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I know this post will ruffle some feathers, but bear with me on this. It doesn't mean the church is that NOW, but we should look at the evidence in scripture. At the very least, this is a POSSIBILITY which should be looked into. It is in my mind that the apostate church in revelations is the Roman Catholic Church. Let us get some background first, though.
The first thing to understand is what the whole "mystery babylon" thing means. Babylon was the first organized, worldwide religious empire in the world (after the flood). We all know the story of the Tower of Babel. The name Babylon is actually Akkadian for babilani, which means Gateway to the Gods. Babylon was the mother of harlets, because it was the first of it's kind. It spread the first worldwide idolotrous (false gods) worship, and that religion has spread into many many others. Let's examine what that is:
They were definitely a polytheistic religion, but they did have main "trinity" gods/goddesses that spread throughout the ancient world as the divine mother/child religion. We see it in ancient babylon as Madruk (father)/Semiramis(mother)/Tammuz(son). Tammuz was the divine child of Semiramis that was slain (who was also claimed to have been virgin born). He later resurrects and brings forth life (rain season, etc), which is a very good ploy of Satan to mock Christianity. Anyway, you saw it in Greece as Venus/Adonis and Egypt as Isis/Horus. It was the same religion. Most likely, this spread around the world when the confusion of speech spread people around the world after the tower.
This religion even spread into Isreal:
The first thing to understand is what the whole "mystery babylon" thing means. Babylon was the first organized, worldwide religious empire in the world (after the flood). We all know the story of the Tower of Babel. The name Babylon is actually Akkadian for babilani, which means Gateway to the Gods. Babylon was the mother of harlets, because it was the first of it's kind. It spread the first worldwide idolotrous (false gods) worship, and that religion has spread into many many others. Let's examine what that is:
They were definitely a polytheistic religion, but they did have main "trinity" gods/goddesses that spread throughout the ancient world as the divine mother/child religion. We see it in ancient babylon as Madruk (father)/Semiramis(mother)/Tammuz(son). Tammuz was the divine child of Semiramis that was slain (who was also claimed to have been virgin born). He later resurrects and brings forth life (rain season, etc), which is a very good ploy of Satan to mock Christianity. Anyway, you saw it in Greece as Venus/Adonis and Egypt as Isis/Horus. It was the same religion. Most likely, this spread around the world when the confusion of speech spread people around the world after the tower.
This religion even spread into Isreal:
5 Then he said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.
6 And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable."
7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, "Son of man, now dig into the wall." So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.
9 And he said to me, "Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here." 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
12 He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.' " 13 Again, he said, "You will see them doing things that are even more detestable."
14 Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this."
16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
17 He said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them."
(Ezek. 8:5-18 NIV)
It spread through Greece, and later Rome. Might I add, that the Catholic version of their worship of the Virgin Mary is derived from this idolatrous religion. We will get back into that later, though.
Before the "official" change in religion during the Roman Empire, the official religion was the mother/child cult. It was taken from Greece the same way that Greece took it from Babylon/Phoenicia. Every caesar was named Pontifex Maximus (which literally means "Greatest Bridge-maker") which is the head of the Roman religion, or the high priest per say. This started with Julius Caesar, but by the time Augustus came around, it was automatically assumed when you become the emperor. This was also bestowed upon Constantine as the emperor when he changed the official religion of Rome into Christianity.
What does all of that mean? Where do you think the pope is derived from? Roman Christianity was never "real" christianity, and around AD 376, Gratian the emperor of Rome, refused the title of Pontifex Maximus because he realized this. It was a strictly babylonian/mother child cult worshiping title. This is the first time a pope was elected in the Roman Catholic Church AS THAT TITLE. He was Demasus. The entire prefex of what a pope is, is pagan. It is a mix of christianity and paganistic baylonian mother/child cult worship. I would like any naysayers to do research into the subject. The ancient rites of Babylon involved veneration of images, relics, pilgrimages, etc. The Roman Catholic Church copied this to a fault. It is idolatrous and paganistic. I don't think I need to go on with it, beyond as a point prover here.
So how does this all connect into the Book of Revelation's mystery babylon?
I'll break this down for you. In verse 1, the "many waters" is explained in Rev 17:15:
6 And he said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable."
7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, "Son of man, now dig into the wall." So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.
9 And he said to me, "Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here." 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
12 He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.' " 13 Again, he said, "You will see them doing things that are even more detestable."
14 Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this."
16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
17 He said to me, "Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them."
(Ezek. 8:5-18 NIV)
It spread through Greece, and later Rome. Might I add, that the Catholic version of their worship of the Virgin Mary is derived from this idolatrous religion. We will get back into that later, though.
Before the "official" change in religion during the Roman Empire, the official religion was the mother/child cult. It was taken from Greece the same way that Greece took it from Babylon/Phoenicia. Every caesar was named Pontifex Maximus (which literally means "Greatest Bridge-maker") which is the head of the Roman religion, or the high priest per say. This started with Julius Caesar, but by the time Augustus came around, it was automatically assumed when you become the emperor. This was also bestowed upon Constantine as the emperor when he changed the official religion of Rome into Christianity.
What does all of that mean? Where do you think the pope is derived from? Roman Christianity was never "real" christianity, and around AD 376, Gratian the emperor of Rome, refused the title of Pontifex Maximus because he realized this. It was a strictly babylonian/mother child cult worshiping title. This is the first time a pope was elected in the Roman Catholic Church AS THAT TITLE. He was Demasus. The entire prefex of what a pope is, is pagan. It is a mix of christianity and paganistic baylonian mother/child cult worship. I would like any naysayers to do research into the subject. The ancient rites of Babylon involved veneration of images, relics, pilgrimages, etc. The Roman Catholic Church copied this to a fault. It is idolatrous and paganistic. I don't think I need to go on with it, beyond as a point prover here.
So how does this all connect into the Book of Revelation's mystery babylon?
1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."
3Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5This title was written on her forehead:
MYSTERY
BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.
(Rev 17:1-8 NIV)
3Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5This title was written on her forehead:
MYSTERY
BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.
(Rev 17:1-8 NIV)
I'll break this down for you. In verse 1, the "many waters" is explained in Rev 17:15:
15Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
This means the great harlot is spread worldwide to all peoples and nations.
Verse 2 of Rev 17:
2With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.
This means that not only regular people, but the kings of the earth have been seduced. This means this is a religion that has taken over countries and empires, not just people. It has become "official".
Now let's examine the 4th verse of Rev 17:
Now, let's look at Rev 17:9:
Now let's examine the 4th verse of Rev 17:
4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.
This means a few things. One is that she is rich. The Roman Catholic Church sure is full of money, is it not? Also, what kind of robes do they wear during their services? Don't they use quite a bit of gold on their imagery of the cross? What about their communion cup? It all sure looks pretty though from the outside! This is almost common sense here. They look beautiful from the outside, but their cup is poison for those that drink from it.
Now, let's look at Rev 17:9:
9"This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. 11The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
The great harlot sits on 7 hills, or mountains. The only city in the world that is built on 7 mountains is ROME. Where is the headquarters for the Roman Catholic Church? Where is the Vatican? ROME.
Verse 6 of Rev 17:
Verse 6 of Rev 17:
6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.
This means a few things as well. One is the obvious fact that the Roman Catholic Church has murdered thousands of christians in the name of their false religious dichotomy. Years later, they are still trying to make up for it by changing their "official" stance on these martyrs. Also, the second obvious truth is their veneration of saints as almost higher than Jesus and God Himself. They worship the mother Mary more than Jesus. They pray to the saints over praying to Jesus. This is idolatry and paganistic, which brings us back to the Babylonian mother/child cult. Some things never change
Now, I understand this strikes a big blow to some of our catholics in this forum, and my advice would be to do whatever your heart tells you to. You don't have to believe what I believe, but the evidence is pretty strong. Either way, it is a personal opinion. I think Roman Catholicism is idolatrous in many ways, but I do believe that catholics can and do get saved. I just believe this is where the apostate church Mystery Babylon will spring out from. Take it or leave it.
Now, I understand this strikes a big blow to some of our catholics in this forum, and my advice would be to do whatever your heart tells you to. You don't have to believe what I believe, but the evidence is pretty strong. Either way, it is a personal opinion. I think Roman Catholicism is idolatrous in many ways, but I do believe that catholics can and do get saved. I just believe this is where the apostate church Mystery Babylon will spring out from. Take it or leave it.