The god of this age (6)

2Th 2 “³Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” In Paul’s age false teachings were propagated asserting that the end of world was coming such year,

month and day to create confusion as is the case today: years and dates have been announced for the coming of the Lord and the end of the world. It was then that the Spirit seized Paul to bring this clarification: apostasy must come first, the man of sin, the son of perdition.

Again here we are permitted to see clearly that the Spirit speaks of the devil embodied in a man as was the case of Nimrod. The devil envied the throne of God in heaven, wanting to be like the Most High. In earth, through Nimrod, he was able to found one empire to rule the earth from antiquity to his judgment, and thus bring all the inhabitants of the earth to worship him. This empire was able to change the name through the ages while remaining the same world order in which the prince of this world has authority over all the inhabitants of the earth.

In early Christianity, that empire did not operate in the church of the living God, who bowed to the authority of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The empire of the world, in its religious or political forms, persecuted the church of God as it was infiltrating it at the same time. As the bad seed/grass always reproduces faster, infiltrators ended up predominating in the church of the living God. The God of Truth has never been the God of the majority or the multitude. Ge 6 “¹And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth… ⁵And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” Hs 4 “⁷As they were increased, so they sinned against me…”

These infiltrators with a special mission to conquer the Church and establish on top of it the man of sin did not use brutal departure. They were faithful to the approach of the old serpent that we already know: to question the word, distort the word then overthrow it and establish his own doctrine (see The nature of lie (1)). All those who came to salvation at the feet of the apostles had this faith foundation, SHEMAH ISHRAELI, i.e. that there is one God, creator of heaven and earth and who came to save us in his Son Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts and the epistles, we read debates on issues of eating or not eating such foods, observing or not observing such a day... but not once on deity. To this question the understanding was perfect and unique: 1Tm 3 “¹⁶And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

Just after the departure of the holy apostles, the devil through the infiltrators began to raise questions about deity, which is always the first step in his approach: "Is God really one or there are three? – anyway, we are not prevented from thinking!" Exactly same way as he introduced himself to the woman in the Garden of Eden. This is in itself apostate, as it challenges all divine statements about God in both the Old and the New Testament. Second, the question is confronting two universal beliefs: the monotheist belief inspired by the God of eternity in Zion, and the polytheist belief inspired by the god of this world in Babylon. The authors of this issue were imbued in the Greco-Roman mythology rooted in Babylonian beliefs. In the end, it is deplorable to notice that for answering the question, the infiltrators did not leave it up to the sovereignty of the Holy Bible scriptures but the opinions of one another dominated by the Chaldeans’ mythology.

Hence, men who had a strong opinion (in the pay of Satan, of course) were to impose their views instead of the ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD’. Already in the second and third centuries serious preparations are underway to introduce the Babylonish Greco-Roman mythology in the church, and we see influential men, as Tertullian, working hard for this task. These men had already been predicted by the apostles: 2P 2 “² But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” Jude “⁴For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Bible teaches us that the Lord our God is one Lord, and we just read that our only Lord and Master is Jesus Christ. Teaching or believing that there are others than Him; that is to deny Him openly. But it is not what the Babylonish Greco-Roman mythology of Nimrod teaches. Tertullian (original name : Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus , born in Carthage around the year 160 AD, son of a proconsul centurion, that is to say his father commanded the military guard of the Governor of Africa. Carthage schools were so successful and Tertullian received a strong literary education. He studied thoroughly the Greek and Latin poets, philosophers and historians. He devoted himself particularly to Roman law and became a lawyer or perhaps rhetorician), one of these influential men whose biography reveals that he was immersed in Greco-Roman philosophy, a Babylonian heritage, defended mythological apologetics that the apostles had not known: the Trinity of Persons in God, the immortality of the soul, the church and the sacrament of baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, the signs of the cross, prayers for the dead, the fast of Lenten and other devotion, and many others that are the doctrinal background of the Roman Catholic church and Protestant churches in different degrees.

We see that at this stage these men, Tertullian and others, were trying curtly to ignore the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to replace them with their philosophical interpretations drawn from the wisdom of the Chaldeans. They were preparing in the Church a favorable environment for the man of sin, the son of perdition, who cannot feel comfortable where truth reigns. In the 4th century, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great took the center stage and summoned the Council of Nicaea whereof the majority was with these false teachings of the "Church Fathers" and endorsed them as the basis of faith. Now it was no longer God dictating in His church, but a man who received a high seat above the stars of God, a man who ascends to the heights of the clouds, made ​​like the Most High (Isaiah 14 :13 -14), he shall dictate what men and women under the sun have to accept as a matter of faith.

It is remarkable that the doctrine dear to Nimrod and the Chaldeans, trinity which was prevalent in all the pagan nations under appropriate names, will be dedicated as the foundation of the Christian faith by fitting onto it the titles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In this Chaldean mythology founded by Nimrod, Semiramis the goddess was worshiped more than Tammuz and Nimrod because she had the titles of "Mother of God", "Our Lady", "Queen of Heaven", "She who crushed the serpent" etc. With the Christianization of this mythology, this practice was kept safe: statues of the Babylonish goddess were raised and worshiped  to which they gave the name of Mary, with the same titles of Semiramis/Ishtar, constantly adding others such as "Mediatrix", "She who rescues", "She who intercedes", "Mother of all graces", "Mother of the Church", and so on.

In addition, the same spirit of contention that was in Nimrod and all his hegemonic dynasty is found unequivocally in this son of perdition, considering the titles he gives to himself and the attitude he displayed before the THUS SAITH THE LORD. Here is how Pharaoh said to Moses after hearing the THUS SAITH THE LORD: Ex 5 “²And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.”  Nebuchadnetsar for his part spoke these words with pride: Dn 4 “²⁹At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. ³⁰The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”

As Nimrod was man-god (Marduk) and father of the gods (what Zeus is for the Greek and Jupiter for the Roman), the man of sin is called the "MOST HOLY FATHER," the "INFALLIBLE." Hellen G. White writes, “More than this, the pope has been given the very titles of Deity. He has been styled "Lord God the Pope" (see Appendix), and has been declared infallible. He demands the homage of all men. The same claim urged by Satan in the wilderness of temptation is still urged by him through the Church of Rome, and vast numbers are ready to yield him homage.” (Hellen G. White, The Greate Controversy, P 50). Chaldean priest-kings bore the title of high priest (Pontifex Maximus in Latin: Sovereign Pontiff)) and thus wielded political and religious power, which corresponds to the pharaohs as the "Master of the double abode." Such titles have never existed among the apostles of Jesus. The man of sin likewise bears the title of Pontiff Maximus and is also the ‘Master of the double home’ as he wields both temporal and spiritual power: he is the Head of the Vatican City-State, the city that has authority over all the earth, and on the other side the Head of the Clergy (Dux Clare), the King of the Latin Priesthood (Latinus Rex Sacerdotos), but also the substitute of the Son of God (Vicarius Filii Dei). Considering himself as King above all kings of the earth, he has assumed the powers to invest or depose emperors, which even led to the Investiture Controversy in the Middle Ages.

In the year 1204, Pope Innocent III extracted from Peter II, king of Arragon, the following extraordinary oath: "I, Peter, king of Arragonians, profess and promise to be ever faithful and obedient to my lord, Pope Innocent, to his Catholic successors, and the Roman Church, and faithfully to preserve my kingdom in his obedience, defending the Catholic faith, and persecuting heretical pravity." (John Dowling, The History of Romanism, b. 5, ch. 6, sec.) Since the pope claims replacing Jesus and succeeding to Peter, this question applies, when and where a king on earth has ever sworn allegiance to either? Ellen G. White says, “The proud pontiff also claimed the power to depose emperors, and declared that no sentence which he pronounced could be reversed by anyone, but that it was his prerogative to reverse the decisions of all others. A striking illustration of the tyrannical character of this advocate of infallibility was given in his treatment of the German emperor, Henry IV. For presuming to disregard the pope's authority, this monarch was declared to be excommunicated and dethroned. Terrified by the desertion and threats of his own princes, who were encouraged in rebellion against him by the papal mandate, Henry felt the necessity of making his peace with Rome. In company with his wife and a faithful servant he crossed the Alps in midwinter, that he might humble himself before the pope. Upon reaching the castle whither Gregory had withdrawn, he was conducted, without his guards, into an outer court, and there, in the severe cold of winter, with uncovered head and naked feet, and in a miserable dress, he awaited the pope's permission to come into his presence. Not until he had continued three days fasting and making confession, did the pontiff condescend to grant him pardon. Even then it was only upon condition that the emperor should await the sanction of the pope before resuming the insignia or exercising the power of royalty. And Gregory, elated with his triumph, boasted that it was his duty to pull down the pride of kings.” (Hellen G. White, The Greate Controversy, P 57)

Without a shadow of doubt, it is the power of the prince of this world, the opposite of the humility of the Lamb of God who taught us: Mt 5 ³⁹But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil… ⁴⁴But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Those who are of God have no power in the world, but rather are persecuted.

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