Jesus our Shepherd

John 10:14, 26, 27 “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own…. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

Because Jesus is the theme of the entire Bible, every page you turn to has another aspect of Jesus written upon it. The same is true of the prophecies. In every prophecy another phase of Jesus and His ministry is depicted. As we study this final call to America and the world, we are looking at Jesus as our shepherd—the One who lovingly calls and leads His true sheep.

Babylon is Fallen

Revelation 14:8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

The second of these three worldwide messages is a message proclaiming that Babylon has fallen. What is this Babylon that has fallen and why is it so important for us? It is in a message that goes to all the world just before Jesus comes again, so there is utmost importance behind this message. Who is Babylon?

Revelation 17:4, 5 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Ephesians 5:23-32 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

As we look elsewhere in Revelation and in the Bible, we find that this worldwide message is not talking about the literal city of Babylon, for when John wrote Revelation, Babylon had been in ruins for many years already. It would have made no sense to apply it to the literal city of Babylon. We must look to a prophetic application which builds upon what we already now about historic Babylon. Sure enough, in Revelation an apocalyptic Babylon is uncovered. This time it is not historical Babylon, but “mystery Babylon the great.” Babylon is pictured as a woman—a woman not to be emulated. Having already seen in a previous study that a woman is a symbol for a church in prophecy, Mystery Babylon is therefore a church. She is not a lovely church as pictured in Revelation 12, but an impure and corrupt church, a church that is under the severe censure of God. She is described as a harlot.

As we have studied previously, Jesus is described as the Bridegroom (John 3:29), and His church is His bride (2 Corinthians 11:2). Jesus is waiting with longing expectancy for the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7, 9), but here is a church that has turned its back upon the proposals of Jesus and has courted other lovers until she is called a “harlot.” What a heart-wrenching turn of affairs for Jesus, yet this is exactly what prophecy has revealed. What does the Bible refer to this spiritual immorality as?

James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world——the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life——is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

A church that has chosen the world rather than Jesus. Jesus paid the redemption price for them. He bought her with His own blood—the highest dowry every asked—yet to no avail. The church refuses the most magnificent gift of love ever offered to turn to the vain and empty pleasures of the world. Babylon is a church that has forsaken her Lord for the things of the world. It does not say that she claims to have forsaken her Lord, but by her actions she shows that she loves the world more than her Heavenly Suitor.

Spiritual immorality is friendship with the world, but specifically it is breaking God’s Law to do what the world does. This is exactly how God described spiritual adultery, when God’s people were deceived into this trap anciently.

Jeremiah 3:6-9 The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. “And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. “Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. “So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.”

Jeremiah 2:27, 28 Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble; For according to the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah.

When ancient Israel followed the example of ancient Babylon and the other nations around them by making idols and images for themselves (supposedly to represent the true God of heaven), the Lord condemned it as harlotry. And so likewise, when a harlot woman is pictured in Revelation, we can be assured that it is a church that is following the odious example of Israel and Judah. It is a church which is uniting with the world in disobedience to God’s Ten Commandments. The Lord has given very specific instructions, but this Babylonian church of Revelation has compromised with the world and is judged as a harlot. Fearful are the warnings against the professed but pseudo-bride of Christ. In the last days, if we are not a part of Christ’s true bride, then we will receive the awful judgments predicted upon Babylon. Are we in a church or organization which has compromised with the world and is breaking any part of God’s Law? If so, we are classed as among those symbolized by this illicit woman.

The Wine of Her Fornication

Revelation 17:2, 3 With whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Further detail is given regarding this impure woman and how she became impure. Her friendship with the world and disobedience to God’s Law was initiated by committing fornication with the kings of the earth. She has tried to become united with politics and leaders of the world. Instead of being satisfied with the high title of Bride of Christ, she sought to align herself with the nations, kings and commanders of the world. Jesus clearly taught that there should ever be a separation between the church and the government (Matthew 22:21), but this church has sought to break down the barrier, and the result is spiritual lewdness.

Revelation 13:11, 14 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon…. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.

Prophecy pictures that this unholy alliance of the church and state will again take place in the United States. It is not a warning to just the church of the Dark Ages, but also America today. Babylon is beginning to be formed in America (as we have previously studied) and these warnings have particular and direct force to us today.

Revelation 18:2, 3 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”

Mark 2:22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.

Isaiah 29:9-13 Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. For the LORD has poured out on you The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.” Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.”

This unlawful alliance has produced an effect. As this church sought support and strength from the great men of the world, compromise was inevitable. With the compromise came false doctrines which are described as the wine of her fornication. Jesus’ true doctrine, or teaching, is described in the Bible as new wine, but this is not new wine (unfermented grape juice). This is wine which makes the earth intoxicated. This wine is true doctrines which have been corrupted, just as alcohol is something good (grapes) which have been corrupted by fermentation. So the true doctrines of the Bible have been corrupted by this union of church and state, resulting in the numbing of the minds of the world. This wine of her fornication then intoxicates all the nations of the earth. What a terrible situation—the earth is drunk from the false doctrines of her unlawful union. I wonder, are we drunk with the wine of her fornication? Are our minds numbed by the false teaching of Babylon? What are some of the false doctrines and teachings that have come down to us through Babylon? What does Babylon teach? What is her wine?

Babylon—a Man Made System of Worship

Genesis 11:3, 4 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Our first record of Babylon is when man tried to save himself from another flood. Not too long after the flood men banded together in confederacy against the Most High. They did not believe His promises that He would not again send another flood, and so they tried to build a tower to heaven that would enable them to save themselves. Babylon, from the beginning, was a man-made system of worship in rebellion against the God of heaven. It was an attempt to substitute its own ideas and traditions for the Word of God. These beginnings on the plains of Shinar resulted in the development of this apostate system of worship which has resulted in our modern-day Babylon today. Babylon today is still the churches which substitute traditions and man-made ideas for the Word of God as ancient Babylon did.

Mark 7:6-9 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men——the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

Jesus has given us definite warnings against following this false system of worship. Throughout His ministry He had to combat the prevalence of traditions above the Word of God and was constantly calling man back to the commandments of God. Many then were rejecting the plain commandments of God for the traditions of men, and many are still doing the same today. When men today worship on Sunday instead of God’s seventh-day Sabbath, they have put tradition above the Word of God and are classed with this man-made system of worship. If you are in an organization or church which teaches tradition above the Word of God—you are a part of this false, Babylonish system of worship, but you need not stay there. Jesus, as your loving Shepherd, is calling you out into His true fold.

Babylon—a Center of Image Worship

Ezekiel 8:5, 6 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance. Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”

As we turn to the book of Ezekiel—the prophet who prophesied in Babylon—we find several other examples of Babylonian worship which have now crept into most churches of today. Ezekiel was given a vision of the various abominations which the professed people of God were practicing and guilty of. These abominations were a part of the Babylonian worship which they had been compromising with and bringing into their own religion, but God did not take kindly to mixing Babylonian worship with the worship of the God of heaven. The abomination was so detestable that it was going to cause the death of many of the leaders in this apostasy.

The first abomination was an image erected in the sanctuary of the Lord. It was always alluring to the Israelites to attempt to picture and make the worship of God more real and sublime by bringing in images like the others around them were doing. This came straight from Babylon.

“Babylon was the primal source from which all these systems of idolatry flowed.” Two Babylons, Dr. Alexander Hislop.

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

But God did not accept image worship then and He does not accept it now. The Lord wants no mingling of idolatry with His true worship. He was so specific about this that He included it in the Ten Commandments. If you are in a church or organization which countenances image worship, you are in Babylon and need to come out immediately!

Babylon—a Center of False Teachings About Death

Ezekiel 8:13, 14 And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’S house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

Another bulwark of the false religion of Babylon was the false concept of death. Because they bought into the devil’s first lie that man does not die, they came up with a myriad of gods and goddesses in the heavens. One of these gods was Tammuz which had been killed, and Babylon now taught that he had ascended into the heavens. So for the Israelites to weep for Tammuz, they had accepted part of the false notion of Babylon about death. This false notion was that man had an immortal soul which ascended to its abode immediately after death. This false Babylonian idea still survives today.

“This doctrine can be traced through the muddy channels of corrupted Christianity, a perverted Judaism, a pagan philosophy, a superstitious idolatry, to the great instigator of mischief in the Garden of Eden. The Protestants borrowed it from the Catholics, the Catholics from the Pharisees, the Pharisees from the pagans, and the pagans from the old Serpent, who first preached the doctrine amid the lowly bowels of Paradise to an audience all too willing to hear and heed the new and fascinating theology—‘You shall not surely die.’” Is Man by Nature Immortal? Sermon by Amos Phelps.

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun…. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

John 11:11-14 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”

The Bible is very clear about the nature of death. Death is a sleep—an unconscious sleep in which communication is impossible. Awakening from this “sleep of death” can only be achieved by the trumpet-like call of the Lifegiver. All who have died will hear His voice (John 5:28), some coming forth at the first and the vast majority at the second resurrection. Attempting to communicate with the dead is only tapping into the powers of demons who are all too ready to send messages purported to be from the dead.

Babylon imbibed this doctrine of demons and became a center of false teachings about death. When Israel compromised, God said it was a great abomination that was causing His presence to depart. When there are churches claiming to be the bride of Christ, but which imbibe the wine of Babylon on this teaching—beware! It is Babylon that has false teachings on death—not the bride of Christ. If you are in an organization or church which teaches the Babylonian concept of death, you, although perhaps unknowingly until now, are a part of the harlot system of Babylon.

Babylon—a Center of Sun Worship

Ezekiel 8:15, 16 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

“In ancient Babylonia the sun was worshipped from immemorial antiquity.” The Worship of Nature, vol. 1, pg. 529, James G. Brazer.

The worst of all the abominations was the worship of the sun. Babylon once again was the seat of this false worship. Men from early on had come to admire the sun and worship it as the one giving life to the world. They misinterpreted the blessing of God and worshipped the created rather than the Creator. Once again Israel was deceived into mixing this false worship with the worship of the God of heaven. They did not abandon the sanctuary, they just combined the two. They thought to please both God and their Babylonian masters, but in reality they ended up pleasing neither. When the Israelites turned their back upon God to worship the sun, His limits were reached and judgments came swift and speedily.

Ezekiel 22:26 “Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”

When the worship of the sun came into God’s professed people, the Sabbath was forgotten. God pled with His people to turn to Him and turn to obedience to His seventh-day Sabbath, which differentiated them from the rest of the world. The rest of the world worshipped the sun on the day of the sun, Sunday, but God had called His people to be separate. But alas, instead of heeding His loving call, they forgot the Sabbath and rejoiced on the day of the sun, instead. This same sun worship from ancient Babylon, strange as it seems, crept into Christianity, as well.

“Sunday—so called because this day was anciently dedicated to the sun or to its worship. The first day of the week.” Webster’s Dictionary, 1929, edition.

“Not a few pagan habits crept into the church, concealed by new names. In keeping of Sunday as it was introduced by Constantine, and still continues in Europe, the old cults of the sun-god, Apollo, mingles with the remembrances of the resurrection.” – Schaff, Church History, p. 375.

“The Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen…. She took the pagan Sunday and made into the Christian Sunday. There is, in truth, something royal, kingly about the sun, making it a fit emblem of Jesus, the Sun of Justice. Hence the Church in these countries, would seem to have said, ‘Keep that old pagan name. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.’ And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus.” Catholic World, March 1894, p. 809.

Ezekiel 20:12, 20 “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them…. ‘hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’”

God was calling His people away from ancient Babylonian sun worship then and He is today. He called them to turn from the worship of the sun and keep His holy Sabbath day. It was Babylon that worshiped on the day of the sun, not God’s people. The seventh-day Sabbath, on Saturday, is what marks His people as different from the world. Sunday worship came down from ancient Babylon into Catholicism and many are still embracing it today.

“Christendom is indebted to the Catholic Church for the institution of Sunday as the Sabbath day…” Our Sunday Visitor, January 4, 1931.

“In keeping Sunday, non-Catholics are simply following the practice of the Catholic Church for 1800 years, a tradition and not a Bible ordinance.” The Question Box, 99.

“There is no scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week… Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, when adopted and sanctified by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!” Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of The Baptist Manual, in a paper read before a New York minister’s conference held November 13, 1893.

The Lord is still speaking to us today as He was to ancient Israel. Many Christians are unaware that they are following this false Babylonian system of worship by worshiping on Sunday, but the Bible and history are clear. Sunday comes to us straight of Babylon and is a part of this apostate worship. God is calling us back to acknowledging His authority by worshiping Him as our Creator on His seventh-day Sabbath. If you are in a church or organization which honors the Sunday and not God’s Sabbath day, you are in what the Bible calls Babylon, and Jesus our Shepherd is giving a final call to you.

The Final Call to America & the World

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”

This false Babylonian system of worship has set itself up above God, and judgments will come suddenly and swiftly. Before these judgments, Jesus the true Shepherd calls His people out that they might not receive of His plagues. Through our study of Babylon, have you found yourself unknowingly inside this false system? Jesus still calls you, His child. Jesus says, “Come out, my people.” It is not judgment for being in Babylon, but it is judgment of refusing Jesus’ call to come out. If you are in, you can still come out. The plagues are not being poured out yet. Will you choose to follow Jesus out of Babylon? Jesus left everything for you; can you leave everything for Him? He is calling you to become a part of His bride; will you take the hand of your heavenly Bridegroom instead of the hand of worldly compromise?

Ezekiel 9:5, 6 To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. “Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

In ancient Israel, those who refused Jesus’ call were cut down by the judgments of God. The slaughter began with those who knew the most and were the most accountable. History will be repeated. If you do not heed Jesus’ loving call, God’s wrath will be unmingled with mercy. Will you choose to come out today before it is too late?

The Lord is calling His people out of this great apostate system. We are His sheep and His people. We may have been deceived by the subtlety of the devil, but when God in His mercy shows us our need to take our stand for God and all of His Word, those who truly love Jesus more than anyone and anything else gladly hear and obey His voice. Will we realize from the Word of God the clever counterfeit that the devil has so insidiously gotten all of the world hooked on, and take a stand for truth? This is the last call to America and all the world. Will you heed this call? Will you make your decision to come out of Babylon and stand among God’s true remnant people? Will you choose to follow your loving Lord even in obedience to His holy Sabbath day? Will you come out of Babylon so that you will be delivered from the terrible plagues that are so soon to fall upon the world?

John 10:16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”