9. What does the seed of the Serpent surely include?

⁹ First, there is the seed, or offspring, of the Serpent. What is this? It surely includes those other spirit creatures who joined Satan in his rebellion and who were finally “hurled down with him” to the realm of the earth. (Revelation 12:9) Since Satan, or Beelzebub, is “the ruler of the demons,” it is apparent that they make up his invisible organization.​—Mark 3:22; Ephesians 6:12.

10. How does the Bible identify others as part of Satan’s seed?

¹⁰ Further, Jesus told Jewish religious leaders of his day: “You are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father.” (John 8:44) By their opposition to God’s Son Jesus, those religious leaders showed that they too were Satan’s offspring. They were part of Satan’s seed, serving him as their figurative father. Many other humans throughout history have similarly identified themselves by doing Satan’s will, particularly in opposing and persecuting the disciples of Jesus. Collectively, these humans may be described as making up Satan’s visible organization on earth.​—See John 15:20; 16:33; 17:15.

15. (a) Describe the development of Satan’s human and angelic seed. (b) What happened to Satan’s seed during the Deluge of Noah’s day?

¹⁵ Satan’s human seed began to be manifested very early in mankind’s history. For example, there was Cain, the first human born, “who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother” Abel. (1 John 3:12) Later, Enoch spoke of Jehovah’s coming “with his holy myriads, to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly concerning all their ungodly deeds that they did in an ungodly way, and concerning all the shocking things that ungodly sinners spoke against him.” (Jude 14, 15) Moreover, rebellious angels joined Satan and became part of his seed. These “forsook their own proper dwelling place” in the heavens in order to materialize fleshly bodies and marry the daughters of men. They produced a superhuman hybrid offspring of bullies. That world became filled with violence and badness, so that God destroyed it in the Deluge, faithful Noah and his family being the only human flesh to survive. The disobedient angels​—now demons under Satan’s control—​were forced to abandon their doomed human wives and hybrid children. They dematerialized, returning to the spirit realm where they await God’s fast-approaching execution of judgment on Satan and his seed.​—Jude 6; Genesis 6:4-12; 7:21-23; 2 Peter 2:4, 5.

16. (a) What tyrant appeared on the scene after the Deluge, and how did he show he was part of Satan’s seed? (b) How did God thwart the would-be builders of Babylon’s tower?

¹⁶ Shortly after the great Deluge, a tyrant named Nimrod appeared on earth. The Bible describes him as “a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah”​—truly part of the Serpent’s seed. Like Satan, he showed a spirit of rebellion and built the city of Babel, or Babylon, in defiance of Jehovah’s purpose to have mankind spread out to fill the earth. Babylon’s centerpiece was to have been a great tower “with its top in the heavens.” God thwarted the would-be builders of that tower. He confused their language and “scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth” but allowed Babylon itself to remain.​—Genesis 9:1; 10:8-12; 11:1-9.

Political Powers Appear

17. As mankind multiplied, what corrupt feature of human society came to the fore, and as a result, what huge empires arose?

¹⁷ In Babylon there appeared features of human society that developed in defiance of Jehovah’s sovereignty. One of these was political. As mankind multiplied, other ambitious humans followed Nimrod’s example in seizing power. Man began to dominate man to his injury. (Ecclesiastes 8:9) During the days of Abraham, for instance, Sodom, Gomorrah, and nearby cities fell under the control of kings from Shinar and other far-distant lands. (Genesis 14:1-4) Eventually, military and organizational geniuses carved out huge empires for their own enrichment and glory. The Bible refers to some of these, including Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

18. (a) What attitude do God’s people take toward the political rulers? (b) How have political authorities sometimes served God’s interests? (c) How have many rulers shown themselves to be part of the Serpent’s seed?

¹⁸ Jehovah tolerated the existence of those political powers, and his people rendered relative obedience to them when they lived in lands under their control. (Romans 13:1, 2) Sometimes, political authorities even served for the furtherance of God’s purposes or as a protection for his people. (Ezra 1:1-4; 7:12-26; Acts 25:11, 12; Revelation 12:15, 16) Nevertheless, many political rulers have viciously opposed true worship, showing themselves to be part of the seed of the Serpent.​—1 John 5:19.

19. How are world powers portrayed in the book of Revelation?

¹⁹ For the most part, man-rule has failed miserably to bring happiness to us humans or to solve our problems. Jehovah has permitted mankind to experiment with every form of government, but he does not approve of corruption or the way governments have misruled the people. (Proverbs 22:22, 23) Revelation portrays oppressive world powers as making up a proud and monstrous wild beast.​—Revelation 13:1, 2.

Selfish Commercial Traffickers

20, 21. What second group must be included with the “military commanders” and “strong men” as belonging to Satan’s wicked seed, and why?

²⁰ Closely allied to political leaders, there came into view dishonest traffickers in material goods. Records unearthed in the ruins of ancient Babylon show that business transactions exploiting the unfortunate circumstances of fellow humans were very much in vogue back there. The world’s merchants have continued to work for selfish profit down to this present day, when in many lands a few have become very rich while the majority of the population languishes in poverty. In this industrial age, the merchants and manufacturers have made great gain by supplying the political powers with stockpiles of devilish military weapons of destruction, including the weapons of mass destruction that are now a great cause for concern. Such greedy business magnates and others of their kind must be included with the “military commanders” and “strong men” as belonging to Satan’s wicked seed. They are all part of the earthly organization that God and Christ judge as deserving of execution.​—Revelation 19:18.

²¹ To corrupt politics and greedy commercialism there must be added a third element of human society that merits God’s adverse judgment. What is that? You may be surprised by what Revelation says about this well-known global structure.

Babylon the Great

22. What kind of religion developed in ancient Babylon?

²² The building of the original Babylon was more than a political enterprise. Since that city was established in defiance of Jehovah’s sovereignty, religion was involved. Indeed, ancient Babylon became a fountain of religious idolatry. Its priests taught God-dishonoring doctrines, such as the survival of a human soul after death and that the hereafter is a place of eternal horror and torment presided over by demons. They fostered the worship of creatures and of a multitude of gods and goddesses. They fabricated myths to explain the origin of the earth and man upon it and performed degrading rituals and sacrifices, supposedly to ensure fertility in childbearing and crop raising, and victory in war.

23. (a) In spreading out from Babylon, what did the people take with them, and with what result? (b) By what name does Revelation refer to a world-embracing empire of false religion? (c) Against what has false religion always fought?

²³ As the various language groups from Babylon spread out over the earth, they took Babylonish religion with them. Thus, rites and beliefs similar to those of ancient Babylon flourished among the original inhabitants of Europe, Africa, the Americas, the Far East, and the South Seas; and many of these beliefs persist to this day. Appropriately, then, Revelation refers to the world-embracing empire of false religion as a city named Babylon the Great. (Revelation, chapters 17, 18) Wherever it has been sown, false religion has sprouted oppressive priesthoods, superstition, ignorance, and immorality. It has been a powerful tool in Satan’s hand. Babylon the Great has always fought fiercely against the true worship of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.

24. (a) How was the Serpent able to bruise the Seed of the woman “in the heel”? (b) Why is the bruising of the woman’s seed described as only a heel wound?

²⁴ As a most reprehensible part of the seed of the Serpent, the scribes and the Pharisees in first-century Judaism took the lead in persecuting and finally murdering the primary representative of the seed of the woman. Thus, the Serpent was able to “bruise him [the “seed”] in the heel.” (Genesis 3:15; John 8:39-44; Acts 3:12, 15)