the beast in the water. Let's look at that.

Jonah was swallowed by a fish not a whale, because that is what the Bible tells us. How long did Jonah proclaim that Nineveh had before God's judgment against the city would be unleashed? 40 days. It is interesting to note that the largest salvation of a city was the city of Nineveh, 3 million people repented from a man preaching a fire and brimstone message. Why did they listen to him?

Because he was spit out of the belly of a fish. The people of Nineveh worshiped Dagon. He is found in the Old Testament and in human history. He was the god of the fish. They priests of Dagon all wore long robes of scarlet and green, and wore a hat that was pointed when you looked at it from one angle and when they turned it was the shape of a fish mouth. This is still in use today. Do you think the current Pope knows any of this?

It can be found in ancient antiquity before the Roman Catholic church was established. It was simply a practice that they adopted.

We know that this false religious system will have its wealth elevate its statues. The road to Babylon is a system having "gross" passions. She is a spiritual harlot.

Revelation 17:4b ~ "holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality."

She is unholy to God and instead has a passion for the world and what it can offer.

Revelation 17:2 ~ "with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on the earth have become drunk."

She has been and will be with the political leaders and representatives, the kings of the earth. She is indulgent.

Revelation 17:5 ~ "And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations."

An unholy marriage between the Babylonian worship system to what was called the Christian church under Pontiff Maximus Constantine in the early 300's A.D. When a carnal, apostate church united with the state. "When the emperor worship of the Roman Empire intercoursed with the church, together they produced the Holy Roman Church."

This is the world's ultimate goal of uniting church and state. The church was corrupt from the inside and this is how it all began. When Christianity mixes with politics, and they coincide peacefully someone will lose. Historically, Christianity has never won when it comes to politics. It never will until Jesus returns. We should vote and be vocal with our involvement in politics, to do things rightly, but we will never create a heaven on earth. Better to vote wisely than to not participate in the freedoms God has given to us.

This is a false religious system "given" to persecutions.

Revelation 17:6-7a ~ "And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, "Why do you marvel?"

She has historically martyred Christians. There has been no other institution on earth that has killed more Bible believing Christian throughout the history than the Holy Roman Church. Study the inquisitions.

You had men like Wycliff, John Knox and John Bunyan who simply wanted the Bible in the hands of the people to read it for themselves and were labeled as heretics and were killed. Study and research it as well as the Huguenots. Why were 200,000 of them burned or killed?

Find out everything about Pope Innocent III, you will shocked by what you learn.

This false religious system has been alive in every sense and will continue to grow in the last days.

God has always had His timelines. No other nation has become a nation again in one day but the nation of Israel on May 14, 1948. This prophecy was fulfilled from the Bible. Where are we on God's timeline? He knows everything. The decree of God is His nature, that He knows all things actual and all things possible. That is knowledge!!! He knows the "what could have beens in our life."

John never imagined that something called the church could consume others. These events that God showed John are yet future. They, like us, reside along a biblical timeline. Let's bring this to our attention now. How many horns did John mention in Revelation 17? 10.

Daniel 7:24 ~ "As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall rise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings."

Revelation 17:12 ~ "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."

The ten horns are ten kings. They are promised kingdoms for just a little time, the Bible promises. Do a Google search on E.U. or European Union. You will discover a Western European Union that the Bible speaks about in Daniel 7, 9, 11, Revelation 13 and 17.

We will study this in greater lengths tomorrow but begin your own search today on what you find.

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!

Are You Worshiping A Babylonian Religious System?

This part of our Bible study is truly revealing to me, because I was raised by Catholic parents. They truly believed in everything the church taught and weren't what I would call devout Catholics in their church attendance, but based on their traditions, rituals and beliefs, they were whole heartedly devoted to their religious beliefs. In fact, part of those beliefs and practices became part of my faith at one point and included all that went with it, from going to class for my holy communion and confirmation to everything that the Catholic church taught. It was the only thing I knew because it was what my parents taught me and I never considered researching its backgrounds because I truly felt what I was doing was right. Until I met the Jesus of the Bible and not of the Catholic church. I ask you to do your own research on what you will find her today and see if it all doesn't make sense and cause you to reconsider all that you may believe and what the roots are in the religion you might be following.

I believe in our own lives there comes a time when we simply want to do what we want to do and every single time we do that, we run into trouble. See when you follow what the Bible says, you can never go wrong. We can never regret following God. One thing is for sure, we will always fill that God-shaped hole in our life with a god or gods. It is simply human nature to want something in our life that approves of what we want to do without being told differently. The God of Heaven won't do that because He simply loves us too much to leave us alone.

In our study in identifying the worship system of Babylon, we know that it is a system having "global" powers. Remember the Euro coin we looked at yesterday, about the woman riding a beast over the waters? These are the waters of the world or the sea of humanity.

Her identity is clear.

Revelation 17:18 ~ "And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth."

In John's day it was reigning over the kings of the earth, the city of Rome and the Roman Empire. The Babylonian worship was already around the world at this point. That "great city" was its center and it can be no other than Rome. It was the seat of power during John's time. That can be no other city that commanded that much power and influence in the world at that time. It was and is the religious and political power of the world in that time and it will be once again.

Her location is clear.

Revelation 17:9 ~ "This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;"

The seven heads are seven mountains or hills on which the woman sits. Since we know the city is Rome, we can gain an understanding of the hills or mountains that are named. They are Avantine, Kalian, Capotalin, Palatine, Escholine, Quarinal, and Viminal. These are the names of the hills of the city-state called Vatican City. See the map for the locations of these hills and you can see that Capotalin is the city of Jerusalem that was renamed by the Romans. Palatine is the renamed city of Palestine, named in honor of the Philistines.

The church mated with the Babylonian powers of the Roman Empire and completely attempted to remove themselves from all forms of Christianity. If you remember "The Way" was an effort to assimilate the Christianity of the time into the Babylonian empire. One Emperor managed to do just that. Emperor Constantine (300-315 A.D.) did this perfectly. He created amnesty and stopped the persecutions of the Christians if they conformed to this new belief system, which many did. This is dangerous when the church flirts with and dates the powers of the world.

Her attire is clear.

Revelation 17:4 ~ "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."

Notice the colors purple and scarlet, those are the key colors. The priests of the Babylonian cult wore exclusively purple and red. Semiramus made sure all of these things were used in her worship services. She is dressed very seductive (spiritually) speaking.

Her influence is clear.

Revelation 17:12 ~ "And the ten hours that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received their royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast."

A global ecumenically coalition: one world, one faith and one religion. Remember the image on the coin of the "waters" the beast and the woman were riding over? The sea of humanity to conquer the world.

In identifying the worship of Babylon, it's a system having a "glorious" position. She will have swift access to the world.

Revelation 17:3 ~ "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."

Notice in the picture of this famous painting that is hanging in a museum depicting the last days of earth. Notice the geometry of the shape of the cup. Do some research on this and you might be shocked at what you will discover. This is a depiction of the church in the last days, but it has its roots from the creation of the world.

She will dominate the world's religions

Revelation 17:3 ~ "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."

Notice that in the picture and in the Bible verse, she is sitting. It means she isn't worried about anything, she is very comfortable with the way things are going.  If you do some research into the Minoan civilization, you might find some very interesting things. This was during the time period of roughly 2500 B.C. in Ancient Greece and recent archaeological discoveries have unearthed some temples depicting a scarlet beast or bull. This is the god Zeus with the great horns. Not the colors used in these temples and paintings. They are again key in our study.

This was a satellite worship center with the head of it being in Babylon which then moved to Greece, then Turkey and there we find the city of Pergamum or Pergamus as noted in the Bible. These were all about temple worship. Do more research like I did and see who they worshiped there.

It's a system of "grand" prosperity. It had unlimited wealth and has always had it. They believed in rituals or rites that were necessary to get you into heaven. As Christianity utilized the British pound, then the U.S. dollar, she will utilize the Euro. This religious system believed that you had to confess your sins to priests in order to be forgiven and gain entrance into heaven.

Watch for a dominant European currency.

Revelation 17:4 ~ "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."

Revelation 14 tells us that it is a membership economy. The restructuring of Europe will happen. Consider these questions.

Where is the largest church on the planet located right now? Rome.

Do you know that it is excluded from the governments of the world and its laws?

The Vatican City issues its own passports. Nations of the world have to have ambassadors not to Italy but they need another one from Rome, to Vatican City?

Did you know that the Pope, the Cardinals and the Nicolaitans are exempt from government laws worldwide?

Consider the Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal in the church, was anyone ever arrested? If this happened in any other church group, people would have gone to jail.

If you study your Bible, you'll realize that you don't need to go through anyone but Jesus to confess your sins to. Who did the thief on the cross go through? No one but Jesus. The same is true today. If any religious system tries and stands in the way of Jesus, it is a false one.

It's wealth will elevate its status in the world. One church stands alone when it comes to its monetary worth in the world. Only one.

It's a system having "gross" passions. She is a spiritual harlot. She doesn't hook up with people, but with nations and power to infiltrate them. Think of it as spiritual pornography, if you will, flirting with the world's religions.

She is unholy to God.

Revelation 17:2 ~ "with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immortality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk."

The "kings of the earth" are political leaders and their representatives.

She is indulgent.

Revelation 17:5 ~ "And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations."

An unholy marriage, the Babylonian worship system to the church of God.

It's a system of having "given" persecutions.

Revelation 17:6-7a ~ "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?"

She has historically martyred Christians. She will repeat her historic actions. Her actions are shocking to John because he never imagined that something called the church could consume others. Think back to the Inquisitions from the 1500's to the 1800's. More people were killed in the name of Jesus and such people like Martin Luther, Tyndale and Woodcliffe were attacked or killed for simply telling people not to listen to the church but to read the Bible for themselves to learn the truth.

1 Timothy 4:1-3 ~ "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth."

2 Corinthians 11:2 ~ "For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ."

James 4:4 ~ "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

2 Timothy 4:2-4 ~ "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teaching to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths." 

Do you have religion in your life, keeping God in a box, only taking Him out when You need Him or do you have a real relationship with God?

It is hard not to look at all this convicting evidence like I did and not realize how easily it is to be led astray simply based on traditions and rituals based on how you were raised to believe. You can't claim once reading this and doing your own research that you didn't know anymore. God will forgive us if we simply ask him and we don't need to go through anyone else to get there.

We can pray to God through His Son Jesus, and ask for forgiveness for any sin. There is none so great He won't forgive you for, if you simply believe in Him and ask. If you agree with Jesus that your sin is the only thing separating you from God and that Jesus came to save you by dying on the cross for You, being raised from the dead and now through asking Him into your life, you can experience a relationship that is life changing not a religion to hold you back!

Will you ask Jesus into your life today? The Bible promises that those who call on the name of Jesus will be saved!

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.