BABYLON: THE CENTER OF SUN WORSHIP.
Sun worship was prominent in Egypt, Assyria, persia, and certainly Babylon. In his book THE WORSHIP OF NATURE, James G. Frazer makes this observation,
"In ancient Babylonia the sun was worshipped from immemorial antiquity." - ( London: Macmillan and Co., 1926), Vol. 1, p. 529.
It may seem surprising, but at times, Babylonian sun worship influenced the worship of God's people in the Old testament.
READ:
Ezekiel 8:16 and
2 Kings 23:5,11. What did the prophets write about the influence of Sun worship in Israel and Judah? (see also
Romans 1:25).
The Prophet Ezekiel, a contemporary of Daniel, pictured some of God's people with their backs toward the temple of God worshipping the sun toward the east. Rather than worshipping the creator of the sun, they worshipped the sun instead.
In
Revelation 17, John described a time when,the principles of Babylon, including sun worship, would enter the Christian church during an age of compromise. The casual conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great joy in the Roman empire. Constantine had a strong affinity for sun worship. Edward Gibbon, the renowned historian, writes,
"The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine." - THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, ( London: J.O. Robinson & Co, ltd., 1830), p. 12. In A.D 321, Constantine also passed the first
"Sunday Law." This edict stated,
"On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrate and the people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed." - Edict of Constantine, A. D 321. This was not a
LAW enforcing Sunday observance for all of Constantine's subjects, but it did strengthen the observance of Sunday in the minds of the Roman Population.
It was in succeeding decades that emperors and Popes continued through states decrees and church councils to establish Sunday as the singular day of worship, which it remains today, as well, for the majority Christians. What a powerful example of the hard truth that just because the majority of people believe in something, or practice it, doesn't make it right.
A CALL TO FAITHFULNESS - The message of the second angel in
Revelation 14 is Babylon is fallen, is fallen.' In
Revelation 17, the woman identified as spiritual Babylon, dressed in purple and scarlet, rides upon a scarlet-coloured beast, passes around her wine cup, and gets the world drunk with error. Church and State unite. Falsehood prevails. Demons works their miracles to deceive. The world catapults into its final conflict.
At the same time, the people of God are maligned, ridiculed, oppressed, and persecuted, but in Christ and through the power of the holy spirit, they are steadfast in their commitment. All the powers of hell and the forces of evil cannot break their loyalty to Christ. They are secure in Him. He is their refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (
Psalms 46:1).
God is calling an end time people back to faithfulness to His word Jesus prayed,
"Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth," (
John 17:17). The Truth of God's word, not human opinion or Tradition, is the North Star to guide us in this critical hour of Earth's history.
Here is a remarkable statement by Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, the author of the standard manual for Baptist churches. In 1893, he addressed a group of hundreds of Baptist ministers and shocked them as he explained how Sunday came into Christian church.
"What a pity that it (Sunday) comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, then adopted and sanctioned by the Papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to protestantism!" - Before a New York ministers' conference, November 13,1893.
Ezekiel 20:1-20 is an earnest appeal for Israel to forsake pagan practices and to worship the creator instead of false gods, in this case the
"idols of Egypt." In the message of the Three angels, GOD is making a similar appeal for us to
"worship the creator," for
"Babylon is fallen" And, too, as we know, the Sabbath, and faithfulness to it, will play a Big role in final events.
Many of God's people are in religious organizations that have compromised biblical teachings. They do not understand the truths of scripture. God's loving appeal is straightforward:
"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (
Revelation 18:4).
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