What happened to Nimrod's Babylon?
The religion formed by Cush and Nimrod marked the beginning of
polytheism in the post-flood world: the worship of many gods. The snake,
sun, and fire became their symbols of god on earth. Human sacrifice
became openly practiced.(1) Even though God wanted His people to
spread out and only serve Him, Nimrod, through the empire and religion of
Babylon, began to unite the people - all under his "one-world government."
This early Babylonian religion began to be abhorred by pious, God-
following generations of the era. One of them, Noah's son Shem, decided
to do something about it.
According to tradition, Shem gathered 72 co-conspirators to help him, and
all of them made their way to the palace where Nimrod lived. After
catching him in a double-cross, Shem killed Nimrod, and cut his body into
little pieces! He alerted his co-conspirators - each of them - to take a piece
of Nimrod's body and distribute it to the cities under his rule. They did as
they were told. All of this gore had a purpose, however: to show the world,
proof-positively, that Nimrod wasn't a god. It was Shem's warning to all of
Nimrod's followers: stop what they were doing and start obeying God, or
else!(2)
Nimrod's followers became very frightened. They worshipped him as a god
- a god who would live forever. Now, he was dead; the validity of his
religion was in question. Cush, his father, was already shamed for his
actions previously. He, also, was not able to unite the people under this
system as Nimrod could. Their whole system of control had to go in a
different direction.
The way they maintained their power would be accomplished by another
up-and-coming character: a woman.
Little-known by her proper name, Semiramis was to be exalted to one of
the most famous women since the flood! She was Cush's wife at the time
of the tower, and was also the mother of Nimrod! After Cush was
disgraced, subtle Semiramis did not want to go down with him. To
maintain her reputation, she did the unthinkable: marring her own son!(3)
By marrying Nimrod, Semiramis could still maintain somewhat of a
position of authority - as long as her husband remained in power, so did
she. Once Nimrod was murdered, however, Semiramis was, once again, in
danger of losing all she had.
Not so long after, Semiramis was pregnant; the father unknown. This was
her golden opportunity to further corrupt those looking for answers.
If we recall, from Cain: Seed of the Serpent, there was a famous
prophecy, given by God, to Adam and Eve:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy (the
serpent's) seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15 (KJV)
This prophecy was well-known to the people of Noah's day. It simply
stated that, one day, a savior would be born - one that would arise from
the seed of Eve. This savior would "bruise the head" of the serpent and
any of his seed, in order to save the people from their worldly sins.
Semiramis believed that if she could convince the world her unborn son
was the one who would "save the world," she might still retain her power.
What if her unborn child was "the promised seed" - the one destined to
"crush the serpent's head," the one to remove the curse of sin and death
Adam allowed in the garden? He would, practically, be a god in his own
right. Her unborn child, according to Semiramis, would be just that - none
other than Nimrod reborn.(4)
According to her, Nimrod reincarnated himself in her womb. Semiramis
"slept with no man," and became pregnant by his "holy" spirit. Sound
familiar?
In the end, this slaughter of Nimrod was actually a good thing. He now
was a martyr. Nimrod died for the sins of the whole world, and rose again
as this child. Semiramis would, naturally, be looked upon as the "great
mother" - or virgin - a necessary part of this wonderful, miraculous birth.
(5) I'm sure it sounds familiar by now!
Yes, this was the greatest twist in the history of the world - the twist of
Jesus Christ.
Now, this corruption of God's prophesy would rob millions of what would
be the true savior of the world - Jesus Christ. The people now began to
accept Nimrod as the fulfilment of prophecy. His death saved everyone
from the curse of the Garden.
Semiramis, naturally, became deified - she was "mother of the child".
Many of the images the people created for her looked like this:(6)
Now, this image of mother and child, two thousands years before the true
birth of Christ, became the object of worship. Ultimately, the Babylonian
religion was saved by the borrowing of God's prophecy, and twisting it all
around.
Over time, Nimrod became the basis for the pagan Horned God;
Semiramis the Goddess. Semiramis, once again, managed to stop the
attempt of Shem and his conspirators to halt the progress of their false
religion. She also managed to explain away any doubt and confusion that
steeped in the minds of her believers. Nimrod didn't die, ultimately. He was
born into a god, again.(7)
The Babylonian religion of old seemed harsh to some. Now - to make the
religion look more pure and wholesome - there had to be changes in here,
as well. No longer could some of their graphic practices be openly
practiced. No more human sacrifice out in the open, for example. Their
whole religion had to change - to make sure that no-one of God (like
Shem) would be able to go to such a high levels again, and almost
devastate their control!
The system that began in Babylon - the knowledge, authority, beliefs and
culture - eventually molded and assimilated into each political empire and
religious theology that succeeded the former. God was still their enemy.
His ways were not these ways. Man's thought became the measure of all
things. These two avenues of belief have at odds with each other since the
beginning - even after the Babylonian system went through these changes.
The rise of Christianity, eventually, would push many of the old, harsher-
looking facets of the old Babylonian religion under cover. A once-great city
(and system) would, over time, also be able to assimilate itself into a
number of ideologies - often finding itself into various thoughts and ideals
behind our major political, religious, and cultural influences! All of these
different facets, according to the Bible, can be collectively amassed into
one, conglomerate title: MYSTERY BABYLON!
What happened after the adoption of Semiramis' deception can be found in Legacy of Nimrod. It gives details on how one aspect of this Mystery
System was even adopted by a descendant of Shem, Esau, and how he
used this new-found power towards the establishment of another, more
powerful empire and religion.
For more on the background of Babylon, from the beginning, all the way
up the time leading up to Cush and Nimrod, please begin with The Gap Theory.
Footnotes:
(1) Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews Volume V: Notes for Volume
One and Two, trans. Henrietta Szold (Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1909), 215.
(2) Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (Neptune, New Jersey:
Loizeaux Brothers, 1916), 66.
(3) Herman L. Hoeh, Compendium of World History, Vol. 1, Ch. 3, 4,
http://www.earth-history.com/Various/Compendium (accessed Dec. 19,
2007).
(4) Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (Neptune, New Jersey:
Loizeaux Brothers, 1916), 305.
(5) ibid. p. 74-77, 295, 304-06.
(6) ibid. p. 74, 264.
(7) William Schnoebelen, Wicca: Satan’s Little White Lie (Chino, CA:
Chick Publications, 1990), 172; Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two
Babylons (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1916), 58.
Copyright 2013, Brett T., All Rights Reserved
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