A lot of what I am going to tell you in this session will cause you to think that I am singling out one particular religion. I AM NOT! What I AM doing here is giving you the background of religion in order to bring you up to date. This background brings us to where we are today. It is FACT. You can do the research just like I did. With that being said, let’s get to it…..

 

    The woman of Revelation 17 is no lady. The Greek word for “whore” is the word porne, translated in the New Testament as “harlot”. This signifies spiritual adultery. Now spiritual adultery is not ordinarily used in reference to heathen nations who do not know God. It always indicates people who outwardly carry the name of God while actually worshipping other Gods.

 

   In 2 Corinthians the church is called a virgin to be joined to her husband in the future, but in James 4:4 she is warned against spiritual adultery. This harlot of the end times was predicted in 1 Timothy 4:1,2. It’s happening all around us even today. Pulpits, radio, television, seminaries – all are being injected with false doctrines.

 

    Question: Why are the teachers of false doctrines so successful? Look in your Bible at 2 Timothy 4: 1-4. This is what apostasy is all about – forsaking the true meaning of biblical doctrine or choosing which doctrine to believe and which to discard.

 

    This foreshadows the one-world religious system. Back in my day as a young adult, we had what was called the New Age Movement. This movement did not ignore God—it just claimed all religions were one. But what did Jesus say? “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

 

    The apostate movement today is nothing more than a continuation of that New Age Movement of the 60’s. This movement is basically religious, helping people realize the “divine within”. It is hard to believe, but 95% of these “New Agers” of today are well educated, upper middle-class income, affluent, successful people. New age trainers use consciousness-

raising” techniques in their seminars. Large corporations such as AT&T, IBM, General Motors, Proctor & Gamble, TRW, Ford Motor Company, all have signed on to these trainers.

 

    This new “so-called Enlightenment” is really the doctrines of demons wrapped up in slick new packages. If it was presented as openly occultic, no one would buy it. BUT, this new “New Age”, as damaging and dangerous as it is, it is NOT the most dangerous movement out there.

 

    Let’s look at our scripture in chapter 17:1-6. In these first 6 verses of chapter 17, John sees a picture of a woman so terrible that he was “greatly astonished”, even after all John has seen, this jolts him.

 

    Read these verses again. Picture it in your mind. WHO IS THIS VILE WOMAN? AND WHERE DOES SHE GET HER POWER? When we understand her identity, we will understand that a lot of what is called religion in today’s world is a sure path to destruction.

 

    Remember that there are good, devout, Christ-centered believers in all so-called Christian denominations. There are exceptions in every case. We are not talking about these born-again believers. What we are talking about here is the trend in the mainline denomination of the world today and where they are headed.

 

    The formation of organized religion began many centuries before the coming of Jesus Christ. And many of the rituals and beliefs of churches today had their origin in these false religious teaching of eons ago.

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    False religions had their origins in ancient Babylon. These religious practices included astrology and sorcery. But out of Babylon came another movement even more shocking than anything else of those early years. This is the same movement that I was talking about when I said that there was a movement even more dangerous than the New Age Movement of today.

 

     I want to give you a quick step by step version of how our churches of today were influenced, without really realizing it, by this first religious movement of Babylon.

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    Nimrod was the first dictator, his wife, Semiramis was the first female deity. Legend has it that their son, Tammuz was conceived by a sunbeam, grew up, was killed by a wild boar and after 40 days he was raised from the dead. It was this story of mother and son that gave rise to the worship of the “mother and child”. This occult religion called the mother “queen of heaven. In the Bible, there is no such person as the “Queen of Heaven”

 

    Jeremiah 44:15 to the end of the chapter tells us that this “queen of heaven” was an abomination.

    40 days of Lent memorializes the 40 days of the mother, weeping over the son. At the end of the 40 days the feast of Ishtar was observed, celebrating the resurrection of Tammuz. Part of the celebration of Ishtar was the exchanging of Ishtar “eggs” symbolizing new life, (Can you see where this is going?) The term, Easter, is derived from the word Ishtar, meaning New Life. You think we don’t have any of those early influences today? Think again.

 

    Now follow me closely: Ezekiel was called by God to go to the temple and see this cultic practice in progress. Ezekiel watched the women of Israel observing the 40 days of Lent for the slaying of Tammuz. And again the Lord called it an abomination (Ezekiel 8:13-14) We are told in scripture that Christ is the King, but never that there is a Queen. The only queen of heaven mentioned in scripture is this idol which was worshipped by the pagans and to which the Jewish women gave offerings, bringing the wrath of God upon them, some church’s call Mary, queen of heaven.

 

    When Constantine came to the throne in Rome, the first pope assumed his position and introduced all these heathen associations and ceremonies of Nimrod into the church.

 

    What were they?

1. The worship of the Queen of the Heavens

2. The eating of the wafer

3. The doctrine of purgatory

4. The wearing of vestments

 

    I know it sounds like I may be bashing your denomination. I am not. I am just giving you facts as I found them. You can look them up, just like I did. We are looking at pagan practices that have slipped into mainline Christianity today. And why is this relevant for us today? Because our scripture here in Revelation tells us that these, and more, abominations will be present in the final days before Christ returns.

Maybe you say “what does this have to do with me.” I am giving you background so that you will know how and what the religious world will be like just before the return of our Lord. The scriptures tell us to “watch, for you know not the day He will return”. How can you know what to watch for? Scripture tells us.

 

There is so much more I would like to share with you but that can be for another study and time. Next week we will continue with our scripture in verses 1-6 and then we will move on. Until then, Dear Friends, Heads up and ears tuned to listen for the trumpet.

                            Blessings, Maggie