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Particulars
of Christianity:
314
End Times Prophecy (Eschatology)
Prophetic
Symbols: The Great Prostitute (Part 4)
Prophetic
Symbols: The Great Prostitute (Part 1)
Prophetic Symbols: The Great
Prostitute (Part 2)
Prophetic Symbols: The Great
Prostitute (Part 3)
Prophetic Symbols: The Great
Prostitute (Part 4)
Prophetic Symbols: The Great
Prostitute (Part 5)
Prophetic Symbols: The Great
Prostitute (Part 6)
Prophetic Symbols: The Great
Prostitute (Part 7)
Articles 7-12
Articles 13-18
Articles 19-25
Articles 26-29
Having covered Mystery cults historically in the previous
section, we will now take some time to focus a little bit
on the Mystery cult generally known as Gnosticism. Here is
a short excerpt of what encyclopedia.com has to say about
Gnosticism.
"Gnosticism, dualistic religious and philosophical
movement of the late Hellenistic and early Christian
eras. The term designates a wide assortment of sects,
numerous by the 2d cent. A.D.; they all promised salvation
through an occult knowledge that they claimed was revealed
to them alone. Scholars trace these salvation religions
back to such diverse sources as Jewish mysticism, Hellenistic
mystery cults, Iranian religious dualism (see Zoroastrianism),
and Babylonian and Egyptian mythology. The definition
of gnosis [knowledge] as concern with the Eternal was already
present in earlier Greek philosophy, although its connection
with the later Gnostic movement is distant at best...Some
Gnostics taught that the world is ruled by evil archons, among
them the deity of the Old Testament, who hold captive
the spirit of humanity. The heavenly pleroma was the center
of the divine life, and Jesus was interpreted as an intermediary
eternal being, or aeon, sent from the pleroma to restore
the lost knowledge of humanity's divine origin. Gnostics held
secret formulas, which they believed would free them
at death from the evil archons and restore them to their heavenly
abode." - encyclopedia.com
There is no small amount of textual evidence in the New Testament
that the apostles were concerned with refuting the Gnostic
heretics and their false doctrine. (But that's a subject for
another study.) However, what is significant from this encyclopedia.com
article is that it also involves a mystery religion that was
popular in Roman times, that was present in Persia (Zoroastrianism)
and originated partially in Babylon and Egypt.
Likewise, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001,
provides us with the following information about Gnosticism
and its beliefs.
1. "The heavenly pleroma was the center of the divine
life, and Jesus was interpreted as an intermediary eternal
being, or aeon, sent from the pleroma to restore the lost
knowledge of humanity's divine origin."
2. Gnosticism "promised salvation through an occult
knowledge that they claimed was revealed to them alone."
3. "Gnostics held secret formulas, which they believed
would free them at death from the evil archons and restore
them to their heavenly abode."
4. "Gnosticism held that human beings consist of flesh,
soul, and spirit (the divine spark), and that humanity is
divided into classes representing each of these elements.
The purely corporeal (hylic) lacked spirit and could never
be saved; the Gnostics proper (pneumatic) bore knowingly the
divine spark and their salvation was certain;"
We can compare these components of Gnosticism with the beliefs
of the Chaldeans that are recorded in Daniel 2. Both the Gnostics
and the Babylonians (Chaldeans) believed:
1.in a plurality of gods. (Daniel 2:11, 47)
2.that the gods do not dwell in the flesh. (Daniel
2:11, 47)
3.that the gods reveal secrets to men. (Daniel 2:11,
47)
4.that through understanding deep mysteries and secrets
a man could ascend to divinity. (Daniel 2:46 - Nebuchadnezzar
worships Daniel because Daniel could reveal the secret meaning
of the dream.)
5. in a heirarchy of ascending superiority of gods
from the supreme god. (Daniel 2:47).
Similarly, we see that in his first epistle the Apostle John
when admonishing us to test the spirits, says:
1 John 4:3 "And every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:
and this is that spirit of antichrist,"
In fact it seems that John was writing to directly refute
the teaching of the Gnostics, who held, as their Chaldean
predecessors before them, that the gods did not dwell in the
flesh. The Gnostics differentiate between Jesus the man and
the Christ, which they hold to be an intermediary being who
rested on Jesus during his life in order to provide us with
some secret knowledge through which we could transcend our
physical selves and ascend to a divine state.
From all of this we learn that mystery cults, were prominent
in all ancient cultures, including the kingdoms of the Biblical
succession found in Daniel 2, 7, and 8. And these mystery
cults involved occult knowledge as well as initiation of members
through secret rituals. The presence of these cults in all
of these kingdoms in the Biblical succession of empires would
certainly explain why Revelation 17 depicts the woman as riding
the seven-headed beast.
So what have we learned from this brief survey of reference
books? Well, when John writes about this woman in Revelation
17 and 18, he is not doing so in a vacuum. John is writing
in a period of Christian history where Christianity was contending
with Roman society in which ancient mystery cults, which originated
in such cultures as Egypt, Babylon, and Greece, were very
popular. And based on our earlier survey of the Biblical accounts
of such groups and their many correlations to the harlot,
Babylon the Great, there can be little doubt that it is these
very men who are represented in Revelation 17 and 18.
Now that we have an idea of who this woman from Revelation
17 and 18 is from both Biblical parallels and historical reference
we can move on to discuss whether these chapters identify
for us concretely, which specific city these men will be associated
with in the last days. The two chief contenders are the city
of Babylon itself and Rome, Italy. We will now examine the
text to see if Revelation 17 and 18 are necessarily identifying
either of these two cities.
The reason that some may insist that the actual city of Babylon
is depicted in these chapters relies on the very use of the
name Babylon. The argument is that because Babylon is used
in the passage to identify the city, the city that is depicted
must therefore be the literal city of Babylon in modern day
Iraq. But does the application of the name Babylon to this
great city demand that the city be Babylon, Iraq?
Well, no. The reason for this is that we have precedent that
the Bible applies the name of a certain city to another city
in order to convey that the two are alike in some significant
way. We can point to two examples of this.
The first example we saw earlier in 1 Peter 5:13 where it
is likely that the name Babylon is metaphorically applied
to Rome, Italy. The second example is more convincing and
it comes from the Book of Revelation itself.
Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies [shall lie] in
the street of the great city, which spiritually is called
Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Here in Revelation 11 the city in which the two witnesses
are killed is identified by two factors. First, it is called
Sodom and Egypt. And second, it is where Jesus was crucified.
Obviously, Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem and not Sodom
or Egypt. Therefore, these two cities names are being applied
to Jerusalem metaphorically in order to convey that at the
time that is in view in this chapter, Jerusalem spiritually
possesses some of the characteristics of these cities.
Also, the fact that two different names are applied to the
city requires that we understand that their names are being
used figuratively. This is because the city cannot literally
be both Sodom and Egypt since the two are mutually exclusive
and distinct from one another. Therefore, from these precedents
we understand that the application of the term Babylon to
the harlot and the great city of Revelation 17 and 18 does
not necessarily mean that the great city is Babylon, Iraq,
but only indicates that this great city will share some characteristics
that are associated with Babylon.
As far as this great city being Rome, there are four possible
arguments offered to support this conclusion. The first refers
to 1 Peter 5:13 as a precedent that the early church referred
to Rome, Italy as Babylon. The second argues that Revelation
17:6 and 18:20, 24 indicate that the great city that is in
view is the city that is responsible for the death of the
first century apostles. The third is that in Revelation 17:18
refers to the great city in the present tense as "that great
city, which reigns over the kings of the earth." The idea
is that since Rome, Italy was the city that was presently
reigning over the kings of the earth at the time Revelation
was written by John, Babylon therefore must be Rome, Italy.
The fourth and final argument that we will cover demands that
Babylon is Rome, Italy because Rome, Italy sits on seven literal
hills, while Revelation 17:9 tells us that the woman sits
on seven hills or mountains.
As far as 1 Peter 5:13 goes, we agree that the early church
probably did equate Rome, Italy with Babylon. But we do not
agree that it therefore follows that the name Babylon can
only be applied metaphorically to Rome, Italy.
This is because Revelation 17-18 presents a great city, which
exists in the last days and tells of the things that happen
to this city, which exists in the last days. It is not describing
the current state of affairs of a contemporary New Testament
city. By saying this we do not mean to rule out Rome, Italy
as a potentially fulfilling this prophecy in the end times,
but only to show that the possible precedent in 1 Peter 5:13,
which refers to a contemporary New Testament city does not
necessitate that a future city could also share some attributes
of Babylon as Rome did in the first century AD. The only precedent
that can be implied from 1 Peter 5:13 is that the term Babylon
can be applied to other cities including Rome, Italy, which
share some attribute of Babylon. It cannot be used to suggest
that the term Babylon can only be applied metaphorically to
Rome. We will discuss the time element more when we examine
argument three.
The second argument that Babylon must be Rome comes from the
following three verses.
Revelation 17:6 "And I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration."
Revelation 18:20 "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and
ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on
her."
Revelation 18:24 "And in her was found the blood of
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the
earth."
From these verses some construct the following argument.
Premise 1: Mystery Babylon is a city that is held responsible
for the death of the Apostles and Prophets.
Premise 2: Apostles can only refer to a type of church
leadership that only existed during the first century AD.
Premise 3: Prophets here refers only to New Testament
prophets and does not include Old Testament prophets.
Conclusion 1: Mystery Babylon is a city that is held
responsible for the deaths of New Testament Apostles and Prophets.
Premise 4 (Conclusion 1): Mystery Babylon is a city
that is held responsible for the deaths of New Testament Apostles
and Prophets.
Premise 5: Rome is responsible for the deaths of New
Testament Apostles and Prophets.
Conclusion 2: Rome is Mystery Babylon.
There are several reasons that this argument is not valid.
First, the fact that there have been no Apostles since the
first century AD does not mean that the city, which is held
responsible for their deaths had to be a city, which existed
in first century AD. Matthew 23:34-36 and Luke 11:49-51 confirm
this.
Matthew 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets,
and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill
and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues,
and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you
may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from
the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son
of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon
this generation. 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!
Luke 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I
will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they
shall slay and persecute: 50 That the blood of all
the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world,
may be required of this generation; 51 From the blood
of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between
the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall
be required of this generation.
In both of the above passages we note that Jesus' contemporary
generation would be held responsible for the deaths of Abel
and Zechariah, two men who both were killed long before Jesus'
generation ever came into existence. This tells us that those
held responsible for the deaths of God's people do not have
to be those who actually killed them, but can be people who
live even thousands of years later.
Second, the fact that the fact that the blood of the apostles
and prophets is said to be found in the great city cannot
be taken to indicate Rome, Italy either. The simple reason
for this is that not all of the New Testament martyrs were
killed in the city of Rome, Italy. Certainly some did, and
perhaps some notable ones at that. But many others did not.
Acts 7:59 records that the stoning of Stephen the first martyr
occurred in Jerusalem.
Likewise, Matthew 23:37 identifies Jerusalem and not Rome,
Italy as the city that stones the prophets and apostles. (We
are not suggesting that Jerusalem is the city that is in view
in Revelation 17 and 18.) In the English translation we only
see the word prophets, but in the Greek the word "apostles"
is there, too.
Matthew 23:37 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!
The phrase translated as "them which are sent" is the single
Greek word "apostello." It is the verb form from which we
get the word apostle, which in the Greek is the word "apostolos."
The literal translation of "apostle" is "sent one."
This second passage, Matthew 23:37 is significant in this
respect for a second reason. In it we see that the term apostles
is not used exclusively in the New Testament to refer to the
12 Apostles, but can be more broadly applied to refer to anyone
who comes bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Matthew 23:37
is not the only passage that deals with this.
Philippians 2:25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send
to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour,
and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that
ministered to my wants.
2 Corinthians 8:23 Whether any do enquire of Titus,
he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren
be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches,
and the glory of Christ.
Acts 14:14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and
Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among
the people, crying out,
Revelation 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and
thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and
are not, and hast found them liars:
In each of the four verses above we see that someone other
than the twelve apostles is referred to in the New Testament
as an apostle. In Philippians 2:25, Epaphroditus is called
a messenger. The Greek word for messenger is "apostolos."
In 2 Corinthians 8:23 the term messenger (again "apostolos")
is used to refer to Titus and possibly Timothy and Silas.
In Acts 14:14 Barnabus is clearly placed alongside Paul as
an apostle. And in Revelation 2:2 we see that the church of
Ephesus is commended for testing those who claimed to be apostles
but were not. Unless the test that the Ephesian church used
was to clarify if they were one of the 12 apostles then Revelation
2:2 is further proof that the New Testament does not reserve
the term apostle exclusively to the 12 Apostles.
Further doubt that Revelation 18:20 is limited to the 12 Apostles
comes in two forms. First, there are a total of 8 times in
the New Testament that apostles and prophets are coupled together
as we see them in this passage. Of these 8 times, there are
two occurrences, which cannot be limited solely to first century
persons. These two instances are in Luke 11:49 and 2 Peter
3:2.
Luke 11:47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres
of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truly ye
bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for
they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 49
Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them
prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and
persecute: 50 That the blood of all the prophets, which
was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required
of this generation; 51 From the blood of Abel unto
the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar
and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required
of this generation.
2 Peter 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which
were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment
of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
In both of these passages the prophets that are in view are
clearly Old Testament personalities. Therefore when we see
apostles and prophets coupled together in Revelation 18:20
we cannot assume an exclusively first century group is being
indicated. All of these passages point out that the blood
of those who died in previous times, even thousands of years
in the past can be blamed on those who were not around at
the time. This being the case there is little compulsion to
demand that Revelation 18:20 is speaking of only the deaths
of the first century apostles and prophets. Therefore it is
not necessary to conclude that Babylon is Rome, Italy simply
because the blood of many first century martyrs can be blamed
on Rome, Italy.
There is one last indicator that solely first century persons
are not in view in Revelation 18:20. In the other two passages,
Revelation 17:6 and 18:24, we see that these people are referred
to in broader terms for God's people. Revelation 17:6 refers
to this group as the saints and martyrs of Jesus. Revelation
18:24 refers to them as the prophets and saints and all who
were slain upon the earth. So, unless these three verses are
referring to 3 distinctly different groups it is obvious that
the group that is in view is believers general and cannot
be limited to only those of the first century.
This being case there is no reason to assume that the apostles
that are referred to in Revelation 18:20 is only the apostles
who lived in the first century. Since the term apostle is
used more broadly it is quite possible that Revelation has
in view anyone and everyone who is sent out and/or proclaims
the message of the Gospel.
One final argument to be dealt with here is the conclusion
that since the blood is found in Babylon that means that we
must find a city in which the Apostles died. Though many saints
of the first few centuries were martyred by the Roman empire
and in some cases Rome, Italy there is no reason to think
that this is what Revelation 18:20 is indicating.
This argument is already undermined by our previous demonstration
that Revelation has more in view in these verses than first
century apostles, but as we said Revelation 18:20 clarifies
that this group whose blood is found IN Babylon is "ALL who
were slain upon the earth." Since clearly not ALL of those
who were slain upon the earth were slain IN any single city,
let alone slain in Rome, we must conclude that the city, in
which the blood of all these persons is found is not the location
in which they were ALL literally killed, but only a city or
a group of persons that are held responsible, whose actions
not only condone the death of God's people in the past, but
which also bring to a climax the martyrdom of God's people
in the last days.
We have just dismissed the first two arguments that Babylon
must be Rome, Italy. These two arguments were that 1 Peter
5:13 is a precedent that the early church referred to Rome,
Italy as Babylon. The second was that Revelation 17:6 and
18:20, 24 indicated Rome since this was the empire and city
that was responsible for the deaths of the 12 Apostles.
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