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Satan’s Great Deception

Part 1

Did you know that ancient pagan beliefs and practices in many ways bore a striking resemblance to the beliefs and practices taught and followed by Christ and the apostles? This is the very reason for the most amazing and least realized fact of all, which is easily seen by reading through the New Testament, that the teachings and practices of Jesus and the apostles in the original true Church are not the same as we see in today’s churches! This CHANGE was due to the paradoxical fact of the astonishing resemblance between ancient pagan beliefs and those enunciated by Jesus!

Paganism Resembled Truth

The false often appears as true. It is made to resemble the genuine. Edward Carpenter, in Pagan and Christian Creeds, p. 25, says: “The similarity of ancient pagan legends and beliefs with Christian traditions was so great that they excited the attention and undisguised wrath of the early Christian . . . not knowing how to explain it, they fell back to the theory the devil, centuries before, caused the pagans to adopt certain beliefs and practices.”

He also quotes Tertullian, one of the early church fathers living between A.D. 160 and 220, as saying, “The devil, by the mysteries of his idols, imitates even the main part of the divine mysteries.” Furthermore he says, “Cortez, too, complained that the devil had possibly taught the Mexicans the same things that God taught Christiandom.”

Since the practices of today’s churches are not the same as the early true Church recorded in the New Testament, it is vital to know if there has been a purposeful mixing of the false practices of paganism with the true teachings of Christ, the apostles, and the Bible.

Many writers of history, including Edward Gibbon in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1, chap. 15, state that there has been a change brought about by great numbers of pagans flocking into the early Christian Church and mixing their similar pagan customs and beliefs with those of the true Church.

The important question, then, is this: As the churches are teaching beliefs and customs not commanded by God and which, although similar, do not really lead to our placing ourselves as obedient servants to Him — being ruled over by Him now so that we may be eligible to obtain eternal life — it is vital that we know it, so that we may return from the counterfeit to the right way.

“Christian” Church Attitude

The churches today unwittingly, follow a great number of practices originating from ancient pagan Babylon — practices which are entirely opposite to those which Christ and the apostles taught. It is important to notice the attitude toward Paganism of the churches which consider themselves completely Christian. The following excerpts from Edward Carpenter’s Pagan and Christian Creeds, show this attitude: “The Christian Church has kept itself severely apart from discussions of heathenism, taking the stand that it, the church, represents a unique and divine revelation and has persuaded mankind of this to such a degree that few people nowadays realize that it has sprung from just the same root as paganism and that it shares by far the most part of its doctrines and rites with the latter” (pp. 11-12).

Notice today’s churches have sprung from the same root as paganism!

“The common idea is that the pagan gods fled away at Christ’s coming, yet it is well known to every student that this is contrary to fact. At the time of the recorded appearance of Jesus, and for some centuries before, there were temples without and dedicated to Apollo or Dionysius among the Greeks, or Hercules among the Romans, Mythra among the Persian, Baal and Astarte among the Babylonians, and temples dedicated to many other gods. An outstanding phenomenon is apparent: not withstanding great geographical distances, racial differences between cults and in detail of services, the general outline of creeds and ceremonials were — if not identical — markedly similar” (p. 19-21).

Pagan Similarities

Not only were these pagan creeds and ceremonies, which had existed centuries before Christ’s coming markedly similar to each other, but they were also similar to true Christianity — a fact that cannot be considered accidental. As an example of this, of eleven main deities from seven countries, it was believed of all or nearly all that, “these deities’ births were on or near Christmas, of a virgin mother, in a cave underground, that they led a life of toil for man. They were called light bringers, healers, mediators, and saviours. They were thought to have been vanquished by the powers of darkness, descended into hell or the underworld, to have arisen and become pioneers of mankind to a heavenly world . . . Krishna, the god of India is an outstanding parallel with the life of Christ” (p. 21-23).

Mr. Carpenter, the author of Pagan and Christian Creeds, says: “The idea of God sacrificing His Son for the salvation of the world is so remote and remarkable — yet it ranges through all ancient religion and back to the earliest times and is embodied in their rituals” (p. 133). These unusual customs were so similar to the truth that they strongly suggest there must have been some guiding force behind them.

It is evident that with such marked similarities to true Christianity, as are shown by the eleven deities from seven countries, that one should approach this subject with an open mind to see if a fusion of paganism and true Christianity is present today.

In I Thessalonians 5:21, the Apostle tells us to “Prove all things: hold fast to that which is good.” Jude 3 to 4 tell us to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares . . . ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are warned of a turning away from the truth of God which was starting to occur even in the time of the apostles.

Consider for a moment!

Is it probable that the pagans who had methods of worship, seemingly near in form and belief to that of Christ and the apostles, would come into Christianity and completely discard their pagan practices which often contained very pleasurable things, for teachings that did not appeal to them as much, even though God has commanded them? Of course not. Paul warned in II Thessalonians 2:7 “The mystery of iniquity doth already work.” A mysterious perversion of the gospel had already started to work even in Paul’s time! The pagans didn’t give up their ideas!

But when was the very beginning of this mysterious force for evil? Its origin dates from the time when Lucifer was created by the Eternal God. He rebelled and became Satan the deceiver. We will now see how this came about.

How It All Began

God, speaking to Lucifer, the archangel (who later became “Satan” after he had sinned) said in Isaiah 14:11-15, “Oh Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”

Now notice Ezekiel 28:12-16, which speaks of the king of Tyre, the type of this same Lucifer spoken of above: “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God . . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so . . . Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee . . . . I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” There it is!

Lucifer, whom God created as an archangel to carry out His will. But he was not content — he wanted to exalt his throne above the stars of God. He wanted to be God! He ascended above the atmosphere to take God’s place from Him, but Revelation 12:3-4, and Luke 10:18 show that God’s angels met him and cast him down. Note Luke 10:18, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Lucifer the archangel, whom God created, became Satan when he sinned. He is a deceiver of the whole world (Rev. 12:9).

Satan Retains Rule By Deceiving

Satan, however, has been permitted to rule the earth. Christ did not deny this, for Matthew 4:3-10 says, “The devil taketh Him (Christ) . . . and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world . . . and saith unto Him, all these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.” They were the devil’s kingdoms to give — he ruled over them. He rules over this earth! See also John 14:30 and 16:11. He was trying to bring Christ under his rule — “worship me.”

But notice something else very carefully here. It is the key to the understanding of the method by which Satan, through the organized churches, is deceiving the world today — a key to the Mystery of Iniquity which was already working in the Churches in Paul’s time (II Thes. 2:7). In Matthew 4:6 Satan says to Christ, “If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee.” God promises to aid those who find themselves in hazardous circumstances not of their own making, but He does not say He will protect those who deliberately place themselves in such circumstances in order to convince others. But Christ replies in verse 7, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

Notice, Satan suggested an improper action for Christ — an act of disobedience to God — by twisting God’s word to convince Christ it was the proper thing to do. Christ corrected him. Had Christ done as Satan suggested, He would have obeyed Satan — been ruled by Satan. So also today, Satan retains rule over individuals by having his agents misinterpret the Bible and otherwise suggesting false methods of self-justification to the individual for his own evil acts.

Mankind Deceived

Eve was tempted by Satan in the same manner as Christ: Satan suggested an act contrary to God’s command, then twisted God’s word to make it appear the right thing to do. God said in Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” But the Devil twisted this. He said,”Ye shall not surely die . . . ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).

Eve desired (lusted after) the fruit of this tree and obeyed Satan rather than God — he deceived her into doing it. Adam knowingly followed his wife’s suggestion and obeyed her.

Thus mankind came under Satan’s rule. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16). Had they obeyed God they could of ruled the earth.

Adam and Eve, for their disobedience, were driven from the garden of Eden where the tree of life was located (Genesis 2:9). They could have eaten and obtained eternal life, but were prevented by cherubim from returning (Genesis 3:24). Their chance of obtaining eternal life at the time was gone — they had sinned, disobeyed God — they would not come under His rule; therefore He would not give them the opportunity of obtaining it. They sinned by transgressing God’s laws which were in the world from the beginning, for I John 3:4 says, “Sin is the transgression of the law,” and Romans 3:23 says, “All” — including Adam and Eve — “have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Opportunity of Salvation Revealed to Adam and Eve

A merciful God, He immediately revealed to Adam and Eve that One was to come who would again make it possible for mankind to have the opportunity of obtaining eternal life; for God said to Satan (Genesis 3:15), “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.”

A male offspring of a woman only (Christ) — by a supernatural conception — was going to make it possible once again for mankind to come under God’s rule and obtain eternal life. Proof of this is in verse 20 of the same chapter. Adam named his wife “Eve” which means, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, “life giver.” This referred to some special life-giving property which would be imparted to mankind through woman alone (as represented by Eve) — eternal life through her divinely begotten Son, Christ; for both Adam and Eve shared equally in the giving of mortal life to their offspring. This is the first reference given by the Bible to the coming of Christ as Savior.

It was by faith and obedience that Enoch (Hebrews 11:5), David (Ezekiel 34:23), Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Matthew 8:11), all living in Old Testament times, understood the hope of salvation, and will rise to meet Christ at His coming (I Thes. 4:16). They obeyed God — came under his government — (Enoch “walked with God” — Genesis 5:24), and looked forward by faith to the Savior who should come — just as we, today, should look backward and believe Him. God spoke to Abraham (Genesis 22:18) of the coming Seed (Christ). The few being called then obtained “a good report through faith” by the same method as we today: they repented of disobedience and believed that the blood of the Savior would pay the debt of their past sins!

This knowledge by which mankind could have faith in a Savior AND, like Enoch, be translated or transferred from Satan’s rule (or “from the power of darkness”) to God’s rule (Col. 1:13 and Heb. 11:5) and ultimate eternal life, must be blotted out by all means if Satan was to retain rule of mankind on this earth.

Pagans Knew of Adam and Eve’s Disobedience

There is evidence that the Pagans not only knew of the disobedience of Adam and Eve and that this disobedience was punishable by death, but also of the subsequent offering of Salvation again. Paul wrote in Romans 1:32 that the heathen sinned even though they knew “the judgment of God, that they which commit these things are worthy of death.”

Hislop’s The Two Babylons, pages 322, 323, says that one of the names of Eve, worshipped in ancient Babylon as a primeval goddess, was “Thalatth” which signifies “the rib” or “a side.” It comes from the verb Thalaa which signifies “to turn aside.” Adam turned aside from obeying God because he took Eve who was made of a rib. It is in memory of Adam’s turning aside from the right way that the pagan priests of Baal supplicated their god to hear them (I Kings 18:26) by limping (turning aside) at the altar, for “limping” is the exact meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “leaped.” This, he states, is also the origin of Vulcan’s lameness; for their pagan god Vulcan, as “Father of the gods,” needed to be identified with Adam as well as Nimrod. The Pagans knew that this limping or turning aside implied death — eternal death.

Pagans Knew of Promise of Eternal Life

But just as the pagans originally knew of the penalty of death for sin, so they also knew of the promise of life eternal. While at the spring festival of Cybele and Attes (other pagan gods which were the types of Adam and Eve in mythology) there was great lamentation for the death of Attes, so on the Hilaria or rejoicing festival of the 25th of March, in honor of Cybele the mother of the Babylonian Messiah, mourning was turned to joy, on the occasion of the dead god being restored to life again.

So we see how Lucifer, placed on earth to carry out God’s rule, wanted, instead, to take God’s place, but was cast down to earth and became Satan — the adversary. Also we have seen how Satan twisted the word of God by presenting to our first parents a counterfeit way which appeared as the TRUTH.

From this point on to the flood, the records prove that the Devil was very active in deceiving mankind. The earth became full of sin. “All flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth” (Genesis 6:12). This brought on the flood to show us the terrible results of disobedience.

Did Satan cease to deceive after the flood? No! Nimrod, under Satan’s influence, founded the apostasy after the flood, and his wife Semiramis introduced the Mystery of Iniquity (II Thes. 2:7) which deceives the world today!

Nimrod Starts Apostasy After Flood

Noah and the seven people with him had survived the flood — the great punishment on the inhabitants of the earth for their disobedience to God’s commands. Was there anyone who could keep the survivors in remembrance of obedience to God? Yes, for II Peter 2:4-5 says, “God . . . saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness.” Psalm 119:172 says, “All Thy commandments are righteousness.” Righteousness is obedience. Noah preached obedience to God. Noah was a preacher of obedience and through him the other seven were kept in remembrance of obedience to God.

Everyone on earth after the flood knew of God and why He had drowned the wicked. They feared to do evil — at first. That they had lived under God’s rule for some time is admitted by the ancients. “For many ages men lived under the government of Jove (God) without cities and without laws, and all speaking one language . . . Then discord began” (Hyginnius, p. 114).

This group, composed of the only people on earth (for the others had all been destroyed by the great flood) began migrating from the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4) where the ark had landed: “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there” (Gen. 11:1-2). These people now known as Sumerians (Miller’s Ancient History in Bible Light, p. 51), pushing through the mountains of the east, came upon a prodigiously fertile plain built up by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers. This land of Shinar is now known as ancient Babylonia (Breasted’s Ancient Times, p. 107). Here was a land that would produce all they desired in abundance.

Did these people continue to live happily and peacefully under God’s rule, or did they, like Adam and Eve, disobey God and bring trouble upon themselves? The land was productive, but the wild animals were multiplying faster than the people, due to the destruction of the former civilization by the great flood. Because of their primitive weapons, there was a great danger to life and possessions (Exodus 23:28-29). What could be done about it?

Nimrod, the son of Cush, was a large, powerfully-built man who developed into a great hunter. It was he who gathered the people together and organized them to fight the wild ferocious beasts: “He was a mighty hunter before the Eternal” (Gen. 10:8-9). In other words, the name of Nimrod was known everywhere for his might. He emancipated the people of the earth after the flood from their fear of the wild animals. His prestige grew. He became the leader in worldly affairs. He was ambitious.

Cush and Nimrod Build First City — Babylon

There was a better way to protect the people from the wild animals that roamed the earth than by constantly fighting them. Nimrod built a city of houses and surrounded this city with a high wall and gathered the people within. Thus the people were protected and Nimrod was able to rule over them. This arrangement was agreeable to the people, for “They said . . . let us build us a city and make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad” (Gen. 11:4).

The people not only protected themselves from the wild animals by building a walled city but also established authority of their own — “let us make us a name.” This was to be a central place of mankind’s authority — the necessity of their obedience to God was not going to be recognized! Nimrod was their leader. Also they built a tower whose top was to “reach unto heaven.” With a tower this high they could do as they wished — disobey God and still be safe from His punishment which had drowned the inhabitants of the earth before. This was mankind’s first act of open rebellion against God after the flood — they thought they had placed themselves out of God’s reach if they wished to disobey Him. They, like Satan, thought that if they could “ascend above the heights of the clouds,” they could “be like the most High” (Isa. 14:14). Cush, Nimrod’s father, also had much to do with the building of this tower and city (Hislop, p. 26).

Then it was that Nimrod “began to be a mighty one” and a “mighty hunter before the Eternal” in a ruling sense (the Hebrew word for “mighty” is “gibbor” which means “tyrant,” Strong’s Concordance). Nimrod became a tyrant over the people. He made the laws. Not only that but he was “mighty . . . before the Eternal” (The Hebrew word “paniym” translated “before” here, should be translated “against” — Strong’s Concordance. The Bible says Nimrod was against God! Conspiracy and sedition were carried on by him (Epiphanius, Book i vol. i p. 7).

Nimrod kept growing in power, but the inborn desire of the people to worship him must be satisfied. Nimrod and his followers had turned against the true God. They wanted to glorify God in their own way! They “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like . . . creeping things” (Romans 1:23) — the snake, and other things God had created. (They should have worshipped God in spirit and in truth and not through idols, John 4:24, Ex. 20:4-5.) With the civil power he wielded, Nimrod set himself up as the priest of the things worshipped by the people, to obtain a still stronger hold on them, and gradually put himself in place of the true God.

Nimrod Becomes Priest of Serpent-Sun Worshippers

Mankind immediately after the flood knew God, but they did not like His laws — they did not like to be obedient to Him. Their carnal minds rebelled.

To whom did they turn to worship in His place? They remembered the Serpent of the Garden of Eden (man’s adversary) — they would honor it, for had it not been through it that they had obtained the knowledge of good and evil? The Serpent had not commanded them to do anything. So it came about that the Serpent (Satan) was ultimately worshipped as the Enlightener of mankind (they were deceived!).

The sun, too, became a favourite object of worship because of the light and heat that it gives.
This being the case, the two enlighteners became associated together, for just as the Serpent was considered to be the Enlightener of the spiritual world, so also was the Sun the Enlightener of the physical world. Thus it came about that one of the commonest symbols of the sun or sun-god is a disc with a serpent around it (Bunsen’s Hieroglyphics, vol. i, p. 497). Moreover the Serpent is universally the symbol of the sun (Davies’ Druids, p. 437).

Now we’re beginning to understand why it is that sun-worship is Devil-worship! Satan, by deceptively inspiring mankind, was associating himself with objects mankind tended to worship in such a way to receive the worship himself! Mankind, at this earliest date, knowing God, did not like God’s laws so they created gods of their own and ascribed to them laws which better suited their own desires.

This is the time referred to by Paul when, speaking to the Romans he said, “When they knew God, they . . . changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping things. . . and worshipped . . . the creature (thing created) more than the Creator” (Rom. 1:21-25).

The people then were worshipping the creeping things — the snake, and the created thing — the sun! To prevent the worship of the sun, the Eternal’s original name for it was “shemesh” which means servant , but mankind later changed this name to Baal which means “the Lord” (Johann Clericus, Book ii. p. 199 and Vaux, p. 8). Fire, giving off light, was regarded by those after the flood as the earthly representative of the sun. It is said that Nimrod himself commenced the worshipping of fire or fire-worship (Johann Clericus, Book ii, p. 199).

Do you remember the great red (fiery) “dragon” of Rev. 12:3? The dragon is identified as a serpent in verse 14 and is further identified as the Devil and Satan in verse 9. Here, symbolically, we see the Sun, the great Fire God, identified with the Serpent or Satan! The sun then, becomes the symbol of the Devil himself! The Bible says so!

These, then, were the false beliefs into which the people in Nimrod’s time, who did not wish to worship the True God, were being led. They were Sun-Fire-Worshippers. These were the beliefs Nimrod championed and which made him more powerful than ever. He became the priest of the Sun-god or Bol-Kahn, which means Priest of Baal. He did not claim to be the Sun-god himself but did spread the worship of this Pagan deity. He, being thus the priest of the devouring fire to which human victims were offered, and especially children, was regarded as a great child devourer. He became therefore the priest of Devil worship!

(Only after his violent death was he set up as though he had been an immortal deity.)

World Cheated Out of Real Happiness

Just as Nimrod had emancipated the people from the fear of the wild beasts, so also, he emancipated them from the fear of the Eternal which is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10) and in whose laws alone can true happiness be found.

He was the “mighty one,” the acknowledged leader of the “great ones” or “giants” who, in their great apostasy, rebelled against heaven. He led those on earth to believe a real spiritual change of heart was unnecessary. Drunken and sexual orgies went hand in hand with his expansion of power. It is evident that he led mankind to seek their chief good in sensual enjoyment and showed them how they might enjoy the pleasures of sin without any fear of wrath of a Holy God. In his various expeditions he was always accompanied by troops of women, and by music and song, games and revelries, and everything that could please the natural heart and endear himself to the good graces of mankind (The Two Babylons, p. 55).

“There is ample reason to believe that in his own day he was the object of high popularity. Though by setting up as a king . . . he invaded the liberties of mankind, yet he was held to have conferred benefits . . . that amply indemnified them for the loss of their liberties, and covered him with glory and renown” (Hislop’s The Two Babylons, p. 50).

In the carnal mind of man (Rom. 7:14) the Babylonian system was not so bad — it had brought a measure of happiness, they thought; but what did God do — God who knew the full measure of happiness mankind could have by obeying His laws? Was He going to allow man to destroy himself with his own sins before he had enough time to learn his lesson that sin does not bring happiness? (Rom. 6:23).

Confusion of Tongues

“The Eternal came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded. And the Eternal said, Behold, the people is one, . . . and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do . . . let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Eternal scattered them . . . upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Eternal did there confound the language . . . and . . . did scatter them abroad” (Gen. 11:5-9).

The word “Babel” means “confusion.” God confused the language of this place and the city was named for that event. He did not destroy it but He did slow down its growth so that man would have time to learn the error of trying to rule himself. Thus by giving various groups of people various languages, He caused these groups to separate. This was the beginning of the nations as we know them today: the confusion of the tongues divided them “after their nations” (Gen. 10:5,20,31). The people of Babylon started to migrate outward from that point from that time. Each group took its idolatrous Sun-Fire-Serpent worship with them and its memory of Babylon and Nimrod.

Apostasy Spreads

Did this blow to Nimrod’s plans stop him in his conquest for power? No, it made conditions more difficult and his rule less close-knit, but with increased zeal he extended his power: he did more construction work on the city of Babel. For the protection of three of the larger groups of people who had dispersed, he built the cities of Erech, Accad, and Calneh, and these thereby came under his rule. These cities (Gen. 10:10) comprised the beginning of his empire which was later to expand and cover the known world of that time. From thence he extended his control over much of the land that God had designed for Shem (Ex. 23:31).

It was by such means as this, that Nimrod became, “a mighty one in the earth” (Gen. 10:8). He “set the world on fire,” it was said.

Bryant, Vol. ii, p. 377, says that Nimrod conquered all nations as far as Lybia. This indicates that all the area from Babylon to Lybia was under his sway; thereby including Egypt also. This was a large part of the populated world at that time. Upon these his religion and government were imposed. Nimrod, then, was the first to form an army, civil, economic, political, and social systems. He set the pattern of laws to govern these, but in all this he did not include God, for he turned the people to worship Satan.

Shem Slays Nimrod

But what of Noah, the preacher of righteousness? Did everyone join Cush and Nimrod in their apostasy against God, or did Noah stand firm and gather some followers on his side?

Yes, Noah, the preacher of righteousness (II Pet. 2:5) did stand fast and gained a staunch supporter in his son, Shem. While Nimrod was expanding his kingdom so rapidly there was opposition from Shem, the representative of Noah, the great enlightener of the world (Hislop’s The Two Babylons p. 316-317). Nimrod became the representative for the forces of evil in opposing Shem who took over the position of Noah, the preacher of righteousness.

With the aggressive Nimrod expanding his government and religion to include all people in the small world of that time, the two groups were bound to come into conflict. How did the conflict resolve itself?

“Ancient traditions relate that the apostates who joined in the rebellion of Nimrod made war upon the faithful among the sons of Noah [Shem and his followers]. Power and numbers were on the side of the fire-worshippers. But on the side of the faithful was the power of God’s spirit. Therefore many were convicted in their sin, and arrested in their evil career; and victory declared for the saints. The power of Nimrod came to an end, and with it, for a time, the worship of the sun, and the fiery serpent associated with it” (Hislop, p. 232).

Shem, a very eloquent person, is said to have obtained the aid of a group of Egyptians to overcome Nimrod. Nimrod fled to Rome where he was slain. Then Nimrod’s dead body was cut into pieces, burnt, and the pieces sent as a warning to various areas against such evil apostatizing (Hislop, p. 63).

Was this terrible apostasy against God stopped for all time with Nimrod’s death? Who was there as capable as he to carry it on? The carnal nature of mankind was willing to continue the apostasy but they needed a leader! Certainly if a worldwide flood that drowned all but eight people would not stop them, Shem and a few other men could not!

Would Satan allow this worldwide system, which he built up so he could secretly receive the worship of the earth, to crumble? We shall now find the answer!

Semiramis Expands Apostasy

The death of Nimrod seemingly halted the counterfeit pagan worship which he started. The Egyptians hold that Nimrod’s dead body was cut into pieces. It was sent to many cities throughout the country as a stern warning as what would happen to others who might desire to apostatize (Wilkinson’s Egyptians, Vol. V, p. 17).

A similar example of this practice is even recorded in the Bible. The dead body of the Levite’s concubine was cut into pieces and a part was sent to each of the twelve tribes of Israel (Judges 19:29). Another example is recorded in I Samuel 11:7. It was not an unusual practice.

This warning against paganism had a marked effect on would-be apostates. If one as powerful as Nimrod could be slain and disposed of in such a terrible manner, the people rightly reasoned that the same fate would happen to them if it were known that they were adoring and serving forbidden objects — idols. THE PEOPLE WERE AFRAID TO WORSHIP THESE OBJECTS ALTHOUGH THEY DESIRED TO DO SO! If they were to continue to worship these same forbidden pagan idols, there was only one way which it could be done. And that was for someone to initiate a system whereby the forbidden things of worship were represented by something else.

This system became known as the ancient “Mysteries.”

Thus the ones initiated into the “Mysteries” would know that they in reality were worshipping the forbidden SUN or SERPENT when they worshipped these new symbols, but the outsider would not know. IT WOULD BE A “MYSTERY” TO HIM!

Hislop’s The Two Babylons, p. 66, declares: “In these circumstances, then, began . . . that system of “Mystery” which, having Babylon for its centre, has spread over the world.”

Let us now see how this MYSTERY system actually did come into being and who created it and for what purpose! THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS TODAY— INCLUDING CHRISTIANITY — ARE DECEIVED BY THIS VERY SAME SYSTEM! How did this come about?

HERE IS THE ANSWER. At first it was explained to the worshipper what he was actually worshipping when he worshipped various symbols, many of which are widely adored in the professing “Christian” world today! But as time went by this practice was dropped. The people continued to worship the same symbols because of custom. But they didn’t know then, nor do people know now, just WHAT is actually being worshipped!

Semiramis Initiates the System

Nimrod had been a man of unbounded ambition, but the ambition of his wife, Semiramis — the future “Queen of Heaven” (Jer. 7:18) — exceeded even his. Nimrod, her husband, had become the greatest and most powerful figure in the world. He was dead. She clearly saw that if she were to continue to have the great position and power which she had exercised by being the ambitious wife of the most powerful man on the earth, something must be done to assure continuance of her power.

Nimrod’s kingdom, which consisted of most of the populated world of that time, had fallen to her. Much of Nimrod’s power had come from his having set himself up as the human representation of the Sun-God. She must retain this world rule by any and all means. The religious control which had given so much power to her husband must be used by her also if she were to retain the maximum hold on her subjects. She, by way of Noah, the preacher of righteousness, had heard of the woman’s prophesied seed who was to come and through whom mankind might obtain eternal life. This gave her a daring idea.

“Though the death of her husband has given a rude shock to her power, yet her resolution and unbounded ambition were in no wise checked. On the contrary, her ambition took a higher flight. In life her husband had been honored as a hero; in death she will have him worshipped as a god, yea, as the woman’s promised Seed . . . who was destined to bruise the serpent’s head and who, in doing so, was to have His own heel bruised. The patriarchs, and ancient world in general, were perfectly acquainted with the grand primeval promise of Eden. They knew right well that the bruising of the heel of the promised seed implied His death and that the curse could be removed from the world only by the death of the grand Deliverer” (Hislop’s The Two Babylons, pp. 58-60).

Nimrod and Semiramis Become Gods

Here, then, was a perfect circumstance which Semiramis could use to perpetuate and even greatly augment her power!

The world had been told of the coming of a Deliverer whose death would redeem them from eternal death. The world was awaiting such an event. They also believed that this deliverer would go about doing good deeds before His death. Nimrod, her husband, the most powerful man on the earth in his day, had been considered a benefactor, as we have seen.

She would combine or fuse the Sun-Serpent worship which her dead husband had furthered, with the teachings of the Eternal God concerning a coming Savior of mankind. She planned to make her dead husband, Nimrod, this Savior, and thus procure for herself power over her subjects by posing as the mother of a supernaturally conceived and reborn Nimrod (recall Christ’s supernatural conception). A factor of great aid to Semiramis was the popularity of Nimrod and the desire of the people to keep him in their memory.

When the news first spread abroad concerning the violent death of this mighty man, cut off in the midst of his career, it was a great shock and loud were the wails everywhere. Nimrod at the time of his death was well and favorably known by the little groups which had been formed after God confused their various languages at the Tower of Babel. They later formed the large nations of the earth as we know them today by gradually migrating outward to far distant areas after Semiramis’ time. Nimrod’s popularity is shown by the fact that hundreds of years later these nations still lamented the violent death of their hero — Nimrod or Tammuz.

Japan, China, India, Scandinavia, and Iceland each have their own gods in whose life this event occurred, and each weeps for these at the proper time. In ancient Iceland and throughout Scandinavia, the idea of the weeping was that if everyone on earth would weep for their dead god Balder [Nimrod] he would be restored to life. This practice is still found today in the Lent season.

The central theme of the whole idolatry in Egypt was the violent death of Nimrod or Osiris (the Egyptian god representing Nimrod). As the women of Egypt wept for Osiris and the Phoenicians and Assyrians for Tammuz — their name for Nimrod — so in Greece and Rome the women wept for Bacchus, whose name means “The Bewailed,” or “Lamented one.” Japan, China, India, Scandinavia, and Ireland each had their “Lamented One,” for which they bewailed annually (Hislop, pp. 55-57).

In these Bacchanal lamentations, a spotted fawn was used to represent Bacchus (the Grecian name for Nimrod). At certain stages in the mystical celebrations, the fawn was torn in pieces, thus expressing what happened to Bacchus (Nimrod or Tammuz). Remember Nimrod was cut in pieces. THE WAY of disobedience to God is very popular with mankind! Even the Israelites in their time wept for the death of Tammuz: “There sat women weeping for Tammuz” (Ezekiel 8:14). So we see that in life the people of the early earth had looked upon Nimrod almost as though he were a god. In death Semiramis would make him the savior of mankind!

The False Messiah

Her plan was aided by her own great beauty. Her beauty is said to have once quelled a rising rebellion among her subjects on her sudden appearance among them (Valerius Maximus, lib. ix, chap. 3, p. 2). “The scheme, thus skillfully formed, took effect. Semiramis gained glory from her dead and deified husband; and in the course of time, both of them under the names of Rhea and Nin, or ‘Goddess-mother and Son’, were worshipped with an enthusiasm that was incredible and their images were everywhere set and adored. Whenever the aspect of Nimrod was . . . an obstacle . . . all that was needful was to teach that Ninus [Nimrod] had reappeared in the person of a posthumous son supernaturally borne by a widowed wife” — herself (Hislop, p. 69).

Nimrod was said to have been the first that invented magic arts. He used tricks of magic to impress his converts (Justinius Historia, lib. i, Vol. ii, p. 615). After Nimrod’s death, tricks of magic and deceptions were used by Semiramis to impress the converts to her system of Mystery with the power of these imaginary gods which she had concocted.

She first deified Nimrod, then herself, and their son and, due to opposition, gave them secret forms known only to the initiated, and these were worshipped. These, then, were the Mysteries. Those on the outside of these new religious practices could not see that these new practices of worshipping these symbols such as a calf or a tree, were actually the same as the worship of Nimrod or Semiramis who represented the Sun and Serpent (Satan) and were actually the worship of the same things which Shem had suppressed — Sun-Serpent worship!

Those who wished to be initiated into these Mysteries in Semiramis’ time had to have the meaning explained to them before they could understand them. The title of the priest who explained these Mysteries to the initiated was called “Peter” in primitive Chaldee, the real language of the Mysteries. This means “Interpreter” (Parkhurst’s Hebrew Lexicon, p. 602). It was one of these interpreters or “Peters,” who was in Pagan Rome long before Christ. He was confused with Peter the apostle of Christ in his time.

Kings of the Earth Spread Mystery System

Using every means within her power, ambitious Semiramis left no stone unturned to advance this Pagan religious system of mystery which she had formulated. By doing so, she, as the head of this system, strengthened her hold over her subjects. Petty kings had arisen over small groups of people having different languages — the beginnings of the nations of the earth. These groups had resulted by God’s giving to them different languages in order to confuse them and thereby stop their building of the city and tower of Babylon (Gen. 11:7-9).

When as one group with one language, they had established at Babel, or Babylon, a central place of authority of their own, so they could rule in God’s stead. Then God divided them “after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations” (Gen. 10:20). Never could they establish their own authority over the peoples of the earth so easily if they spoke different languages.

For many of these kings, Nimrod, when he had been alive, built cities or towns as we have seen (both he and Semiramis were given titles as builders after they were deified). These kings he controlled. The other kings of the earth were subservient to him because of his great conquests. How did Semiramis use these kings to further her own ambition when this great empire fell to her because of her husband’s death?

The Bible tells us! Semiramis or Isis was the original fallen woman that the Bible describes in Rev. 17:1-2: “I will show thee . . . the great whore that sitteth upon many waters (nations): with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (her character in regard to fornication was well known). In return, the kings in Nimrod’s days furthered her self-conceived system of religion — the religious Mystery system spoken of in Rev. 17:5 — the system formed by the fusion of the true teachings of the Eternal God with the teachings of Semiramis concerning her self-conceived religion. She, the head of this counterfeit of the true Church of God, gave herself sexually to these kings or civil rulers of the earth of her time in order to saddle her own counterfeit system of Satan-inspired religion onto the nations of the earth.

No wonder Revelation 17 uses the symbol of that fallen woman to represent today’s great unholy church! Revelation 17 is prophetic — it is dual — these same words tell of the arising in strength of this same system of Semiramis in our day, furthered by another woman (symbol of a church) which will unite with the civil kings or rulers of the earth to force her religion (including the “mark of the beast”) upon the earth of our time!

No wonder this counterfeit religion of Semiramis, impressed upon the nations of the earth in their beginnings, was carried by them to the farthest places of this globe as they migrated outward from this central point!

So here we have a religion set up over 2000 years before Christ which was calculatedly patterned on the future coming of Christ! No wonder there were so many similarities to the real Christ and His teachings when He came 2000 years later!

We read in Acts 4:11-12 that the only way to salvation is by the Messiah — Christ, yet here we will find one who has recommended similar — though counterfeit ways — one who originally claimed falsely to be the Messiah — whose teachings have deceived the whole world.

Here was a man who was killed for the supposed good he had accomplished, just as Christ would be later; this man was also declared to be “resurrected”; he was born “supernaturally”; and he became a god. Did he also offer claim to eternal life to his followers? We will see that he did!

Nimrod-Worship Widespread Under Other Names

We have already seen how Nimrod, after his death, was said by Semiramis to have been reborn in the form of her illegitimate child Nin or Horus. That the child (Semiramis’ counterfeit of the coming Savior) who was worshipped in the various countries was really one person — Nimrod, there is much evidence. An examination of the legends and characteristics assigned to those gods by their worshippers show these coincide with the characteristics of Nimrod and the events of his life. (Now as we proceed, please recall that Nimrod was not only deified by Semiramis and worshipped after his death, but also, in her Mysteries, she said he was “reborn” as her fair-skinned child.)

Egyptian tradition shows that their god Osiris (Nimrod) was black. (Plutarch’s De Isid, et. Os., vol. ii, p. 359.) This is a land where the color of the population is only slightly dusky. This then clearly shows that the man they worshipped was not of their own nationality.

This negro-featured Osiris was clothed from head to foot in a spotted dress, the upper part being a leopard’s skin (spotted) and the lower part a spotted dress (Bunsen, vol. i, p. 425). The name Nimrod means “subduer of the leopard” — from Nimr, a “leopard,” and rod “to subdue.” This name seems to imply that as Nimrod had gained fame by subduing the horse, he had also subdued the leopard and used it in hunting (Hislop, p. 44). In India hunting with leopards has been a custom (Wilkinson, v. iii, p. 17). Persian legends show that Hosang (Cush) the father of Tahmurs (Nimrod) who built Babylon, was the “first who bred dogs and leopards for hunting.” (Sir William Jones’ Works, vol. iv, p. 341,353). The Egyptian high priest’s robe of office was the leopard’s skin. Here, then, the leopard skin, was the common covering for the main deity in these two countries!

Nimrod, by the same spotted covering, is identified as being the god Bacchus of the Greeks. Leopards were employed to draw Bacchus’ chariot, he was represented as attired in leopard’s skins, and his priests were attired in the same manner or with the spotted skin of a fawn. This latter seems to have come from Assyria (Vaux’s Nineveh, chap. viii, p. 233) — indications again of the principal gods being covered with leopard’s skins in two countries. The similarity to one man — Nimrod — is marked!

Recall that in Babylon, after Nimrod was slain by Shem’s followers, Semiramis used secret or mysterious symbols to represent him so that he could be worshipped through these symbols as a god. In Greece, to secretly or mysteriously show that Nimrod and their god Bacchus were the same, Bacchus was symbolized as a spotted fawn. The rites of the Egyptian Osiris and the Grecian Bacchus are the same, and those of the Egyptian Isis (Semiramis) and Ceres (the Grecian Semiramis) exactly resemble each other (Bibliotheca, lib. i, p. 9).

In Egypt, Osiris, as we recall, was mystically represented as a young bull or calf — the calf Apis — “Apis,” being only another name for Saturn, “the Hidden one.” The name Apis in Egyptian is Hopi, evidently from the Chaldee (Babylonian) word “Hop” — “to cover” (Bunsen, vol. i, vocab., p. 462). Other evidence is overwhelming that Semiramis had made her dead husband the great god of the world of that day.

Mankind was deifying himself by causing others to worship him. Here is a very important subject that should be studied.

“Ye Shall Be As Gods”

A factor that aided Semiramis in her deification of Nimrod after his death was the way in which statues were made of the mighty men of renown of that time. As the first of the “mighty ones” on the earth after the flood, Nimrod was symbolized as a bull. But there was yet another way by which his power was shown. Hislop, on pages 37, 38, and 39, says that a synonym for Gheber, which means “the mighty one,” was Abir. But Aber signified a “wing.”

Hislop continues, “Nimrod, as Head and Captain of those men of war . . . who were instruments of establishing his power, was Baal-aberin ‘Lord of the mighty ones’. But ‘Baal-abirin’ signified ‘The winged ones’. Therefore he was represented as a . . . winged bull — showing not merely that he was mighty himself, but that he had . . . ones under his command who were ever ready to carry out his commands . . . this . . . alone explains the remarkable statement of Aristophanes, that at the beginning of the world ‘the birds’ were first created, and then, after their creation, came the ‘race of the blessed immortal gods’ . . . Let it be borne in mind that ‘the birds’, that is; the ‘winged ones’ — symbolized ‘the Lords of the mighty ones’, and the meaning is clear . . . that men first began to be mighty on the earth, and then, that the ‘Lords’ or leaders of these ‘mighty ones’ were deified.”

Nimrod was unquestionably the first of those deified after the flood. He became the “father of the gods” — the first of any “mighty ones” who might be deified after him. The same general method applied to Semiramis — she became the “mother of the gods.”

Characteristics of the Babylonian System

Why has God objected all through the Bible to mankind following the Babylonish system? Let us examine closely Nimrod’s way of rule and find why God would object. The characteristics of the Babylonish system of rule as represented by Nimrod’s world-empire are: “rejection of God, denial of His right to rule, refusal to acknowledge man’s dependence upon God for power or happiness, determination to deprive . . . God of the gratitude and allegiance of men, thirst for domination apart from God over this world, the exaltation of man to the place of Deity.”

“These are characteristics which belonged in supreme degree to Satan, the arch enemy and rebel against God. They are characteristic of the innate heart of . . . humanity; since all unregenerate men are children of disobedience, and their minds are ‘not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be’ (Rom. 8:7)” (from Miller’s Ancient History In Bible Light, p. 55).

Now notice carefully, for this is very important!

“To the later Jews, Babylon was the complete embodiment of the enmity of the heathen world against the kingdom of God, and the idea they formed of Nimrod was influenced by this view. The arrogance of his character which seemed to be implied in his very name was conceived of as defiance to God, and he became a heaven-storming titan. As such he built the tower of Babel . . . Jewish legend made choice of Abraham to be his antithesis, the representative of God’s kingdom over against the heathen autocrat” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. 17, p. 511). These are all serious indictments against this system.

To summarize why God is against the Babylonish system; God is the supreme ruler. This rebellion of humans beings against Him would, if universal, defeat His very purpose — His purpose of giving to obedient mortals eternal life by bringing them into His spiritual kingdom of God where He is acknowledged as the creator and ruler of all!

Revelation 14:8 speaks of a Babylon which will be destroyed in our day, and Revelation 18:4 tells us to come out of her lest we receive her plagues! This is really serious! No one will receive eternal life while they are in this system! “Babylon” is not as far away from us as we have always imagined. We shall presently see, as we continue our study.

Answer Found In Eden

Man had brazenly dared to make himself a god, a god to be worshipped and obeyed by others! He left the True God out of his life. The Ten Commandments say, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3). Many times in the Old Testament when people sinned, God said words to the following effect: “I will punish them so they know that I am God.” Who first wanted to be like God? The Devil! “I will be like the most High” (Isa. 14:14).

What did the Devil tell Eve would happen if she and Adam would follow his advice and eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which God had forbidden? “Ye shall not surely die . . . ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). Satan in effect said, “You will not die, you can be as gods, deciding for yourselves what is right and wrong — you can attain eternal life this way.” The churches of Satan have been teaching this philosophy ever since. The philosophy that Adam and Eve followed in Eden is the type of philosophy the world has followed from that day to this: it is basically a type of disobedience. The Devil’s suggestion sounds good to mankind.

God had said they would die if they disobeyed his command and ate of this tree (Genesis 2:17).

They did not know God yet — they did not fear Him: “The fear of the Eternal is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). They did not know they must obey Him above all beings or suffer dire consequences — so they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. THEY USURPED GOD’S PREROGATIVE — THEY DECIDED FOR THEMSELVES WHAT WAS GOOD AND WHAT WAS EVIL! They made their own law by deciding that to eat of the forbidden tree was right and not a sin. They followed their law and broke God’s. They became “as gods” to make their own law, but after they had sinned they were afraid (Gen. 3:10). They realized their folly, for then God said, “Man is as one of us, to know good and evil” (Genesis 3:22).

They had learned by experience. They realized they needed a different kind of clothing than their carnal minds gave (Romans 8:7). Paul says mankind has been made to desire vain things (Rom. 8:20).

“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me” (Job 29:14). They tried to clothe themselves with their righteousness, “They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7) — a symbol of their kind of righteousness, but Isaiah, inspired by God, says, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). The Bible says of God’s commandments, “All Thy commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172). If we obey God’s commandments, as revealed then by God’s spoken Word, but now by the Bible, we clothe ourselves with God’s kind of righteousness and are acceptable to God. We cannot make our own laws here on earth! God said Adam and Eve must for their sin be separated from the tree of life at that time. They must die. They needed a Redeemer who could pay the penalty of death in their stead if they were to have eternal life. This was promised very soon afterward (Genesis 3:15).

Now we can see how the Devil rules this world today! Are we doing today as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden?

Are Men “As Gods” Today?

It can now be easily seen that if we, today, are following the same deceptive suggestion that our human forebearers did in Eden — making their own laws — then we are “as gods.” If Satan has thus deceived us, then our punishment will be the same as that given to Adam and Eve — denial of access to eternal life. “Remember, to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are . . . whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16). The Devil, then, rules over us by suggestive deception!

Do the nations or individuals today consult what the Bible says about divorce, for example, before they make their decisions and their laws?

They do not! They have become “as gods” to make their own laws! The world, then, is Babylon. We are told to come out of her (Rev. 18:4). This we can do by giving God’s laws precedent in our lives — being ruled by Him! The proper form of government is Theocracy — being ruled over by God and His laws. This form will soon be set up on this earth.

Like Adam and Eve, when they became “as gods” and made their own laws, the people today, in these end times, are having their eyes opened (Gen.3:5), because of the results of following their laws.

World Deifies “Self”

The tendency of mankind to elevate himself is constant. After the Devil had tried to ascend and be like God (Isa. 14:14), Adam and Eve tried it (Gen. 3:5-6) and were denied eternal life at that time. In Gen. 6:4-5, we see that mankind had deified itself in the same way that we have shown Semiramis deified herself and Nimrod. These people became “Sons of gods.” Wickedness increased. Verse 11 says the earth was corrupt and filled with violence — the inevitable result when mankind makes its own laws! What happened? God drowned all on earth except Noah and seven others!

After the flood, Nimrod and Semiramis set the pace for self-deification as we have seen. Israel was guilty of the same thing. In Ezekiel 20 there is a summary of why God said He was going to punish the Israelites. He repeats six times His reason: “That they might know that I am the Eternal.” Judges 21:25, a summary of Israel’s actions, says, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Like Adam and Eve, they decided what was right and wrong — they were “as gods.”

Today, we see the whole world deifying itself by making its own laws and leaving God out of the picture. A great religious leader dares sit today, claiming he rules in place of God! Very soon one of this group will show himself that he is God, “That day shall not come, except . . . that man of sin be revealed . . . who . . . exalteth himself above all that is called God . . . sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:3-4).

There is an outstanding example of man deifying himself today. While he was alive, “Joseph Stalin [had] long been eulogized by the Soviets . . . as the world’s great . . . master. No words [were] considered too extravagant . . . East German children were asked to pray, not to God but to Stalin . . . his plans always come true” (Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1953, under heading “Stalin Cult Makes God of Dictator”). Only God is worthy of the attributes this cult ascribes to Stalin!

God knows the world will not voluntarily stop doing this. Soon Christ is coming to chain that deceiver, the Devil (Rev. 2:20), and Christ will rule with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:27). Then those on earth will have to decide whether they will stop deifying self or follow the real deity — God.

Why Do We Want To Be “As Gods”?

Yes, why? You and I today wish that this war within ourselves would cease — this inner desire which makes us, against our will, do things that we know the Bible says not to do. It makes us not want to do the things the Bible commands us to do. This is the internal battle that even Paul described as raging in himself. “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not . . . I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin” (Romans 7:18, 23).

The answer to this provides the explanation that reveals why the Devil can rule this earth by Deceptive Suggestion! Never once does the Bible show that the Devil has used physical force to rule mankind.

God has made mankind with the inherent capacity to be upright but has given them a carnal mind! (Ecc. 7:29). “The law is spiritual: but I am carnal” (Romans 7:14). Carnal flesh does all sorts of evil things (Gal. 5:19-21). “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). The carnal mind today is making carnal laws to take the place of the higher spiritual laws which God has set in motion to govern us. Mankind’s laws seem right in our own eyes. The flesh we are born with desires to lust, “Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16, see also II Peter 2:18; I Peter 4:2). “The creature (mankind — the thing created by God) was made subject to vanity” (Rom. 8:20).

We seem to be free agents to make our own laws to provide our own plan whereby we think (wrongly) that we will obtain happiness (The United Nations Assembly today is the big example of this).

Mankind firmly believes that the capacity to do this lies within himself. We evidently believe God gave this capacity to us, or else how do we think we received it? This is the very condition which makes it easy for the Devil to deceive us.

Proving Selves Wrong Today

Today, God is letting the world prove that He has not bestowed on human minds the capacity of working out laws of happiness for themselves! He is letting them prove that happiness is beyond their reach as they are now constituted. It is no wonder then that God is perfectly willing that the Devil deceive the world now by encouraging the people in it to be “as gods.” He turned even Job, the most perfect man on earth (Job 1:8), over to Satan to be strengthened (Job 1:12; 2:6, and 23:10).

God declared the end result from the beginning (Isa. 46:9, 10). He planned it this way! After we learn the folly of our ways God says “the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption” (Rom. 8:21) and be “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:10). God says He will then (and only then) go a step further in creating us. He will change our fleshly bodies into Spiritual bodies fashioned to do good works.

God has promised to do just this! We must desire this new eternal body; we must repent (Acts 2:38) — show by actions that we realize that our usurping of our Creator’s authority was wrong. Then He will beget us as His children and afterward give our bodies this new form. Lucifer, a spirit being, who became the Devil, never did learn his God-given capacity — he fought against his Creator (Isa.14:14).

How Satan Rules

How does Satan rule? Paul said, “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor.11:3, 13, 14). Satan may suggest evil courses of action to us through evil people over whom he has sway. The ministers of the false churches are here referred to. Notice that Satan is behind such people. Paul says these are “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.” They corrupt our minds! Sometimes demons enter people and rule them by taking complete possession of their bodies. Luke tells of devils coming out of many people in Christ’s time (Luke 4:41).

Satan lays traps for us. He brings about circumstances which tempt us to do evil things. Paul warns us lest we fall into the “snare of the devil” (I Tim. 3:7). Does our acting on Satan’s evil suggestions bring us under Satan’s rule? Yes. The Bible says so. “HIS SERVANTS YE ARE TO WHOM YE OBEY; WHETHER OF SIN UNTO DEATH, OR OF OBEDIENCE UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Romans 6:16). We are urged to recover ourselves “out of the snare of the Devil” if we are taken captive by him (II Tim. 2:26). Satan is called the prince of this world (John 14:30). He rules it.

The evil spirit-helpers of Satan can directly influence the human mind. A spirit in Old Testament times told how he would persuade an ancient king’s prophets to lie to this king. He said, “I will persuade him (the king) . . . I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets” (I Kings 22:21, 22).

Satan “deceiveth the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). Notice that Satan deceives people everywhere. As a deceiver he makes things seem what they are not. A man because of his own lusts can deceive his own heart and this makes Satan’s work easier (James 1:26).

Paul says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against . . . rulers of the darkness of this world” (Eph. 6:12). We wrestle against spiritual powers — Satan and his helpers. But how does Satan rule over large groups of people on this earth? Let us see. Revelation 12:3 tells of a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and Rev. 13:1 describes this same beast again. This is a CIVIL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM of four succeeding empires which are to rule this earth until Christ comes. One beast had four heads and each of the other three had one head which makes a total of seven heads. Daniel 7:6, 17, 18 describes this in greater detail. Notice that the dragon, identified as SATAN (Rev. 12:9), is HEAD OF THIS SYSTEM. THROUGH IT HE RULES THIS EARTH!

But now a second system through which Satan sways the millions: “I beheld another beast — and he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon (Satan) . . . and HE CAUSETH THE EARTH AND THEM WHICH DWELL THEREIN TO WORSHIP THE FIRST BEAST” (Rev. 13:11-12). This is a great RELIGIOUS GOVERNMENT or CHURCH through which Satan deceives the earth as to the true way of becoming actual sons of God! Revelation 17:3 gives a further description of this system. Yes, through these two agencies Satan truly rules over all! — for a time. But Satan knows his time is short! (Rev. 12:12).

We have seen how the Devil, through Semiramis, perpetuated the Sun-Serpent worship after her husband Nimrod’s death, and why God allows this deception to go on. How did Satan pattern these deceptions so they would be usable to smother out and replace the teachings of Christ when He came? We shall see.

See Original.

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