The leopard appears confused as the two foes eye each other. For the first time, the animal cannot tell which is the hunter and which is the prey. Is the leopard the prey or is the man the prey? Is the man the hunter or is the leopard the hunter? Normally, as the hunter, this leopard stalks men. The leopard’s memory does not register ever facing a man who radiates an air of confidence rather than an aura of fear.

Through many hours of practice with spear and knife Nimrod became a highly skilled hunter. His great exploits made him a legend among his clan. The spear he carries, previously used in numerous battles, skillfully executed many victims by the sure hand of its bearer.

Nimrod’s god, Helel son of the dawn, strengthened his confidence by assuring Nimrod of his invincibility. He is not just invincible; he is immortal. Someday he too will be a god. “As you are, I once was,” Helel said to him, “and as I am, so you shall be .”

Adrenaline heightens all his senses as Nimrod stalks the leopard. They circle each other like two warriors wrestling in an amphitheater. Time seems suspended; all sounds and movement other than that made by these two opponents ceases. Nimrod watches every muscle of the animal contract and expand. He hears every breath as it inhales and exhales. He locks in on the eyes of the leopard.

Nimrod learned an important tactic in solo combat and he applies that lesson in this confrontation. He will not make the first move. He will respond to the movement of his opponent and use the leopard’s own energy to overcome him. However, Nimrod doesn’t need to wait for the leopard to strike. He sees the first movement in the eyes of his feline enemy. The leopard blinks one eye before he springs. The man makes his decision. Nimrod drops to a crouch, anchors the rear of his spear in the ground, raises its point into the air and awaits the hurtling body of the spear’s next victim. Nimrod leans to one side, avoiding the powerful limbs of his foe and carefully aims the spear so that it penetrates the leopard under his shoulder. The leopard’s momentum and weight do the work. He impales himself on the spear, the spearhead piercing his lung and his heart. The beast falls beside Nimrod, his lungs rattle with a desperate gasp and he dies.

Nimrod quickly pulls his knife from its sheath and slices across the jugular vein of his victim. In a ritual already performed hundreds of times, he falls upon the neck of the leopard and drinks the still warm blood flowing from its neck. After Nimrod satisfies his blood lust he rises to his feet, his hands lifted toward the heavens in triumph. In one hand he holds his spear, in the other he holds his knife. With face, hands, and body covered in blood he shouts into the air, “Come forth, O Mighty One!” As he invokes his deity Nimrod’s heart rate accelerates, he breaks into a profuse sweat and it seems to him that his body expands as he receives yet another spirit to guide him.

Friend or Foe?

Helel – the Hebrew name translated as Lucifer. Some in the church today do not believe in a personal devil. They don't believe a created being exists who operates as the archenemy of God and His church. Others suppose he may be a real personality – a created being, but he's not as bad as he's made out to be. He's just on a mission to help God figure out who's going to serve Him.

The way we view the Scriptures determines our position on this issue. Some approach the Holy Scriptures from a high view or maximalist view, while others approach the Holy Scriptures from a low view or minimalist view of the Scripture. The low view takes the position that men wrote about God in Scripture, but He did not necessarily inspire what they wrote. Those who hold to this view see symbolic stories and legends in the Scripture but they don't believe much of what we read in the Bible really happened. The modernists who do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus or that He was God appearing in the flesh can do so only because they hold the low view of Scripture.

Those who agree with the high view believe God directly inspired the writers of Scripture, resulting in a Bible that speaks the truth with His authority. They believe the words as written should be taken literally unless obviously intended otherwise. Those holding the high view of Scrip­ture can draw only one conclusion regarding the devil; he is a real and personal enemy of God and His people. The following biographical sketch offers important insight into the true nature of this subtle enemy.

Lucifer, the Anointed Cherub

"Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:12-15)

Two Old Testament passages give us insight into the origins of Satan. Modernists, who do not believe God directly inspired the Bible, claim these two passages in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 do not refer to Satan. These men say the prophets are still speaking of the earthly kings originally addressed in their prophecies. In this passage, the Holy Spirit spoke through Ezekiel about the Prince of Tyre. He now switches and begins to speak of the King of Tyre as ‘the anointed cherub who covers.’ This angel of the highest order appeared in Eden, the garden of God. As a covering cherub, he stood in the very presence of the Most High God, attending Him at His throne, the Mercy Seat.

Now look at Isaiah 14 where the Spirit addresses the king of Babylon. Again, He begins to speak of a being who is no mere mortal, but a fallen angel.

"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: `I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-15) 

We know two essential things about Satan. We know that God created him (Colossians 1:16) and that he fell because of pride. (Notice the five I wills) This passage in Isaiah contains the only time the name Lucifer appears in Scripture. Lucifer, a Latin word meaning light bearer, comes from the word helel in the Hebrew text. Modern versions interpret it as morning star, leaving room for the minimalist to ignore the obvious reference to Satan’s downfall.

The word Helel or Lucifer suggests the planet Venus, which we recognize as the morning star. Venus ushers in the light; it introduces the sun. Ency­clopedia Britannica says about Venus, “When seen in the western sky as the evening star, it was called Hesperus by the Greeks, and when visible in the east as the morning star, Phosphorus.” Peter uses the Greek word phosphorus to refer to Christ when he writes, “until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19b)

Satan not only stood as an anointed cherub in the presence of God – he fulfilled the role of The Morning Star. He fell from this high place. One Bible teacher said it this way: “As an archangel, Lucifer was given this name because he was created to be an expression of Jesus Christ, who is the true light and morning star.”[1]  God intended for Lucifer to usher in His divine light. After Satan’s fall, Christ held the office of The Morning Star. Willming­ton's Guide to the Bible says of Lucifer:

He was called Lucifer, for he once functioned as “the son of the morning.” But with the advent of Christ, the true “sun of righteous­ness has arisen with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2).

Satan’s Fall to Pride

When the disciples came to Jesus rejoicing because of their success in casting out demons, Jesus replied, “... I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ... Neverthe­less do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you: but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:18, 20) He saw Lucifer in eternity past, standing before the throne of God in his place as a covering cherub. Jesus then watched as Satan fell into pride, as he took the glory belonging to the Creator and claimed it for himself.

The disciples celebrated because God used them as vessels through which His supernatural power could flow. However, they came close to falling into the snare of pride. In warning His disciples to not follow after the pattern of Satan, Jesus confirmed the proverb, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

Ezekiel writes, “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” (Ezekiel 28:15) The word translated ways refers to Satan’s character, which was perfect before he fell. John says of Satan, “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.” (Revelation 12:9a) Here in this single verse we have a complete description of Satan’s character after his fall.

While some describe Satan as a nice guy on a mission to help God find out who is naughty and nice, Peter wrote, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Referring to our adversary, Jesus Himself said, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” (John 10:10a)

Others believe we have the dark side of the force pitted against the light side of the force working together toward a common goal. The New Age trumpets this lie, attempting to lure men away from the battle. A great battle rages between good and evil, between light and darkness. Both sides hate the other; both are dedicated to destroying the other. We read, “For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8b) and “The Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death” (Luke 1:78b, 79a)

Lucifer, once the highest of God’s creation, fell to the lowest place of all. This fact should warn us that the closer we approach God’s presence – even to His very throne – the greater the danger of falling to pride and the greater the risk of falling into sin. Fallen ministries litter the landscape of church history. These disgraced disciples rose to great heights, only to fall to pride and self-importance. The Pentecostal-Charismatic world provides witness to many examples of men and women who moved in great authority with healing and miracles following their ministries until they gave in to pride. This often led to error in their doctrine and eventually to falling into gross sin and the loss of ministry.

Sons of Satan

The Jews sought to kill Jesus. In the course of the conflict, Jesus said to them, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning...” (John 8:44a) How did the devil become a murderer? When he tempted Eve in the garden, he brought the fatal blow not only to Adam and Eve, but also to all of mankind.

God told Adam he would die if he ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Paul tells us, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 3:23) When Satan tempted Eve, she looked and “saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” (Genesis 3:6a) Sin starts with desire; the biblical word is lust, meaning strong desire. “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.” (1 John 2:16) James describes the movement from desire to death. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15)

We must come to this conclusion. When Adam sinned, he died spiritually and he was birthed into Satan’s kingdom. In spiritual reality, Satan became his father and, “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) We find ourselves in one of two possible conditions. Either we are dead to God and a son of Satan, or we are dead to Satan and a son of God.

Birthed into Darkness

Some people move beyond being sons of Satan; they become active followers or disciples of Satan. We find that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) by men who do not “endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they … heap up for themselves teachers; and they … turn their ears away from the truth, and are turned aside to fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3b-4) Satan’s followers “call evil good, and good evil; [they] put darkness for light, and light for darkness.” (Isaiah 5:20)

Adam lived alone in the Garden until God provided a wife for him. Of course, he wasn’t entirely alone. He spent time every day with the Creator Himself, but God knew he needed something more. That’s why God made a “helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18b) Adam needed someone he could relate to at his own level.

Now Adam and Eve work together, learn together – enjoy life together. They live in Paradise, dwelling in perfect harmony with nature. The two of them have everything they could possibly need or want. They have each other, which Adam certainly considers a plus.

Everything they need abounds in the Garden of Eden. Nourishing vegetables thrive in the ground and above the ground. Delicious fruits flourish on the vine and in the trees. In the trees … God makes special mention of two particular trees, each one different from all other trees. He calls one tree The Tree of Life and the other tree He calls The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God declares the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil off limits. He tells Adam and Eve if they eat of the fruit of that tree they will die on the very day that they eat it.

Listen as Adam and Eve discuss God’s puzzling law. Eve asks, “Why did He put the tree in the garden with all that delicious-looking fruit on it and then tell us we can’t eat any of it?”

“Perhaps He will let us eat from it later.” Adam answers, “There must be a good reason why we can’t eat it now.”

At this point a third party joins their conversation. Eve hears the deceitful words of the serpent. “Has God indeed said?” (Genesis 3:1b) The serpent succeeds in planting a seed of doubt about God’s purpose for their lives. He convinces her God lied to them; they will not die if they eat the forbidden fruit. Indeed the serpent says, “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5b) Eve believes the lie, takes the fruit from the tree, and eats. She offers the fruit to Adam and rather than intervening on her behalf he also eats. Immediately the created order plunges into a terrible spiritual darkness.

With his final temptation in the Garden, Satan argued that by eating the fruit of the tree Adam and Eve would become as gods. This same argument still leads mu­ltitudes away from the cross and toward the Tree of Knowl­edge of Good and Evil. Most cults draw followers by promising that “you will be like God,” or more openly you will be a god. The New Age promotes this appealing promise. So we see its roots here, in the Garden of Eden. Eventually a day of reckoning will come for any­one who takes from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil rather than from the Tree of Life. A time will come when their eyes will open to see their nakedness – their exposed flesh. They will regret they did not clothe themselves with God’s righteousness.

The First Son of Perdition

The opening story offers a fictional portrayal of Nimrod that exposes the twin traits of the pursuit of godhood and the blood-thirst of the antichrist spirit. The Jewish Talmud describes Nimrod as “a hunter of the souls of men.” Nimrod serves as a prototype antichrist for he opposed everything godly. Paul said, "the man of sin … opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4) Nimrod’s career foreshadows the coming antichrist.

Early historians identify Nimrod as Ninus, the most ancient of Assyrian kings. Ninus means the son and refers to Nimrod as the son of Cush. The Greeks knew him as Bacchus, which comes from the Hebrew Bar Cush, meaning the son of Cush. Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, had a son named Tammuz. The legends surrounding these three individuals influenced the future course of all mankind. Many versions of the history and/or legend of these three people exist in the lore of ancient cultures around the globe. We do not need to know the exact history of Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammz. We want to understand the effect that legends resulting from their exploits had upon men from that time forward. In the following pages we will review one version of their combined careers.

After the flood of Noah, Mystery Babylon soon made her presence felt. We learn that Nimrod “began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh.” (Genesis 10:8,9 KJVm) Nimrod began his career by becoming a great hunter of animals. In the post-flood civilization this likely filled a great need. After Noah released the wild animals from the ark they multiplied rapidly and became a threat to the welfare of the relatively small population of men. As he developed his skills, Nimrod began to train other young men to hunt and kill predator animals. This group of men then turned from being protector-providers of the general population to becoming extortionist-warlords, forcing people to pay great sums for their protective services.

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 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.'' (Genesis 11:1-4)

They said, "Let us make a name for ourselves." The Tower of Babel served the same purpose as that of today's New World Order. That purpose is to establish interdependence among men and independence from God. Nimrod's plea was, "We must unite with a common purpose, because if we are divided we will not survive." Historians credit Nimrod with building the Tower of Babel. On the summit of this high place he built a temple from which men worshiped the stars as gods. According to some historians, the focus of the tower of Babel was astrology. Astrology was the bone and fiber of this ancient religion.

Counterfeit Redemption

God promised redemption for mankind immediately after Adam‘s fall. At that time He issued the proto-evangilon (the first good news) of the victory of the Seed of woman over the serpent, just as the naming of the constellation Virgo and its accompanying stars clearly depict. Cush, the son of Ham and the father of Nimrod, possibly became the first to pervert the story of redemption as told through the names of the stars. Alexander Hislop identified Cush as Bel the confounder. [2]

The story of the stars, intended to openly declare the good news, was now corrupted into hidden knowledge that could only be understood by those initiated into the mysteries. Furthermore, this led to worshiping the heavenly hosts – the gods represented by these stars. Through astrology, men believed they could control their own destinies by appeasing and manipulating the gods of the stars.

Scholars believe an ancient ziggurat, or step-pyramid, offers a more likely pattern for the tower of Babel than speculative artist’s rendi­tions of a tower that would attempt to physically reach the stars. One scholar compared the tower to Birs Nimrud, one of numerous ziggurats excavated in modern times. Its builders erected the ziggurat in seven receding stages, each representing one of the wandering stars known to the ancients: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun, Venus, Mercury and the moon. A Babylonian ziggurat would also have a shrine on its top level, featuring the signs of the zodiac displayed around its perimeter. Thus, the ancient cult Nimrod founded in the Tower of Babel became the basis for every cult and mystery religion that would follow.

An early statue of Atlas shows him carrying on his shoulders not the world, but the heavens. Specifically, the constellations of the Zodiac decorate the globe he carries. This agreed with an ancient tradition that Nimrod was determined to throw off the burden of heavenly restraints. He did so by introducing the perversion of redemption’s true message as represented in the stars.

At some point Semiramis, who by some stories was a harlot, came into Nimrod’s life and he made her his queen. She also became the high priestess of their pagan worship. Accounts vary as to whether the birth of their son Tammuz occurred before or after the Tower of Babel incident. One version has Nimrod killed at the time of the confrontation over the tower and the birth of Tammuz came later. Once Nimrod died, Semiramis promoted him to godhood. Tammuz was born too late to possibly be Nimrod’s son, so Semiramis decreed him to be her son by immaculate conception. She claimed to be pregnant by the rays of the Sun, which was of course Nimrod’s deified form. Semiramis became the virgin mother and Tammuz became the seed of the woman and the reincarnation of Nimrod.

Modernist scholars point to the many ancient cultures that speak of a virgin birth and they tell us the Bible merely copies the ancient customs. The pagan religions were the counterfeiters, for they followed the satanic perversion carried out by Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammuz. These three individuals, the original models for all pagan gods, laid the foundation for all future perversions of God’s redemptive plan. Yahweh delivered the original news of the virgin birth in the Garden of Eden long before Satan inspired men to corrupt the truth. God established His plan of redemption on the mystery of resurrection and restoration. Satan perverted the story of redemption to promote reincarnation and regeneration.

The concept of the generative principle underlies Mystery Babylon’s ability to infiltrate every culture throughout history. This principle highlights the reproductive cycles of nature – the rising and setting of the sun, the rotation of the seasons, and the planting and harvesting of crops. Eventually, the generative principle promotes sexuality as a means to celebrate or even to aid the stability of the natural process, giving men an excuse to act out their base carnal nature. From Nimrod, Semiramus, and Tammuz to Cozbi and Zimri; from Solomon and his many wives to Ahab and Jezebel – again and again Israel turned to idolatry. This paganism always included a mixture of gods and goddesses and featured sexual perversion inspired by the generative principle.

The last book of the Bible declares the deceiver’s final fate, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10) In describing the heavenly city, Revelation’s final chapter proclaims the true light and not darkness will win the final battle. “There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:5)

In the following chapter, we continue to investigate the manner in which Satan’s harlot perverted the mysteries of God’s redemptive plan as we study The Harlot and Israel.