CHAPTER
XXXII.
BABYLON
IN MYSTERY.
“Mystery,
Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the
earth.”—Rev. 17: 5.
IN
the last few pages we have said so much concerning the literalness of Babylon
that certain of our readers may have decided that we do not believe that there
is a Babylon in mystery at all. However,
Babylon in mystery is another side or phase of the subject; and I have
endeavored to deal, in the main, with one side or phase at a time.
There are so few that have ever seen the truth that Babylon is to be
literally restored that we have felt it necessary to dwell at length on the
literal restoration of that city. Having
given several pages directly on this phase of the subject, I am now ready to
present some truths concerning Babylon in mystery.
Perhaps the only passage of Scripture that directly authorizes us to
use the phrase, “Babylon in Mystery” is Rev. 17: 5.
The words in this verse thus authorizing us are “Mystery, Babylon.”
In John’s vision, he saw “a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast,
full of names of blasphemy . . . .And upon her forhead was a name written,
Mystery, Babylon.”
The word “mystery” shows that this “woman” in the vision is not
a literal woman. We have insisted
on the taking of the Scriptures literally, unless there was something in the
context to indicate that they are to be taken otherwise.
So here we have a clear indication to that effect.
John sees a woman in his vision, but the name on her forehead shows
that she is a symbolic woman, or a woman in mystery.
The word “Babylon” clearly indicates that the “woman in
mystery” sets forth the characteristics of Old Babylon.
The truths we shall set
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forth
here are based primarily upon the vision of this woman.
Hence the title above taken, “Babylon in Mystery.”
Woman, when used in a typical sense, is always a type of the church.
Paul, in speaking of man and wife, said: “They two shall be one
flesh. This is a great mystery;
but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”—Eph. 5: 31, 32.
A pure woman is a type of a pure church; a wicked woman is a type of a
false church. This woman is a
wicked one, hence, she is a type or symbol of the false church.
The word “mystery” means something secret, covered, hid.
The use of this word in this connection shows that the false or wicked
church for which the woman stands is covered or hid from the eyes of men.
In other words, the false system of religion, of which this woman is a
symbol, is so concealed in mystery that the people, as a rule, do not even
perceive that the said religion is a false one.
This signifies also the preternaturalness of this religion.
I mean that this religion is working in the world in a devilish way,
controlled by Satanic powers and influences.
This system of religion exists and develops under the darkness of hell,
and by the mystic operations of Satan.
The next question to arise is that one concerning the identity of this
system of religion. However
simple this question may seem, it has been the subject of dispute among Bible
scholars for years. Many Bible
expositors take Great Babylon in Mystery as the symbol of the city, the
church, or the ecclesiastical system of Rome.
That Rome and the Romish Church are involved, there is no doubt; but
that this is all we are to understand by this mystic woman, must be
emphatically denied. For proof
that this woman does not stand for the Romish Church alone, we give the
following reasonings.
The name on the woman’s forehead is: “Mystery, Babylon the Great,
the Luther of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth” (R. V.).
Her most characteristic feature is her harlotry.
She is called the Great Harlot. We
have already
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IN MYSTERY.
stated
that she is a symbol of false religion, and this her special feature
farther bears out that truth. Harlotry
is the breaking of divine laws and ordinances, the dishonoring of the marriage
institution, and the violation of the laws of godly chastity and pureness.
In like manner, all false religions are attended with lewdness.
They have no respect for the sacredness of marriage.
Jesus said that the law was summed up in the commandment that we should
love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Hence, the worshipping of any other object or person is a great
spiritual harlotry. Some of the
passages in which it may be seen that false worship is spiritual adultery, are
as follows: “The Lord said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done?
She is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and
there hath played the harlot. . . . . And I saw, when for all the causes
whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given
her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went
and played the harlot also. And
it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the
land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.”—Jer. 3:
6‑9. “How weak is thine
heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an
imperious whorish woman; in that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head
of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been
as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; but as a wife that committeth
adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband.
They give gifts to all whores; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy
lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy
whoredom. And the contrary is in
thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit
whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee,
therefore thou art contrary.”—Ezek. 16: 30‑34.
“Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou
sufferest that woman Jezebel,
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which
calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit
fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she
repented not. Behold, I will cast
her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
except they repent of their deeds.”—Rev. 2: 20‑22.
Now, as this woman is “The Great Harlot,” and “The Mother of the
Harlots,” she must be the great embodiment and source of all the false
religions of the world. This
being true, she can by no means be Rome alone.
This woman is “the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of
the earth.” The mother
necessarily exists before the offspring do.
The system of religion represented by this woman is that one from which
all other abominations spring. Can
this be Rome? To ask the question
is to answer it. There were
multitudes of idolaters and abominations in the world long before Rome ever
came into existence. Even now
there are many false religions in the world that did not spring from Rome.
Rome can not be “the mother of the harlots and the abominations of
the earth” when there are “harlots” and “abominations” that are
older than Rome is.
Besides, it is so strange that men will take this woman to represent Rome as a city, a church, or an ecclesiastical system, when the very name on the woman’s forehead indicates just what is meant. She is called “Babylon the Great, the Mother.” Rome never was “Babylon” in the sense of being “the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth.” Her place in the chart of time renders such a thing impossible. Even so it is impossible for any other city or system to be “the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth,” except that one from which all other systems of false religion spring. Remembering that there have been false religions in the world from a short time after the flood till this present day, we are driven far back, even to the time of Nimrod, before we find the origin and source of all false religions and worship.
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IN MYSTERY.
Here
in the tenth and eleventh chapters of Genesis we find the original system
under the very name which this mother of all harlots and abominations of the
earth bears on her forehead.
We have before shown that Nimrod organized and launched upon the world
a system of false worship. This
religion of Nimrod has been in the world ever since.
During the passing of the centuries this religion has assumed many
forms and manifested itself in a variety of organizations; but its many forms
and organizations are but the offsprings of the one original system
instituted by Nimrod. It is
stated that “All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication.”— Rev. 18: 3. This
can not be true of Rome, for there were nations before Rome; neither can it be
true of any city or religious system except that one organized by Nimrod.
We read again: “In her was found the blood of prophets, and of
saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”—Rev. 18: 24.
The blood of all that were ever slain upon the earth as martyrs will
never be found in Rome. However,
the system of religion organized by Nimrod is the one that has ever been
opposed to the religion of Christ and to the followers of Christ, and from
that system all other systems of false worship have sprung, in fact, all other
systems inhere in the Nimrodic system, therefore all the martyrs of the ages
have been slain by Nimrod’s worshippers.
Hence, in Babylon the Great will be found the blood of all that shall
have been slain as martyrs for Christ.
Where is Babylon in mystery today?
In the Roman system alone? Nay,
verily. The Roman system is only
one out of dozens that have sprung from the common Mother, Babylon.
There is Mohammedanism, Brahminism, Buddhism, the great number of forms
of idol worship, etc. Of those
who call themselves Protestants, the great majority have a form of godliness,
but deny the power thereof. There
is false religion and presence on every side. All religions except the real
vital religion of Jesus are religions of Antichrist, and all the different
forms and organizations of the world that are without the
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real vitality of Christ are members of “Mystery, Babylon the Great.” Within and around these members of Babylon, there is a strong tendency towards unity; and in the near future these organizations, etc., will be brought into one, and will sum up in a final literal, organized city. “The woman which thou sawest is that great city.”