From Literal to Spiritual Babylon

Recap

Summary of last presentation

The root cause of sinful actions is a misconception of God’s character.

Lies about God is the foundation of Satan’s kingdom.

Why has God allowed Satan’s rebellion to continue?

John 7:51 AV 1873

51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

God is allowing Satan time to make his case, and the universe is to hear him out.

Deuteronomy 19:16–18 (AV 1873)

16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;

17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;

18 and the judges shall make diligent inquisition…

We are the priests and judges to look into this controversy and find the truth!

Time must be given for Satan to develop the principles which were the foundation of his government. The heavenly universe must see worked out the principles which Satan declared were superior to God's principles. God's order must be contrasted with Satan's order. The corrupting principles of Satan's rule must be revealed. RH September 7, 1897, par. 10

Where should we look to find evidence of how Satan’s principles affect mankind?

Luke 4:5–6 (AV 1873)

5 And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

Did Jesus say Satan didn’t have the authority to offer these kingdoms? No! Because Satan is the “god of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).

But where in history should we look to see Satan’s rule? God directs us to specific kingdoms through prophecy, specifically the prophecies in Daniel.

Daniel 2 Statue

We’re all familiar with this statue. But I want to take a look at the parallels between each of this kingdoms.

As we study history, some of these parallels begin to emerge:

The ruler is a representative of the gods

who wields political and spiritual authority

while exercising word-wide influence.

Religious laws are created by the religious power

and enforced by the State

through force or coercion (usually through threat of death).

Babylon

Ancient Babylon was ruled by a “divine priest-king,” where “Earthly kings, then, were only the representatives or vicars of Enlil (or Bêl).” Félix Guirand, Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, trans. Richard Aldington and Delano Ames (New York: Prometheus Press 1959), 53.

What did Nebuchadnezzar, the “divine priest-king,” do with his authority?

Picture of Gold Statue + fiery furnace.

Daniel 3

Nebuchadnezzar made a religious law (worship the image) with a death decree and enforced it through the State.

Medo-Persia

The Medes

Daniel 6

Picture of Daniel in the Lion’s Den

Darius the Mede made a religious law (don’t pray to God) with a death decree and enforced it through the State.

The Persians

Esther

The rulers of Persia had the title “king of kings.”

Picture of King Xerxes and Haman

The Persian King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) made a religious law (bow to Haman) and death decree and enforced it through the State.

Greece

In Daniel 8:5 we read of the horn on the Grecian Kingdom, Alexander the Great.

Picture of Alexander the Great as Zeus.

Just as Nebuchadnezzar claimed to be a divine priest-king, so did Alexander the Great.

Prophecy says that after Alexander’s death his kingdom would be divided between his four generals (Dan. 8:8; 11:4).

Picture of Alexander’s generals deified.

We learn more about one of them in the apocrypha (good history, not theology).

Antiochus Epiphanes IV (who also claimed to be divine), made religious laws against the Jews (1 Maccabees 1:41–49) with a death penalty and enforced it through the State.

Pagan Rome

After Julius Caesar died, he was deified by the Senate.

Pictures of Julius Caesar deified.

His heir, Augustus, thus claimed to be “the son of god.”

Pictures of Augustus Caesar deified.

In the Bible we read about the Sanhedrin (Church) using Rome (the State) to crucify Christ for breaking their man-made Sabbath laws (Mark 3:1-6) and claiming to be the Son of God.

Insert chart from FF p. 56.

What’s the next world power after Rome that had a ruler who claimed to be a representative of divinity with both political and spiritual authority? What system had a man that made these claims and likewise had word-wide influence to create religious laws and used the “kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18), or the State, to enforce them with force and coercion?

Papal Rome

“The mighty Catholic Church was little more than the Roman Empire baptised... The very capital of the old Roman Empire became the capital of the Christian empire. The office of Pontifex Maximus was continued in that of the pope.”

In 538 AD the Catholic Church at the third Synod of Orleans decreed the following in canon 28:

“28. Whereas the people are persuaded that they ought not to travel on the Lord’s day [Sunday]with the horses, or oxen and carriages, or to prepare anything for food, or to do anything conducive to the cleanliness of houses or men… But from rural work, i.e., plowing, cultivating vines, reaping, mowing, thrashing, clearing away thorns or hedging, we judge it better to abstain, that the people may the more readily come to the churches and have leisure for prayers. If any one be found doing the works forbidden above, let him be punished, not as the civil authorities may direct, but as the ecclesiastical powers may determine.”

Thus began the 1,260 years of Papal Supremacy during the Dark Ages.

What can we learn from these kingdom’s actions about the nature of Satan’s kingdom?

The key for understanding is Christ and Him crucified.

In Rome we see the fruit of Satan’s kingdom of religious coercion: the brutal and unjust murder of the innocent Son of God.

Not only that, but consider these words of Jesus:

Acts 9:4–5 (NLT)

4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!

When Jesus’ children are persecuted, He is suffering with them.

Again he said the same:

Matthew 25:41–45 NLT

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

I love how EGW says is:

Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Ed 263.1

Daily He suffers the agonies of the crucifixion. ST, January 28, 1903 par. 8

When we read the history of these kingdoms persecuting God’s innocent children, what is happening behind the scenes?

Daniel 3:23–25 AV 1873

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace . 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellers, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Each time these kingdoms persecuted God’s children, they were actually crucifying the Son of God.

The Wages of Sin & the Justice of God

What was the result of crucifying Christ spiritually in all these kingdoms?

Babylon

Daniel 3:22 (NLT)

22 And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in.

Those who threw Daniel’s friends into the fiery furnace were killed by their own actions.

Psalm 9:16 (AV 1873)

16 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

This is how God’s judgments work!

“I was shown that the judgments of God would not come directly out from the Lord upon them, but in this way: They place themselves beyond His protection. He warns, corrects, reproves, and points out the only path of safety; then if those who have been the objects of His special care will follow their own course independent of the Spirit of God, after repeated warnings, if they choose their own way, then He does not commission His angels to prevent Satan’s decided attacks upon them.

It is Satan’s power that is at work at sea and on land, bringing calamity and distress, and sweeping off multitudes to make sure of his prey. And storm and tempest both by sea and land will be, for Satan has come down in great wrath. He is at work. He knows his time is short and, if he is not restrained, we shall see more terrible manifestations of his power than we have ever dreamed of.”

Jeremiah 17:10 (AV 1873)

10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Media

Daniel 6:24 (NLT)

24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den…

Those who threw Daniel into lion’s den were themselves thrown into the lion’s den.

Ezekiel 39:21 (AV 1873)

21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

Ezekiel 39:23 (AV 1873)

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

Psalm 7:14–16 (NLT)

14 The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.

15 They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.

16 The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.

Ecclesiastes 10:8 (AV 1873)

8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

Persia

Esther 7:9–10 (CSB)

9 Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “There is a gallows seventy-five feet tall at Haman’s house that he made for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” The king said, “Hang him on it.”

10 They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger subsided.

Greece

Antiochus was on his way to destroy the Jews, then this happened:

2 Maccabees 9:7 (RSV)

7 Yet he [Antiochus] did not in any way stop his insolence, but was even more filled with arrogance, breathing fire in his rage against the Jews, and giving orders to hasten the journey. And so it came about that he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall was so hard as to torture every limb of his body.

Pagan Rome

John 19:15 (AV 1873)

When Israel rejected Christ, “… The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar.”

Israel (the Church) had officially divorced Christ, the only One who was protecting them, in favor of Rome (the State).

Matthew 23:37 AV 1873

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not?

EGW Notes:

“The Jews had forged their own fetters; they had filled for themselves the cup of vengeance. In the utter destruction that befell them as a nation, and in all the woes that followed them in their dispersion, they were but reaping the harvest which their own hands had sown. Says the prophet: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself;” “for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” Hosea 13:9; 14:1. GC 35.3

Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan's vindictive power over those who yield to his control.” GC 35.3

“We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God's mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. GC 35.3

But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every ray of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan.” GC 36.1

Just as those who threw Daniel’s friends into the fiery furnace were consumed with the flames they kindled, just as those who dug the lion’s den for Daniel fell into it, just as Haman was hung on the gallows he built for Mordecai, so too did the Jews suffer the same method of execution they imposed on the Son of God. Israel killed Christ through the power of Rome, so they were crushed by Rome. And since they utilized a cross to kill Jesus, during the siege of Jerusalem “500 Jews were crucified each day for several months” by the Romans.

Proverbs 1:30–31 (AV 1873)

30 They would none of my counsel: They despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.

Papal Rome

First power Papacy used to enforce her religious dogmas? France.

France was the first “sword” the Papacy used to “uproot” the Visigoths (one of the three horns) by dismantling their legislative independence (in 508).

Picture of Clovis baptism?

1,290 years later, in 1798, the sword the Papacy used to “kill” the Visigoths was used against them and took away their legislative independence!

“The general-in-chief of the French army in Italy declares, in the name of the French republic that he acknowledges the Roman republic independent, and that the same is under the special protection of the French army. The general-in-chief of the army acknowledges, in the name of the French republic, the provisional government which has been proposed by the sovereign people.

“In consequence, every other temporal authority emanating from the old government of the Pope is suppressed, and he shall no more exercise any function.”

Revelation 13:10 (AV 1873)

10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Matthew 26:52 (NLT)

52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword.

Can we take this a little farther, into the future?

Fate of the End-Time Apostate Churches

After all the world realizes they have been manipulated by a corrupt form of Christianity, they will use the sword of the State to destroy her. This is how the corrupt Church will be “judged” and “punished” by God:

Revelation 17:1 (ISV)

1 Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and told me, “Come, I will show you how the notorious prostitute who sits on many waters will be judged.

Revelation 17:16 (AV 1873)

16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast [State], these shall hate the whore [Church], and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

The apostate church will manipulate the State to enforce her dogmas, and when the masses realize they have been deceived, they will turn on her.

The power she used to kill the saints will turn on her and kill her!

Obadiah 15 (AV 1873)

15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; Thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

Fate of Satan

“Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge God's justice and to bow to the supremacy of Christ, his character remains unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts forth. Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the great controversy. The time has come for a last desperate struggle against the King of heaven. GC 671.2

“He rushes into the midst of his subjects and endeavors to inspire them with his own fury and arouse them to instant battle. But of all the countless millions whom he has allured into rebellion, there are none now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power is at an end. GC 671.2 “The wicked are filled with the same hatred of God that inspires Satan; but they see that their case is hopeless, that they cannot prevail against Jehovah. Their rage is kindled against Satan and those who have been his agents in deception, and with the fury of demons they turn upon them. GC 671.2

She then quotes Isaiah 28:

Ezekiel 28:2, 7-10 (AV 1873)

2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God…

7 behold therefore, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

Time must be given for Satan to develop the principles which were the foundation of his government. The heavenly universe must see worked out the principles which Satan declared were superior to God's principles. God's order must be contrasted with Satan's order. The corrupting principles of Satan's rule must be revealed. RH September 7, 1897, par. 10

Satan has had his time, and now is the time for us to review history and see the result of exalting self at the expense of others—misery, death, and destruction.

Hope this way of considering prophecy is a blessing, and can be a tool you can use to show the consistency of prophetic history.