Q. Mystery Babylon sits on seven mountains, is this talking about Rome?

A. No, Mystery Babylon is a religious system that has been around for a long time. The Catholic Church sits in Vatican Hill and it is not one of the seven hills of Rome. It did not belong to the ancient district of Rome or was it included within the walls of Rome. The seven hills of Rome are Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline and Viminal. Vatican Hill is not one of the seven. Also, these hills would hardly qualify as “mountains” and are not very high, not over as few hundred feet. The mountains referred to in the Book of Revelation are referring to kingdoms that held power over Israel. These mountains are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The final two are in the future and they are revived Rome and the final configuration of seven nations after three leave. This is referred to in the book of Daniel. This brings up another problem going on today. People cite pagan practices they see and automatically think something is evil, but is that really true? Practices are condemned as wrong because “pagans” did it and it’s not spelled out in the Bible. But, one should ask if it is fruitful and does it glorify the Lord? Is it in harmony with the Scriptures? If it isn’t, then it should be discarded. If you just go by pagan similarities, the Bible itself could be considered pagan. Here are some examples to think about: kneeling, upraised hands, barefooted, a holy mountain, a holy place, temples priests, temple pillars, sacred pillars,arks, cities of refuge, thrones, lions, healing, a rod, laws on stone, fire, feast of tabernacles, firstfruits, bread, wine, sacrifices and the list is endless. People tend to see these things in paganism and then speak out if they see this in a church or synagogue. Pagans also held similar beliefs as believers, does that mean that belief is pagan? For instance, some pagans opposed the making of idols? If you use the logic that if it’s done by pagans it’s wrong, then not making idols is pagan! Next week, we will continue with this in some other areas and then try to sort it all out and give ideas on how a believer should handle these things .