(Revelation 17:5) “And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
An affront to God!
In the Bible we are told that Nimrod was “a mighty hunter before the Lord,” However in the Hebrew language we are told that he was a mighty hunter “in the face of God,” in other words he was a rebel in the face of God. His empire was the first, “Beast Empire” on record at that time an affront to God. Prior to the flood the people of Noah’s generation were spread across the earth but there was no united empire as such. Nimrod’s empire was the first attempt of men to unite together to build a global empire. They all had one common language and agenda to “storm the gates of heaven” as it were and thought that nothing would be impossible for them to do. Of course as we know the Triune God only allowed them to go so far before He stepped in to destroy their coalition by confusing their languages. After that over time they were dispersed to the four corners of the earth.
A tale of two cities
Now we are also told in the Bible that Nimrod built two cities. One was Assyria and the other was Babylon. These were the empires he created and ruled over. Both of these cities were built in a desert in the plain of Shinar located in the same region as the modern location of Iraq today. The mystery of Babylon the Great had commenced with Nimrod. Of course the Garden of Eden had been situated in the same geographical region where Satan had first enslaved Adam and Eve the father and mother of the human race. The history of the human race began in the Middle-east and the culmination of this present age will also be centred in the Middle-east. Satan had his first defeat in Jerusalem and will have his last defeat there as well. In the Bible the King of Assyria and the King of Babylon are both used as metaphors for the Antichrist himself.
The Crescent Moon and the Star
Now the Babylonian mystery religions revolved around the worship of the heavens. They worshipped the sun, the moon and the stars. The crescent moon and star were very ancient symbols actually seen in images of the gods carved in rock by the ancient people predating Islam by hundreds of years. In these engravings the god and goddess were worshipped together. In fact the crescent moon and star is the key to understanding the mystery that is Babylon the Great. The star and moon were symbols of the god Baal and Ashtoreth in the Bible. They were worshipped together. The symbols go all the way back to Nimrod and his wife Semiramis. She was also his mother. In almost every religion there is a mother and child representing the god child in the lap of its mother. It all leads back to the mother goddess of Babylon. After the death of Nimrod, his adulterous wife gave birth to a child who she claims was supernaturally conceived. She taught that Tammuz-the son was a God child; that he was Nimrod, reborn and that her and her child were divine. Thus establishing mother and child worship. Numerous monuments of Babylon show the Goddess mother Semiramis with her child Tammuz in her arms. This is seen in Roman Catholicism to this day with statues of the Madonna and Child, namely a statue of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus in her arms. This concept comes from the time of Nimrod. It is of pagan origin. Actually after the Tower of babel when the people were scattered to the four corners of the earth they took with them the worship of the divine mother and god-child. This explains why all nations, in one way or another worshipped a divine mother and god child. There is much archaeological evidence for this in almost every civilization. We see then that the Roman Catholic Church has the image of the Madonna and Child directly taken from Babylon making the Roman Catholicism a part of the mystery that is Babylon the Great but not the whole of it.
The gods of Babylon have a names change
Now the cult of Nimrod and Semiramis perpetuated as a male and female god was adopted by all of the ancient empires. In Egypt they became Osiris and Isis. In Assyria they became Assur and Ishtar. In Babylon they became Bel and Belit. In Persia they became Mithra and Anahita. In Greece they became Helios and Artemis and in Rome they became Appollo and Diana. Throughout the Bible they are mainly called Baal and Ashtoreth (the Queen of Heaven) in the book of Acts 7:43 they are called Moloch and Rephan. Today we have the crescent moon and star of Islam. These symbols directly connect Islam with the cult of Nimrod and Semiramis. Indeed the mystery of Babylon the Great is really no longer a mystery.
The ‘Mystery’ of Babylon the Great
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. Many times it has been a violent religion in which one has one of two choices: either convert or die. The religion of Islam has as its focus of worship a deity by the name of “Allah.” Allah was a pagan moon-god in Arabia during pre-Islamic times. Moon worship has been practiced in Arabia and the Middle East since about 2000 BC. The crescent moon is the most common symbol of this pagan moon worship. The moon-god was also referred to as “al-ilah”. Originally this was not a proper name of a single specific god, but a generic name meaning “the god”. Each local Arab tribe would refer to their own local tribal pagan god as “al-ilah”. “Al-ilah” was later shortened to Allah before Mohammed began promoting his new religion in 610 AD. Mohammed retained almost all the pagan rituals of the Arabs at the temple, Ka’ba, and redefined them in monotheistic terms. Today Islam is a false monotheistic religion with its roots in polytheistic paganism.
Constellation worship forbidden
The Old Testament regularly forbade the worship of the moon-god and other false gods. When the children of Israel came out of Egyptian bondage they were warned, “a man or a woman who have been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, who have gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven…then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.” (Deuteronomy 17:3-5) When Israel fell into idolatry, many times it involved moon-god worship. There are remnants of pagan moon-god worship in the Koran where there are examples of Muslims swearing by the moon. For example; “Nay; I swear by the moon, And the night when it departs, And the daybreak when it shines;” (Koran 74:32-34).
The Arabian moon-god
The pagan Arab nations worshipped 360 gods, one for each day of the year. The moon-god was a male god and the sun-god was a female goddess. The moon-god was called by various names, one of which was Allah. Many Arabs believed that the moon-god was the greatest of all gods. In worshipping their moon-god, Allah, they prayed toward Mecca several times a day, made pilgrimages to Mecca, ran around the temple of the moon-god called the Ka’ba, kissed the Black Stone, killed animal sacrifices for their moon-god, and fasted for the month which begins and ends with the crescent moon, etc., just as the Muslims do today. They believed Allah, the moon-god, was married to the sun goddess. Together they produced three goddesses who were called “the daughters of Allah.” Allah’s three daughters, Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat, were viewed as intercessors between the people and Allah and were also worshipped at the Ka’ba in Mecca. The daughters of Allah, along with Allah’s wife the sun goddess, and Allah were viewed as “high” gods.
What about Mohammed?
Mohammed was raised to worship the moon-god, Allah. The Quraish tribe into which Mohammad was born was particularly devoted to Allah. The literal Arabic name of Mohammed’s father was Abd-Allah and his uncle’s name was Obied-Allah. These names show the devotion that Mohammed’s family had in the worship of their moon-god, Allah. When Mohammed proclaimed his new doctrine: “There is no God but Allah”, he was not trying to introduce a new god, for his pagan countrymen already knew and acknowledged this pagan deity along with their other 359 gods. The crescent moon was an ancient pagan symbol used throughout the Middle East to represent Allah and adopting this symbol helped Muslims to convert people throughout the Middle East to Islam.
He was born in Mecca
Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 AD. In 610 AD he declared himself a prophet. At a temple called “Ka’ba” in Mecca 360 idols along with a Black Stone was worshipped. Prior to Islam the people prayed each day facing Mecca since that was the place where their idol Allah was located. Each Arab tribe used “Allah” as a generic term to refer to its own particular high god. When Mohammed began propagating his new religion he was run out of Mecca in 622 AD. He then went to Medina where he successfully began his new religion, Islam, and even became the ruler of that city. In Mecca Arabs worshipped a moon-god called Hubal at their temple called Ka’ba. Hubal, being their highest ranking god, was also known by other names such as Allah. When Mohammed came along, he dropped all references to the name “Hubal” but retained the generic “al-ilah”, which had been modified to Allah.
What did Mohammed do at Mecca?
In 630 AD Mohammed again entered Mecca and captured it. He declared Allah to be the supreme god and was the one true god that all men should worship. Mohammed claimed to have had his “vision” and “revelation” from the angel Gabriel. Mohammed destroyed all the 359 idols at Mecca except the Black Stone, which they believed came from the moon. Muslims continue to worship and kiss it today. Mohammed declared that Allah alone should be worshipped. He forbade the worship of the daughters of Allah. Mohammed retained many of the pagan rituals of the Arabs at the temple, Ka’ba, and redefined them in monotheistic terms. To this day, a crescent moon can be found at the front of every mosque, acknowledging that Allah was and is still their moon-god.
The Monotheism of the moon-god
Mohammed went one step further than his fellow pagan Arabs. While they believed that Allah, their moon-god, was the greatest of all gods and the supreme deity, Mohammed decided that Allah was not only the greatest god but the only god. The worship of the moon-god, Allah, helped Islam to be successful in propagating their religion among the Arab nations. Allah was neither an unknown nor an unimportant god to the Quraish when Mohammed began preaching his doctrine at Medina and Mecca. The fact that Islam was conceived in idolatry is shown by the many rituals performed today in the name of Allah which were connected with their pagan worship that existed before Islam. The crescent moon, as the symbol for Islam, originated when Allah was worshipped as the moon-god in Mecca. The crescent moon symbol is placed on the flags of Islamic nations and on the top of mosques and minarets and displayed on hats, flags, rugs, amulets and even jewellery. This explains why the crescent moon is the symbol of Islam today. Some flags of Muslim countries have the full moon placed inside the crescent moon to emphasize all the phases of the moon. Other flags have one or more stars or the sun placed in the crescent of the moon.
Is Allah the name for the God of the Bible?
Many people have been falsely taught that Allah is simply another name for the God of the Bible. This is not true. Allah is not the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and certainly not the God of the Bible. Muslims will try to tell you that Muslims, Christians and Jews worship the same God to try and give Islam some credibility. Satan has used this lie to lead people away from the one true God so they will be eternally lost in Hell. Actually this lie is believed not only by Muslims but also by many non-Muslims. History reveals that Islam is nothing more than a reformed revival of the ancient idolatrous moon-god paganism. Most Muslims have been kept in the dark concerning the history of their religion. The average Muslim does not know he is worshipping a moon-god or why the crescent moon sits on top of his mosque.
Is Islam a Peaceful Religion?
Islam has been called the religion of the sword (not peace)and another symbol of this is the crossed swords. Allah was also known as the Mesopotamian moon-god of war hence you have the Jihad where Islam is propagated by the sword. Indeed the martyrs in the book of Revelation were beheaded for their loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. Today in virtually every Muslim country in the Middle-east Christians are beheaded in the name of Allah and Mohammed. It’s happening in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia, Sudan, Northern Nigeria, and Somalia and in Saudi Arabia as well. Islam’s real agenda is clearly seen in the global movement for the proclamation of Islam called the Muslim Brotherhood.
The global perspective
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928, by Hassan al-Banna, a teacher and imam, the goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is global Islamic domination and the establishment of Islamic sharia law. Their creed states; “Allah is our objective, the prophet is our leader, the Koran is our law, Jihad is our way, dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” Very few people have ever heard of the Muslim Brotherhood and yet it is considered to be the most influential Islamic movement in the United States and the world. Experts say that every prominent Islamic organization in the U.S. is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood and some have even called it an “insurgency.” With affiliates and branches in more than 100 countries worldwide, it has inspired radical Islamic movements around the world. Furthermore, President Obama when in office rolled out the red carpet at the Whitehouse for their leaders and even had some of their members on his staff with access to highly classified information.
Forget Europe and Rome!
As we bring this second study to a close we need to stop looking at Europe and Rome and look towards the Middle-east. The first Babylon was a physical city built in a desert. The last Babylon the Bible tells us is a city built in a desert. The only city that fits this scenario today is the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is a city built in a desert, surrounded by the sea and seven literal mountains and an international trader with the nations of the world through its imports and especially through its oil exports. Those who trade with Mecca do so via the sea. Its origins go far back beyond the time of Mohammed. lndeed; “a Mystery, Babylon the Great” is starting to be revealed to the faithful Church. A city that the prophets and John tell us will fall. A city that will be burned with fire by the beast kingdom she rides! Indeed it will be said; “Fallen, Fallen is Babylon the Great!” Indeed it is a city whose destruction will be heard at the Red Sea. (Jeremiah 49:21)
Come out of her My people!
And so the apostle John writes; “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality. I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.” (Revelation 18:1-8)
