Revelation contains numerous references to Babylon the great. The most detailed description of Babylon is found in Revelation 18 which is a promise that this evil, persecuting power will at last be overthrown. This chapter also explains precisely why Yahuwah will utterly destroy Babylon at last:

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all . . . for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. (Revelation 18:21, 23, KJV)

The conflict between good and evil is a spiritual battle, fought primarily on the battlefield of religion. For this reason, many Christians have dismissed the above warning as not applicable to themselves. They assume that only pagans and heathens can be deceived by sorcery. Thus, they reject as unimportant one of Scripture’s most solemn warnings.

However, the entire reason Heaven destroys Babylon “with violence” is because she deceived all nations by her “sorceries.” The word “sorceries” comes from the Greek work φαρμακεία, φάρμακον (pharmakeia).

This is the same root word from which are derived the English words pharmacy (drug store) and pharmaceuticals (medicinal drugs). In ancient times, the practice of medicine was closely entwined with witchcraft, the use of drugs to induce hallucinations and incantations to demon-gods. Scripture declares that the use of drugs is still being used by Satan today to deceive souls or, as the Knox Bible puts it: “thy sorceries bewitched the world.”

The modern symbol of medicine is the caduceus, or two serpents entwined around a winged staff. This was originally the symbol of Hermes, the god of commerce and inventor of magical incantations who, by the seventh century, became closely associated with alchemy. It is derived from the Greek karykeion which is itself based on eruko which means to restrain or control. The original symbol for medicine was actually the rod of Asclepius around which a single snake wound. People would flock for healing to temples dedicated to Asclepius, the god of healing. Sacrifices to the god would be offered and any dreams or visions experienced by the patient would be used by the priest/doctor to proscribe a course of treatment.

The symbol of the snake reaches back further still to Eden where Satan called Yahuwah a liar when he told Eve that she would not die if she sinned. The serpent is a fitting symbol of Satan by whose temptations the entire world has been beguiled into sin. (See Revelation 12:9 and Revelation 20:2.)