Babylon: Center of Idolatry, it worth reading.

 Here is another clue in clearly identifying the “mystery of Babylon the great.” Idolatry was at the heart of Babylonian worship.

Read Jeremiah 50:33-38 and Jeremiah 51:17, 47. What do you discover in these verses about ancient Babylon’s worship of images and God’s response to it?

Jeremiah 50 and 51 predict Babylon’s destruction by the Medes and Persians. One of the reasons for Babylon’s demise was its idolatry. The Babylonians believed that these images were representations of their deities. In Babylonian religion, the ritual care and worship of the statues of deities was considered sacred; the gods lived simultaneously in their statues in temples and in the natural forces they embodied. The pillaging or destruction of idols was considered to be loss for the people of divine patronage. For example, the Chaldean prince Marduk-apla-iddina II fled into the southern marshes of Mesopotamia with the statues of Babylon’s gods to save them from the armies of Sennacherib of Assyria (Jane R. McIntosh, Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspectives [Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2005] p. 203).

Read Exodus 20:4-6 and Psalm 115:4-8. What do they teach about idolatry?

Though the issues of the idolatry of spiritual Babylon go deeper than just bowing before images of wood and stone, spiritual Babylon does parallel ancient Babylon with the images introduced into its worship service. The use of images as objects of worship, or so-called “veneration,” is a violation of the second commandment because it limits the ability of the Holy Spirit to impress upon our minds the things of eternity and reduces the majesty of God to a lifeless statue. These images were introduced into Christianity in the fourth century to make Christianity more acceptable to the pagan populace. Unfortunately, these images are often given the sacredness and homage that belongs to God alone, which makes the whole thing spiritually degrading.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you know, preparing for the final crises.

 Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6. What admonition does the apostle Paul give us regarding the last days of human history? The apostle Paul urged the believers at Thessaloniki to “watch” and “be sober” in the context of the second coming of Christ. And if Paul would say that to believers then, what would he say to us today? He also declared that they were “children of light” (1 Thess. 5:5, NIV) and that they were not in “darkness, so that this day [the return of Christ]” (1 Thess. 5:4, NIV) should overtake them “as a thief ” (1 Thess. 5:4, NKJV). Jesus used the expression to “watch” in connection with earnest, heartfelt prayer (Matt. 24:42, Matt. 26:40, 41). To watch is to be spiritually alert. To be sober minded is to be serious about the times that we are living in and focused on the things that really matter. Ellen G. White adds: “We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming  surprise.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p...
Read more

How is this scripture fulfilled?

 Colossians 2:16-17 Colossians 2:16-17 [16]Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath. [17]Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ. Questions;  1. How do you understand the above quotation? 2. Is it to go in line with what the Bible teaches that shows the judgement? 3. Whoever changed the days and times, who also compared people NOT to observe the Teachings of the Bible, is he not the one judging? Daniel 7:24-25. Please take your time to read the Bible and understand the content.
Read more