Hi Helen,
I'm glad you posted that about that book "Two Babylons". I have the book here but didnt have time to type out a bunch of stuff from it. I had forgotten it was online. Thanks for posting that
About the woman being the church, I'm not sure if you read from the link I posted which explains the idea of the woman being the church... so I am just going to copy and paste that aprt of it below. The idea is that "God's People" ... throughout the ages, Jews- and His people of all time are identified and symbolized in the Bible as a "woman", just as the "woman" who sits upon the beast is identified Satan's people or church. And when you read what's below, think about Matthew 1:1-16.
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"Turning back to Genesis 3, we find the story of how the dragon, under the guise of a serpent, beguiled Adam and Eve, and thus conquered the world. Note what God says:
'Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. " Genesis 3:1-4.
How sad it is that Adam and Eve decided that they would accept what the serpent had to say rather than believe God. You know the tragic results. Through this sin, man was separated from God; he was lost, without any hope of the future. But God never lets us down. Jesus came all the way from heaven into the Garden and gave Adam and Eve a plan whereby if they were obedient they could once again be restored into eternal happiness. Just think of it. Jesus was willing to give His life and to die in their place! Oh, how we should love Him. As Christ discussed His wonderful plan with Adam and Eve, He made a prophecy. Now notice this very carefully.
'And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this,...I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. " Genesis 3:14,15.
Right here we should stop and find out who the woman is that is mentioned in this text. The prophet Jeremiah tells us:
'I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman." Jeremiah 6:2.
From this we learn that the woman represents Zion. But who is Zion? Well, let's read another verse.
"...say unto Zion, Thou art my people. " Isaiah 51:16.
Thus Zion is God's people; and the Lord has chosen the symbol of a pure woman to represent them. (See Figure #11).
Now back to our text. 'I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman (God's people)." Enmity means war, bloodshed, and a struggle. So it began. In this world there are two sides in the conflict-God's side and Satan's side. One is right and the other is wrong. The important factor that determines the difference is over the issue of how God is to be worshiped. This involves the question, "is absolute obedience necessary?" This was the problem that faced the angels in heaven. You know the answer-there was war and Satan was cast out. Since Satan is on the earth, these conditions have not changed. Let us read the story of Cain and Abel.
"And in Process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.-
"But unto Cain and to his offering he had no respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fill." Genesis 4:3-5.
Now get the picture clearly. Abel has built an altar just as God had prescribed and placed a lamb thereon, representing the Lamb of God which was to take away his sins. Abel knelt down before this altar and asked God to forgive him of his sins and to accept the sacrifice. God answered by fire from heaven, thus acknowledging the offering.
But what about Cain? Cain built an altar just like Abel did. But he did not wish to obey God by sacrificing a lamb. He was a man who planted a garden, so he went out and picked some of the vegetables from his garden. These he placed upon his altar. This was not a sacrifice. No life was taken. It was not what God had asked. It was a substitute. If God had accepted that offering, man could have made any doctrine he wanted. But God never accepts a counterfeit. God would have nothing to do with Cain's offering. You will recall the familiar story in the following verses. Cain arose and slew his brother. True indeed were the words, "I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman (God's people)."
So now there were two distinct sides in this newly created world. Notice the parallel. There is God's side, called the "sons of God." The line of followers were Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. The gate of Eden was considered their headquarters.
All those on Satan's side were called the "sons of man." The line of followers were Cain and his descendants. Their headquarters were in the land of Nod.
As time went by, the devil's side became so wicked that God found it necessary to completely destroy every descendant of the dragon power; but as soon as the Flood was past, the two sides reappeared.
God called Abraham to leave his country and his kindred and go to a new land that God would show him, to be made into a great nation. They were to settle in the land of Canaan. They worshipped the S-0-N, the Son of God. This was the original, the true, religion.
On the other hand, there was the dragon's side, whose followers were known as the Chaldeans. Their territory was Ur of the Chaldees. Their pagan capital was Babel, which later became Babylon. They worshipped the S-U-N, the sun in the heavens. This was known as Baal worship. This was the beginning of a pagan counterfeit religion in the world.
What a struggle went on between these two sides! Paganism continually made inroads into the true religion. You will find it recorded in the book of Kings.
"And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. "2 Kings 23:5.
As the pagan governments decayed or were overthrown, men continued their form of sun worship. Thus paganism was transferred from one nation to another, from Babylon into Medo-Persia, into Greece, and into Rome, sinking the world into its deepest, darkest hour.
It is right here that we discover the seed of the woman appears. Let's go back now to Genesis 3:15.
'And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. " Genesis 3:15.
This distinctly reveals that there was to be a time when the woman was to give birth to a seed and the dragon would have followers who would continue the struggle against God's Son and His followers until the climax was reached and the serpent crushed. Turning to Revelation 12, we are now ready to catch a picture of what happened when the Seed of the woman appeared.
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to he delivered .... And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to he delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was horn. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. " Revelation 12:1-5. (See Figure #12).
Can we find the time when the dragon attempted to destroy the child Jesus when He was born? Indeed we can! You will recall that when the Wise Men made inquiry of Herod after seeing the star of Bethlehem, this king became very suspicious. He was ruling under Caesar Augustus of Rome and he demanded of the Wise Men that they return and tell him where the child could be found. He wanted to find the Christ, that he might kill Him. Angels warned the Magi not to return to Herod, and they also warned Joseph to take the Child from Bethlehem into Egypt. As Herod's suspicions were aroused, he sent his soldiers into Bethlehem to kill every baby boy two years old and under in his attempt to kill Christ.
This clearly reveals how the dragon attempted to destroy the Child as soon as He was born, through his agency of pagan Rome."
-The Anti-Christ by Lawrence Nelson