APPENDIX B –

The seven heads and the names of Blasphemy.

“In the Old Testament, the root meaning of the word “Blasphemy” (Strongs word No. 5007 Hebrew – meaning disgrace, shame, contemptible things) is “an act of effrontery in which the honour of God is insulted by man”. It is in essence directed again the name of God , which is cursed or reviled instead of being honoured. Generally speaking, blasphemy is committed by pagans. It follows also that when God’s people fall into idolatry they are regarded as committing the blasphemy of the heathen. The name of “Yahweh”, which it is Israel’s peculiar destiny to hallow, is profaned by His people when they become faithless and disobedient.” “Blasphemy” – New Bible Dictionary – London Intervarsity Fellowship.

Of the Composite Beast with the seven heads the book of Revelation states -

Revelation 13:1 “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”

Revelation 13:5-6 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies;....And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”

Revelation 17:3 “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

It follows therefore, that the 8th Beast with the seven heads, also carries a name of blasphemy against the God of Israel. As we have looked at the geographical area which has been inhabited by all previous seven pagan/gentile Empires, we have been able to see that not one of them has held the name of Yahweh (The God of Israel) in awe and reverence. Instead, each succeeding Empire elevated and installed their pagan gods and priesthood, in place of the true God Almighty. The chief Gods of

the 7 Empires named on page 31 are as follows. I believe the names of blasphemy on their heads, are the names of the Gods they worshipped.

Romans 1:21-25 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves; Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

1. Old Babylon (1 st rebellion - Babel), built by Nimrod 2150 – 1740 B.C. (Pre flood)

The three cities built by Nimrod, in the plain of Shinar; Babylon, Erech and Accad were founded by the god MARDUK, (MERODACH) the “King of the Gods”. The symbol of Marduk was a horned Dragon. He was worshipped as the supreme deity of the Babylonians. Babylon was where the ancient Tower of Babel was built; the top-most level being crowned by a Temple where the god was thought to descend for intercourse with mankind. The story of the Tower of Babel contained in Genesis 10:10 is symbolic of the pride of man and his inevitable fall. NINURTA was the Babylonian and Assyrian god of war.

Among the other principal deities was the Semitic ISHTAR, at first perhaps a male deity, but later Ishtar became supremely the goddess of love and the heroine of war and was considered to be the daughter of SIN. SIN the Babylonian moon-god was worshipped with his wife Ningal in temples at Ur and Haran. He was said to be the son of Anu and Enlil.

2. Assyria – Capital Nineveh about 858 – 727 B.C. under Shalmaneser III and Tiglath-pileser.

The Assyrian King was regarded as regent on earth for the national god ASHUR. Holy war was ruthlessly pursued against those who failed to accept ASHUR’S sovereignty. The primary Temple was at Assur, the Capital, while ISHTAR, goddess of war and love, was worshipped at

Nineveh. SIN, the moon god and his priests and priestesses had a temple and cloisters at Ehulhul in Harran and were in close association with their counterpart in Ur. Other minor deities were Anu, Adad, Ninurta, Nabu, Shala, Gula, Ea and Damkina. In most respects Assyrian religion differed little from that of its southern neighbour, Babylon, from where its pantheon of gods was derived.

3. Neo-Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon) from about 625 B.C. until conquered by Persia.

There were more than 2,500 deities identified in the Babylonian pantheon of gods in the 7th Century B.C. Many of these were assimilated into the culture from the earlier Summerian 1st Dynasty of Babylon. (1800 B.C.).The chief Gods were Anu and his wife Innana; Bel (Baal) and Marduk (Merodach). His wife Ninlil or Ninhursag, was later identified with Ishtar. Other gods were TAMMUZ and DAGON.

The Ishtar Gate at the city of Babylon was decorated with many composite creatures. One called Pabilsag had the body of a lion with wings. Another had the head of a serpent, the Body of a lion and the hind claws of an eagle.

4. Persia – 550 – 330 B.C. until conquered by Alexander the Great.

The early Persians revered gods of nature, fertility, and the heavens. The tribe of the Magi were nearly exclusively the priests. During the 6th Century B.C. Zoroaster proclaimed a religion of lofty moral ideals based on the principle, “Do good, hate evil”. For him there was one god AHURA MAZDA, the Good, represented by purifying fire and water. Opposed to the Good was a dark power of Evil.

5. Greece – 336 B.C. and 4 divisions until the Seleucid Dynasty 312 – 64 B.C. until conquered by Rome.

For a description of the religious practices of the Greek rulers, and Alexander the Great as a deity, see pages 57 and 58 of the booklet. ZEUS (Jupiter), and HERMES his attendant, (Latinized as Mercury), were the chief deities of Greece. Paul and Barnabas were mistaken for these deities after a miraculous healing took place in Lystra. (Acts 14:12).

6. Rome – 64 B.C. onwards until the final division of Rome into East and West in 476 A.D.

Rome practised the “Imperial Cult” of Emperor worship. Pergamum an ancient Roman City (in Western Turkey) was the centre of Roman religion, and the first temple in honour of Rome and Augustus was built there about 29 B.C. Pergamum was also a centre for four of the greatest pagan cults of ZEUS, ATHENA, DIONYSUS and ASCLEPIUS. Pergamum is described in Rev. 2:13 as “...even where Satan’s seat is...”Pergamum was seen as the seat of the power of evil, because in the imperial cult the God-given power of the State had been harnessed to the blasphemous worship of a man. Worship of the emperor had been made the touchstone of civic loyalty, so that a faithful Christian, however loyal to the secular authority of the State, was branded as a traitor.

a. Western leg of the Roman Empire, devolved into Holy Roman Empire, German Empire, and 3 rd Reich (Germany) until 1945 . The Roman Catholic religion was the unchallenged spiritual authority in Western Europe after the split with the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1054. The Church organization is centralized and hierarchical and the pope’s decisions are reinforced by the doctrine of infallibility. Other accepted doctrines include transubstantiation and purgatory. The number of the sacraments has been fixed at seven since the 12th Century. The cult of the Virgin Mary, which flourished in the middle ages, underwent a major revival in the 19th Century. Mary’s Immaculate conception has been recognized as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church since 1854 and the belief that she was taken into heaven (the Bodily Assumption) was defined as doctrine in 1950.

b. Eastern leg of the Roman Empire until 1453 A.D . when conquered by the Turks.The Roman territories East of the Balkans separated from the western Roman Empire by Diocletian in 293 A.D. Under Constantine the Great the Empire became “Christian”, but incorporated many pagan celebrations. Constantinople was

inaugurated as the “New Rome” in 330 A.D. It became a federation of self-governing Churches, also called the Eastern Orthodox Church. The four ancient patriarchs of Orthodoxy are of Constantinople (which has primacy of honour), Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The Orthodox Church claims the authority of apostolic succession and regards itself as the one true Church, accepting as doctrine only the Nicene Creed. The veneration of ICONS is a distinctive feature or Orthodox worship; but statues and other three-dimensional images are forbidden.

7. Turk/Ottoman Empire – 1453 A.D. until end of World War I - Turkey (1922) remaining until now.

The essential creed of Islam is that there is one god, Allah, and that Mohammed is his prophet.

The Islamic god “ALLAH” did not exist (in that form) when Daniel wrote his book, and John wrote Revelation, but “Allah” was revered and elevated by Mohammed in 610 A.D. from the pantheon of Gods he found in the “house of god” in Mecca (Arabia) and which were originally worshipped in Babylon. He took the Babylonian god “SIN” symbolised by the crescent moon, as the one god to be worshipped. This symbol may be seen as the moon with its “two horns” adorning the roof on their mosques throughout the World. The mosque roof itself could be described as a head with two horns! The Beast from the Earth, (the False Prophet) is described in Rev. 13:11 as “...and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”

8. Rising composite Islamic Empire – 1979 Iranian Revolution under Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, and various other Middle Eastern Islamic groups, until the present; with Intifada and Holy War against Israel and the West being promulgated.

The organization of various Palestinian groups opposed to Israel, were centralised in al-Fatah, under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, in the 1970’s. Since that time many terrorist Islamic groups have established themselves in the Middle East and throughout the World. The attack on the Trade Centre towers and the Pentagon on Sept 11th 2001,

focussed the World’s attention on the rising threat of Islamo-fascism, terrorism in the name of ALLAH.

The aim of the conquering Nations was always to replace the gods of their victims with their own gods, thus Nebuchadnezzar after he had conquered Jerusalem removed the vessels from the Temple and took them to Babylon where they were placed in the temple of Bel-Marduk (2 Chron.36:7 and 2 Kings 24:13; Ezra 6:5), supposedly as booty to be presented to his all conquering god.

As we have seen from the above, there are many blasphemous names on the seven heads of the final composite Beast Empire. Most of the idolatrous names have faded into obscurity throughout history; but one remains that was present in Babylon in the beginning – the pagan god called SIN, represented by the crescent moon with two horns, now politely called ALLAH.

The final composite Beast that rises up out of the Sea, is given the “mouth of a lion” which represents Babylon. The 2nd Beast from the earth, has two horns like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon. We could also remember that the symbol of MARDUK - the Babylonian “King of the Gods”, was a horned Dragon(Rev. 13:2 and 11).