History tells us that at Babel, Nimrod brought in many idolatrous things. In that idolatrous worship he invented a most evil emblem, the Madonna with her child. According to the book The Two Babylons, the Madonna was the mother of Nimrod and was also his wife. This emblem, invented in the Babylonian worship, spread throughout the earth—to Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, Tibet, China, and Japan. It has even pervaded Roman Catholicism. The emblem of a mother embracing her child is found in Catholic cathedrals and in Buddhist idol temples. It has been utilized by Satan to deceive fallen people and rob them of their worship to God.
Among the first group of historical figures, Nimrod was indeed a negative model, indicating that all those after him who took the godless way and were independent of God were like him—they were born under the curse, walked in death, were utilized by Satan, God’s enemy, became mighty ones, formed nations, and brought in idolatry. Some formed political nations and brought in secular idols, such as images of birds, beasts, and human beings. Others formed religious nations and brought in the so-called sacred idols, such as images of the Holy Mother, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Francis.
Babel, which was in the land of Shinar in Chaldea (Gen. 10:10; 11:2), was the birthplace of idolatry on earth (Josh. 24:2). The city of Babel was the dwelling place and protection of the idolatrous people, and the tower of Babel was for the purpose of making a name for the people and for declaring their rebellion and opposition against God (Gen. 11:4-5, 9). As a result, they were judged by God—their language was confounded, and they were scattered throughout the earth (Gen. 11:7-9).
The kingdom that Nimrod built, beginning at Babel, was enlarged into the Babylon in the Old Testament at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar mobilized his troops to invade Jerusalem. He brought the nation of Judah to ruin, destroyed the city and temple of God, and even seized the holy vessels, the vessels for the service of God in the temple, and placed them in the temple of the idols in Babylon (Dan. 1:1-2; 2 Kings 25:8-9, 14-15). That was an insult to God. Hence, the prophets predicted that Babylon would suffer God’s vengeance and that her broad walls would be utterly broken (Jer. 51:58), as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. She would never be inhabited, nor would she be dwelt in from generation to generation; only evil things, such as wild beasts, ostriches, wild goats, wolves, and jackals, would be there (Isa. 13:19-22; Jer. 50:39-40). Babylon became such an evil and devilish place not only because of her idolatry and rebellion against God, but also because she destroyed God’s city and temple and carried away into captivity God’s people and the holy vessels.
The Bible reveals three aspects of Babylon: the literal, ancient Babylon, the material Babylon the Great, and the religious Babylon the Great. All three developed out of Babel. The material Babylon refers to the city of Rome; the religious Babylon refers to the Roman Catholic Church, which has copied many practices of Judaism and has assimilated many elements of paganism. In Revelation 17 and 18 the material Babylon is mixed with the religious Babylon. On the one hand, the female in chapter seventeen is a prostitute (17:1), signifying the apostate Roman Catholic Church; on the other hand, she is a woman (17:18), signifying the physical city of Rome. In 18:3 both of these aspects are mentioned. This verse says, “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her luxury.” The nations have drunk of the wine...and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her refers to the religious aspect, whereas the merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her luxury refers to the material aspect.
Therefore, in the New Testament the material Babylon, which came out of Babel, is mixed with the religious Babylon and is filled with religious confusion and idolatry. Revelation 17:4a says, “The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet.” Purple is a blend of blue and red; it signifies the blending of heavenly things with earthly. This is the appearance of the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, the woman is “gilded with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the unclean things of her fornication” (Rev. 17:4b). Gold, precious stone, and pearls are the materials with which the New Jerusalem is built. But the woman is only gilded with these treasures as an ornament for outward display and a false appearance as a deception to attract people. She does have something of God in appearance. But within, her golden cup is full of abominations and the unclean things of her fornication, full of idolatry, pagan practices, and the filthiness of heresies and sins.
The Roman Catholic Church is full of idols. People can pray to any idol they choose. Some of the idols were brought in from paganism. For example, the Mary whom they worship is actually the embodiment of the goddess Venus in Greek mythology. The book The Two Babylons points out that the evil emblem that Nimrod invented was brought into the Catholic Church and appears as a picture of Mary and Jesus, and that the celebration of the birthday of the sun was brought in and became Christmas. In his book The Great Prophecies, G. H. Pember points out that even Buddha became a saint in the Roman Catholic Church under the name of Saint Josaphat. Hence, the Roman Catholic Church has become the mother of the religious prostitutes and the abominations (idols) of the earth.
At the end of this age, when the great tribulation begins, Antichrist will persecute the religious Babylon, the Roman Catholic Church, and “shall make her desolate and naked,” that is, shall destroy her, rob her other riches, and expose her; they “shall eat her flesh,” that is, shall kill her members; and they “shall burn her utterly with fire,” that is, shall annihilate her altogether (Rev. 17:16). This is the judgment of God on the religious Babylon. Furthermore, at His coming Christ will destroy the material Babylon, the city of Rome, with “great authority” (Rev. 18:1), making her “a dwelling place of demons and a hold of every unclean spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird” (Rev. 18:2). She will be condemned and cursed just as ancient Babylon was and will no longer be a fit dwelling place for human beings. Therefore, everyone who has been saved by grace must “come out of her” that he may not “participate in her sins” or “receive of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4).