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Colossians, one must have a basic understanding of Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a melting pot of
existing religions, which INCLUDED THE BABYLONIAN RELIGION OF ASTROLOGY. Baby-
lonian religion believed that the planetary system had a fatalistic influence on this world's affairs.
The greatness of the Seven -- the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn -- the
SACRED HEBDOMAD -- was symbolized for millenniums by the temple towers (ziggurats.)
One such temple tower was the famous Tower of Babel, whose top was inscribed with the seven
heavenly luminaries. The temple towers were built in stories of either three or seven. (Note:
Hebdomad as noted in the dictionary means a period of seven days; a week.) These luminaries
ceased to be worshipped as deities, but they remained rulers and powers whose almost irresistible
force was dreaded by man. They were changed from gods to evil spirits. Every soul had to pass
the adverse influence of these spirits before it could ascend to the ONLY GOOD GOD beyond.
This ascent of the soul through the PLANETARY SPHERES to the heaven beyond began to be
conceived as a struggle with adverse powers, and BECAME THE FIRST AND PREDOMINANT
IDEA IN GNOSTICISM.

"When Gnosticism came in touch with Christianity, which must have happened almost IM-
MEDIATELY on its appearance, Gnosticism threw herself with strange rapidity into Christian
forms of thought....As Christianity grew within and without the Roman Empire, Gnosticism spread
as a fungus at its root, (i.e. a counterfeit religion) and claimed to be the ONLY TRUE FORM OF
CHRISTIANITY, but set apart for only the gifted and elect. So rank was its poisonous growth that
there seemed a danger of stamping out the true church established by Jesus. In Revelation 2, the
churches of Ephesus and Pergamos were warned against having anything to do with the Nicolai-
tanes, which was a Gnostic group. Simon Magus and Marcion were also well-known Gnostics."

Now let's take a look at the beast of Revelation 13 and 17 and see if there is any connec-
tion with Nimrod and the ancient worship of the seven illuminary gods of the heavens. Revelation
13 describes this beast as a leopard, a bear and a lion. "Nimr" is a word that means "Leopard."
Some scholars think that "Nimrod" came from this word "Nimr." In the Berlin Museum are amu-
lets that were worn by pagan priests. On the front of the amulet was the god of the sun standing on
a lion. On the back was the diagram of mystic numbers adding up to 666 as shown in the previous
example. In The Two Babylons, author Hislop states that Nimrod was worshipped as the SUN-
GOD and while under the name of Mithra, he was exhibited in sculpture as a LION.

This beast has the paws of a bear. In the Dictionary of Symbolism -- page 33, Hans
Biedermann states: "As a dangerous animal THE BEAR is at times the embodiment of the
DEVIL'S POWER. The young David's fight with a BEAR, mentioned in the Bible, is taken by
Christian exegesis to be a prototype of the TRIUMPH OF CHRIST OVER THE FORCES OF
DARKNESS." This story is found in I Samuel 17:34-37: "And David said unto Saul, 'Thy servant
kept his father's sheep, and there came a LION and a BEAR, and took a lamb out of the flock: And
I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his MOUTH: and when he arose
against me, I caught him by his mane, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the
LION and BEAR: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied
the armies of the living Elohim." David said moreover, 'Jahwah that delivered me out of the paw
of the LION, and out of the paw of the BEAR, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine'"

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