“In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel
away into Assyria …”(verse 6). The Israelites were picked up and relocated
The Bible records that “the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,
and from Cuthah [near Babylon] … and placed them in the cities of Samaria
instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof”.
This explains the perpetuation of Nimrod’s Babylonian mystery religion.
At this moment, around 718 b.c., tens of thousands of
Babylonians, perhaps more—people steeped in the teachings
and practices of Nimrod’s Babylonian mystery religion—were
planted in the region of Samaria. The Babylonians and the false
religion of Nimrod and Semiramis became entrenched there.
It was in Samaria, roughly 750 years after this transplant,
that the Catholic Church was formally created. And, as we
might expect, this history too was recorded in the Bible.
Isn’t it interesting that Simon Magus attempted to purchase
a spiritual favor from God? Can you think of an institution
that grew incredibly wealthy by selling spiritual favors?
Instead of simply rejecting Simon and his money and moving to the next convert,
Peter took the time to deliver a strong prophetic warning to Simon Magus.
“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness …” he stated.
“For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness,
and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts 8:22-23). Bitterness means
extreme wickedness, bitter hatred, or the capability to produce bitter fruit.
Remember, Simon Magus was already a powerful religious
leader in Samaria. He was rooted in the practices and teachings
of the Babylonian mystery religion, under demonic influence,
and a master at deceiving people.
Peter was cognizant of Simon’s abilities, as well as his extreme vanity
and ambition, and knew he was capable of producing bitter fruit.
Peter knew this man was a threat to the true Church.
Lange’s Commentary explains, “Peter’s words, literally,
mean: ‘I regard you as a man whose influence will be like that
of bitter gall [poison] and a bond of unrighteousness [lawlessness],
or, as a man who has reached such a state.’”
“Peter’s rebuke of Simon was a grave prophetic warning.
… Acts 8:23 contains the seed of the prophecy in Revelation 17
about what that false church does on this Earth!”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simony
Simony (pron. ['sa?.m?.ni] or ['s?.m?.ni]) is the act of selling church offices and roles. The practice is named after Simon Magus,[1] who is described in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9–24 as having offered two disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, payment in exchange for their empowering him to impart the power of the Holy Spirit to anyone on whom he would place his hands. The term also extends to other forms of trafficking for money in "spiritual things".[2][3]
Simony was also one of the important issues during the Investiture Controversy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_Controversy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire
Here is what the New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the
English Language states about Simon Magus: “Rebuked by
Peter, he begged him to intercede with God on his behalf, and
appears no more in Acts. Later literature showed him reappearing
in Rome in the time of Claudius in a new movement of
his own, curiously combining Christian and pagan elements,
and in which he figured as God.” That is a powerful quote
from Webster’s, a secular source.
This truth will surely come as a surprise to most readers:
Mainstream Christianity today—which grew either directly or
indirectly out of Catholicism—is an outgrowth of the religion of
Simon Magus.
This why we must learn from what is written 
