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The Baal Shem Tov

namelesskid — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:32:47 +0000

THE BAAL SHEM TOV

RABBI ISRAEL, MASTER OF THE HOLY NAME

BEFORE HE WAS BORN

HERE IS THE STORY OF HOW ELIJAH CAME TO GOD,
AND ASKED HIM TO MAKE RABBI ELEAZER THE
FATHER OF RABBI ISRAEL; AND OF
THE MARVELLOUS TRIALS OF
RABBI ELEAZER

When God was about to create Adam, a number of souls, knowing that all of the souls then living in heaven would share in the sin of created Adam, fled to a far place outside the boundaries of heaven, and hid themselves in a corner of chaos. There they waited until after the first sin was done.

Only that band of hidden souls escaped the evil touch of Adam’s sin. And they are the Innocent souls.

When the Enemy becomes powerful on earth, and stretches mountains of black clouds between man’s earth and heaven, when men become knotted with evil and lose their Godly form, then the Almighty goes up to the highest of his regions, and seeks out one of his Innocent souls.

He says to the Innocent soul, “Go down and purify the earth.”

Such were the souls of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; such was the soul of Noah; such were the souls of the great prophets, of the great scribes, and of the great rabbis. The soul of the Messiah is prince among this band of Innocent souls; and when the time of Redemption arrives, Messiah himself will come down from the highest of heavens. Then the Enemy will disappear forever.

The soul of Rabbi Israel, the Baal Shem Tov, was one of that band of innocents who escaped the sin

p. 4

of Eden. And this is how he came to be born on earth.

In a hamlet in the district of Moldau there lived the pious Rabbi Eleazer. His wife was a virtuous woman; she was the daughter of a pious Jew of the city of Okup.

Tartars attacked the valleys of Moldau, pillaged the villages, slaughtered many Jews, and carried off others into slavery. Rabbi Eleazer was one of those taken captive.

His wife said, “I will wait for his return until the end of my days, and if he does not return to me in this world, I will meet him in the next world.”

In heaven, Elijah came to God and said, “See how the Jews suffer. It is time to send an Innocent soul down to earth, to sweeten the lives of the Jews.”

God said, “Not yet.”

For many weeks Eleazer voyaged with the barbarians. On land, he was forced to carry heavy burdens. On sea, he was chained to an oar and made to row as a galley slave.

At last, coming to a strange shore, the Tartars took the Jew into the city and sold him in the marketplace as a slave.

He was purchased by the King’s Grand Vizier, who soon perceived that the slave, though of a race unknown to him, was a person of unusual intelligence.

Rabbi Eleazer had kept count of the days. When Sabbath came, he begged his master to permit him to

p. 5

rest on that day. This the Vizier granted, and Rabbi Eleazer did not work on Sabbath.

The only duty of Rabbi Eleazer, when he was a slave, was to watch for the time when his master the Vizier returned from his audience with the King; then Rabbi Eleazer would wash the feet of the Grand Vizier.

Thus, the slave had a great deal of time to pass. Rabbi Eleazer knew by heart the Psalms of David, and he passed his days singing the Psalms.

He was not happy, for he felt himself alone away from his people, and he prayed God that he might be released to go home to his wife and to live among other Jews.

At last he could bear his life in the court no longer, and he thought of flight. One night he crept from his bed and made his way through the halls of the palace, until he reached the gate. There he saw the guard asleep. His naked sword, fallen from his hand, lay at his side. The keys were bound to his girdle.

Rabbi Eleazer looked at the sword and said to himself, “To take the keys I must lift the sword and slay the man.”

Instead, he returned and remained in captivity.

One year, the King besieged a neighbouring city. The city was strong and withstood his attack. Then the King did not know what to do; he asked of his advisers whether his army should continue to stand in their boats on the river before the walls of the city, becoming themselves weaker while they waited for the enemy to weaken, or whether he should risk all of his men in a charge upon the walls.

p. 6

The Vizier did not know what advice to give, and fell therefore into disfavour with the King. When the Vizier came home, Eleazer saw that he was troubled. He began, as every day, to wash his master’s feet. The Vizier sighed and said, “Would that my own task were so simple.”

And then, out of the heaviness of his heart, he talked to his slave and told him of the problem that was before the King.

Rabbi Eleazer said, “Perhaps God will show me a way to help the King. Take me to the King tomorrow.”

That night the Rabbi Eleazer prayed to God. And he had a dream.

In the dream he saw the walls of the neighbouring city, and the river that flowed before them. At the edge of the river he saw a great stone, round as the earth. The stone moved, and rolled into the water. Where the stone had been, there was a hole.

In the morning Eleazer said, “Let the King take me aboard his ship, and I will show him what he must do.”

The Vizier told the King of the request of his slave. “He comes from a far land, and is a wise man among his own people,” said the Vizier.

“Is he a sorcerer?” said the King.

“He prays constantly to his God.”

“Let him be brought before me,” said the King.

When he was brought before the King, Eleazer said, “It is natural that you should doubt my wisdom, for I am only an unknown slave. I say to you that the enemy army is strong, and will destroy your army if you attack the walls of the city. If you would test

p. 7

my words, take from your galleys men who are already condemned to death, and put them in the first boat, and send them to attack the walls of the city.”

The King did as Rabbi Eleazer advised. Convicts were chosen, and sent against the enemy. No sooner had they neared the wall than their boat was overwhelmed with a storm of arrows, spears, and darts of fire. Every man of them was instantly killed.

The King despaired, and cried, “What is there for me to do?”

“Wait until night,” said Eleazer.

In the night, he guided the ship of the King through darkness across the water to a spot at the edge of the river where they found a great rock. This rock they rolled away, and the mouth of a tunnel was revealed. Rabbi Eleazer took a candle in his hand, and crept into the tunnel, and after him, one by one, came soldiers. Silently and slowly they went along the narrow, tortuous passage that was hewn through stone and digged through earth. At last they came up within the walls of the city. Thus a great army came up into the city, and attacked the enemies, and overthrew them.

When the King had captured the city he said to Rabbi Eleazer, “I will give you my daughter as your wife, and I will make you the highest man in the kingdom, after the King.”

He placed Eleazer in a palace, and sent him slaves and riches. The princess who was given to him was beautiful and young.

But the Rabbi remembered that he was already married.

One morning when he sat at table with the princess

p. 8

she asked of him, “Why is it that you are not with me as a husband is with his wife?”

Then Eleazer said, “If you will promise not to reveal my secret, I will tell you.”

She promised not to betray him, and then he told her that he was a Jew, and he told her of all the things that had befallen him.

Because the princess loved Rabbi Eleazer she took all of her jewels, and all of the gold that she possessed, and loaded a ship with her treasures. Then she said to Rabbi Eleazer, “Go on this ship, and find your way home.”

He was joyous; day and night he sang his praises to the heavens.

But on the sea the King’s ships overtook him.

Rabbi Eleazer cried, “Take the treasures from me, all the jewels and the gold. Leave me only with my God; he will guide me home.”

Just then, God looked over all the earth, saying, “Where shall a man and woman be found who are worthy of bringing into the world an uncontaminated soul, the soul of Rabbi Israel?”

Elijah said to God, “There is Rabbi Eleazer, alone on the sea. He is worthy of being the father of such a son. In a village in Moldau, his wife has waited for him for seventeen years.”

God called to the soul of Rabbi Israel, and showed him his father.

Rabbi Eleazer wandered homeward. He was naked and hungry.

p. 9

On a path in a forest Elijah met him and said, “A son will be born to you who will be a light to all Israel.”

In the little city of Okup, beneath the mountains, Rabbi Eleazer found his wife. Nine months after his return, she bore him a son, and they named the child Israel.

When the child had been circumcised, the mother died.

Original Post: click

Personagens bíblicos

kuryusthelord — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:49:09 +0000

"Ó SENHOR, quem é como tu entre os deuses?" Ex 15:11

Antigo Testamento

Veja também
Os patriarcas e profetas de Israel, nossos pais na fé

Hva er galt med Baal?

Astrid Meland — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:29:13 +0000

- Det tok romerne 22 år å nedkjempe Kartago. Hadde de mistet tålmodigheten ville vi alle ha tilbedt Baal nå, sa Joseph Mussomeli, USAs viseambassadør til Afghanistan nylig. Han ba om litt tålmodighet med Afghanistan, og dette lille sitatet leste jeg i dagens kommentar i DN av Kjetil Wiedswang.

Det er blitt sagt mye stygt om Baal de siste 2000 årene, en del propaganda fra romerne, blant annet, som trengte å rettferdiggjøre angrepet på Kartago og påsto at Baal-tilhengerne brente barn. Romerne trodde som alle andre på den tida selv på mye rart, men var ofte kule i den forstand at de ga blaffen i hva andre trodde på, så lenge de ikke disset romergudene. Uheldigvis gjorde jødene og de kristne akkurat det. De var frekke nok til å påstå at bare deres Gud var riktig.

Baal ble dermed sett på som en falsk Gud i Det gamle testamentet, men det er jo også en pamflett. Det kunne bare være en gud i de monoteistiske religionene, men de var jo ganske pragmatiske også, for eksempel ble noen av de overnaturlige vesnene folk trodde på omdefinert til engler og demoner. Baal ble en demon.

Men hadde vi vært værre stilt med Baal enn med den guden Mussomeli tror på? Neppe. Nå skal jeg finne ut mer om det, jeg har akkurat fått tegneserieskaperen R. Crumbs illusterte utgave av Første Mosebok i posten.

Store norske leksikon skriver om Baal:

En gud Baal, som oftest tilknyttet et stedsnavn, opptrer hyppig over hele For-orienten i over 1700 år fra ca. 1500 f.Kr. Baal er omtalt mange ganger i Det gamle testamente, der en rekke tekster tar skarp avstand fra hans kult. Det er sannsynlig at Baal har vært dyrket av både «kananeerne» og israelittene i gammel tid, og at Baal-kulten utgjorde en sterk konkurrent til Jahve-kulten. En må regne med at Baal spilte en meget viktig rolle som vær- og fruktbarhetsgud i det regnfattige syrisk/palestinske området.

Altså, religionshistorikere out there, hvor hadde vi vært om vi fortsatte med de hedenske gudene? Fortapt? Gudløse? Dobbelt så rike? Et så enkelt spørsmål burde dere kunne svare på.

Baal worshipers pray to convert Joe Lieberman

Neil — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:31:14 +0000

Or at least their views are remarkably similar to Baal worshipers. They are actually a group of Jews, Muslims and (alleged) Christians.

The letter, signed by 70 members of the clergy, posed this argument: “Whether from the words of Torah or the Gospels of Jesus, whether from the Talmud or the Koran — our traditions all are explicit and clear on one thing: We are commanded to seek the welfare and healing of all those in our midst, especially the weak, especially the vulnerable.”

I’ve read all of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible many times and can’t recall a single passage commanding us to lobby Caesar to take from neighbor A by threat of force to give to neighbor B.

Yep, nothing like a bunch of pro-abortion clergy lecturing you about helping the “weak” and “especially the vulnerable.” I’m getting all choked up here.

There was one true point:

I wouldn’t say that the Torah commands a public option per se, but I think our faith does require we have a debate about the best ways to improve health care for the underprivileged.

I don’t know if faith requires it or not, but of course we should have a debate. The problem is that there are many great ideas being ignored (tort reform, more competition, tax benefits to employees so they can take coverage when they leave, etc.) because the Liberals don’t want to entertain those. These religious folks set up the typical false dichotomy: Give all the control to Caesar or you are a greedy bastard who hates the poor.

No Christian should have been involved in such an enterprise. It clearly breaks God’s command not to be unequally yoked on spiritual matters. Then again, what do theological Liberals care about God’s commands?

I don’t think Lieberman has much to worry about. If he changes his mind it won’t be because these folks prayed, because Baal isn’t real.

¿El culto a Moloch en una tarjeta VISA?

msante — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:29:21 +0000

Para los que somos seguidores del trabajo de David Icke, o hemos visto la incursión de Alex Jones en

VOCÊ DISSE ENTREVISTA? CLARA!!!!!!

demary — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:13:56 +0000

God of the Week: Ba'al (Hadad)

Universal Heretic — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:00:54 +0000

God of the Week 11/16/09: Ba’al

Hadad, often referred to simply as Ba’al, is a Semetic god of the sky and rain. His presence fertilized the ground and his absence made it barren. Much that is known about him is from the Ugaritic texts, only recently discovered in 1929, from a long form narrative known as the Ba’al Cycle.

In it, Ba’al is depicted as being a member of El’s court, who betrays him and takes over the leadership role. This betrayal is avenged by the god Mot, who kills Ba’al. Anath, Ba’al’s consort and goddess of war, kills Mot, scatters his remains across the land, and revives Ba’al who regains his rule as a born again god. This epic was relived in a 7 year cycle. The mourning for the deceased Hadid is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Zechariah:

In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadad Rimmon in the valley of Megiddon. – Zechariah 12:11 (ASV)

The god Ba’al is often referred to in the Hebrew Torah or Christian Old Testament, though the term Ba’al is actually a generic term for lord (much like modern Christians referring to Yahweh or Jesus of Nazareth as simply “God”), so the context of the passage needs to be used to determine the actual deity being referred to.

Satan's Plan: Know Thine Enemy

verumlux — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:07:37 +0000

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.
In his opening address he said:

“We can’t keep Christians from going to church.”
“We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth.”
“We can’t even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their saviour.”
“Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.”

“So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don’t have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

“This is what I want you to do,” said the devil:

“Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!”

“How shall we do this?” his demons shouted.

“Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” he answered.
“Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow.”
“Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles.”
“Keep them from spending time with their children.”

“As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!”

“Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice.”

“Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive.”
“To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly.”

“This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ.”

“Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers.”
“Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day.”
“Invade their driving moments with billboards.”
“Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.”
“Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what’s important, and they’ll become dissatisfied with their wives.”
“Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night.”
“Give them headaches too!”
“If they don’t give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere.”

“That will fragment their families quickly!”

“Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas.”
“Give them an Easter bunny so they won’t talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death.”
“Even in their recreation, let them be excessive.”
“Have them return from their recreation exhausted.”
“Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God’s creation.
Send them to amusement parks, sporting event s, plays, concerts, and movies instead.”

“Keep them busy, busy, busy!“

“And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences.”
“Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus.”
“Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause.”

“It will work!”
“It will work!”
It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.
Having little time for their God or their families.
Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?

I demand freedom to pay tribute to my Idol

adonis49 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:31:26 +0000

I demand freedom to pay tribute to my Idol

People are more inclined to be loyal to a saint, a shrine, or an honored Imam, or apostle. People have need to use their senses to get connected to a spiritual entity: you cannot expect human to think exclusively of an abstract notion without the intermediary of their senses of seeing a representative picture, of smelling incense, of touching a bust, or of listening to a hymn. One God who created man and the universe is fine but is not sufficient for man. Several Gods doing the job is more convincing and pragmatic: specialization is highly valued. Monotheism is a totally abstract concept that no human was yet able to feel physically loyal to a one, all encompassing God.

Ever since man descended from his tree his prime concern was struggling for his freedom to pay tribute to his favorite Idol God. Fear of the many dangers threatening his survival forced man to seeking a much more powerful ally to protect him and come to the rescue. Depending on his wide spectrum of phobia, man wanted the total freedom to worship and be loyal to his “loyal” companions in times of imminent dangers; he would not take for granted Idols imposed upon him; he wanted his personal choices that most satisfied his psychological world. Freedom of belief is not a modern concept; man fought all his life and for millennia for this natural right and is continuing the struggle.

I noticed that my dad, at each pass in front of the Virgin Mary or Mar Charbel (a Lebanese National Saint), has to touch these pictures in the house with his index, kiss his index, and then sign the cross. Dad is 85 years old and has refrained attending mass for years. Mother is also devoted to the Virgin and all the national female saints such as Rafqa; she never misses an occasion to get in the car or a bus going to pay tributes to shrines; she pay money for the Saint that she has not so that the church make “good” use of it; obviously, Mar Charbel is in her pantheon too, along with the newly beatified Hardini. Interestingly, miracles have a way of occurring at election times.

In all ages, whether a religion claim to be monotheist or polytheist people end up selecting a particular idol to pay allegiance to and write ex-votos to Him in order to be cured, enjoy prosperity, safety to the family, and safe travels. Indeed, people are loyal idolater to whom they perceive to be pretty much handy, accessible, and an excellent intermediary to the One God.

For example, in Latin America people are loyal to the Virgin Mary and cannot think of any other Saint to turn to in time of distress; thus, St. Mary of (name a city or a village), or the Virgin of (name a city or a town) and you have hundreds of Virgin Maries, tailored made to a specific locality, ready to come to the rescue. The Greek Orthodox Church cannot think of more than three female saints to name girls at baptismal ceremonies: it must be either Mary, Ann, or Elisabeth; as for male kids you have an assortment of complicated and long Greek saints with plenty of X and Ch.

In Moslem Egypt, and generally in North Africa, you have St. Fatima, Aicha, Ali, Hussein, the Imam of the regional legal sect, or the shrine of the veneered Sheikh of a locality is paid more attention and visits to any other worshiping figures. Pictures of Moslem saints are prohibited in public places or in mosques but that do not prevent homes to hang pictures of their preferred saint as relevant to current standards of beauty for both genders.

There is this myth that the Jewish religion is the first to adopting monotheism; it is just a myth. Ancient civilizations were never monotheists; they all had an overall God, nominally superior to the other demy-gods but that nobody paid much attention to or prayed to Him or even remembered asking his help in ex-votos. God El was the all encompassing God in the Middle East as was Allah in the Arab Peninsula or Zeus for the Greeks but He never generated a dime to tribes that had exclusive rights to his worship. People converged to more palpable and understandable demy-gods; cities and towns adopted one of them as symbol and recognition of their trades or power. In general, more weight was given to the “messengers of a God” (they were written in plural) than to a specific God.

Yahweh (God of thunder) was one of the Gods to the Jews after Moses introduced him during the long crossing of Sinai and the worship of the “golden cow”: the Jews had, before and after Moses, many regional demy-Gods who did exist even if at periods were forbidden to worship. Jews might have converged to a unique God in Judea in the second century BC. Many of Canaan demy-Gods were far more beneficial and interesting than this newly created Yahweh that came into the picture during war periods; then, Jewish mercenaries were asked to support Baal under the banner of the dusted off Temple and bust of Yahweh. Salomon worshipped Ashtarout (the Goddess of Sidon of Lebanon) and Baal had many Temples in Jerusalem while Yahweh had only one.

When Prophet Mohammad entered Mecca without a fight, after 9 years of taking Yathreb as his headquarter for his companions, he ordered all the 160 idols destroyed or effaced (pictures) save two: Allah and the Virgin Mary. Mary was not bestowed virginity at all but she was veneered as the mother of the latest great prophet Jesus (Issa). In Islam, idols were no longer Gods and never existed as was the case in ancient cultures. The early Protestants erased pictures and destroyed busts of all Saints except crucified Jesus. For the Protestants, erasing pictures of Saints didn’t mean that Saints didn’t exist but they were not that worthy to be worshiped and supplant God through the interceding process.

The most honest monotheists were the “heretic” Christian sects that the Orthodox Christian Church during the Byzantium Empire persecuted relentlessly. Most of these sects would not even bestow a divine nature to Jesus and Marie was not virgin by any means; no pictures or drawings were permitted for any Saints. The farthest that these sects could indulge in is to veneer the apostle whom they claimed to have written the “true” Testament they adopted and read in. The Nestorian sect proselytized in China and translated its Bible in Chinese in around the year 600; it built churches all along the “silk road”. Thus, you don’t need to create saints along with pictures and busts to have the faith that travels to China.

I have noticed that centralized churches promote many saints with pictures and busts; it is a tactic to please the people so that it may enjoy total control over their temporal existence; that these centralized churches inherited pagan religions aided a lot to the widespread propagations of multiple idols for each locality. Decentralized religions have no urge to promoting idols and pictures such as in Islam: it is the temporal power at every state that appoints clergies, Imams, and sheiks.

I don’t see why all that fuss for monotheism. If a few tribes still refuse to believe that it is earth rotating around the sun or that earth is flat why then submerge them with an extra abstract notion? Killing and committing suicide attacks in the name of a God is not an abstract act; this does not mean that human mind cannot reach a level of distortion that far surpasses the mere abstraction of a One God, creator of man and the universe.

Note: This is a revised version of my post “Mono-idolatry (monolatry) or monotheism? (Nov. 6, 2009)“

Imagens de Belfagor do Verdão!

demary — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:19:56 +0000

Agora sim, as imagens do nosso dia no Alfredo Inácio Trindade, obrigado galera

Neo-Canaanites

Steve Wiggins — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:45:40 +0000

The world of religious studies is full of surprises. Since people are forever seeking new forms of fulfillment, the endless variety of religions itself comes as no surprise, but the results of religious experimentation sometimes lead into uncharted waters. One of my students at Rutgers recently pointed me to a new religion called Natib Qadish, “the sacred path” in potentially vocalized Ugaritic. (Ugaritic, like most ancient Semitic languages, was written without vowels. Some modern scholars, basing their reconstructions on likely vocalizations known from other Semitic tongues, have tried to give voice to this dead language.) I have no idea how large a following this religion has, but it does maintain a substantial website explaining its core beliefs — the modern worship of the Ugaritic/Canaanite gods.

Unsatisfied with the tradition monotheism that eventually drowned out polytheistic voices in western religions, followers of these reconstructed religions are looking back to something more ancient, more primal, and perhaps, more human. What strikes me as odd concerning all of this is that religions such as Natib Qadish are based on extremely fragmentary understandings of ancient religions. We have perhaps a 101-level understanding of Ugaritic religion; some parts are very well attested, but there are huge lacunae that confuse the overall aspect. As I tell my students, ancient religion was based less on belief than it was on practice. Belief-centered religion is a relative newcomer on the historic scene. Ancients inherited their “religions” without question, based on where they were born. Tess Dawson, the founder of Natib Qadish, writes: “I have yet to find any word that means ‘religion’ in any of the ancient texts.” I would argue that it is because the concept of religion itself is a modern one.

Humans seem to have believed in gods from very early times. If gods are there, they must be placated. This is not religion; it is commonsense. Not to placate gods is to invite disaster. In Ugarit these gods included Hadad (Baal), El, Asherah, and Anat, among a host of others. These were the gods people “discovered” as they tried to fumble their way through a difficult existence. And gods like to eat meat, they learned. Sacrifice was born. What is a feast without ceremony? Ritual must emerge. I know this is overly simplistic, but belief doesn’t really enter into this scenario until late in the game. Heterodox belief was normative until Christianity assigned eternal consequences to correct belief, and now we are free to believe whatever we will.

As far as I can tell, Natib Qadish does not actually involve animal sacrifice to the gods (although it is based in Chicago, long known for its slaughterhouses). Like many modern Christians, the followers of this religion wish to reach back to a more pure form of ancient belief. It is an exercise in futility, however, in many respects. The framework has changed beyond recognition and we have no way of knowing what any ancient god would require of us in an internet age.

A young Dr. Wiggins meets Hadad in Paris

Mono-idolatry (monolatry) or monotheism?

adonis49 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:07:12 +0000

Mono-idolatry (monolatry) or monotheism? (Nov. 6, 2009)

Monotheism is a totally abstract concept that no human was yet able to feel physically loyal to a one, all encompassing God. The reality is that people are more inclined to be loyal to a saint, a shrine, or an honored Imam, or apostle. People have need to use their senses to get connected to a spiritual entity: you cannot expect human to think exclusively of an abstract notion without the intermediary of their senses of seeing a representative picture, of smelling incense, of touching a bust, or of listening to a hymn.

I noticed that my dad, at each pass in front of the Virgin Mary or Mar Charbel (a national Saint), has to touch these pictures in the house with his index, kiss his index, and then sign the cross. Dad is 85 years old and has refrained attending mass for years. Mother is also devoted to the Virgin and all the national female saints such as Rafqa; she never misses an occasion to get in the car or a bus going to pay tributes to shrines; she pay money for the Saint that she has not so that the church make “good” use of it; obviously, Mar Charbel is in her pantheon too, along with the newly beatified Hardini. It is interesting that most “miracles” occur at election times.

For example, in Latin America people are loyal to the Virgin Mary and cannot think of any other Saint to turn to in time of distress; thus, St. Mary of (name a city or a village), or the Virgin of (name a city or a town) and you have hundreds of Virgin Maries, tailored made to a specific locality, ready to come to the rescue. The Greek Orthodox Church cannot think of more than two female saints to name girls at baptismal ceremonies: it must be either Mary or Elisabeth; as for male kids you have an assortment of complicated and long Greek saints with plenty of X and Ch.

In Moslem Egypt and generally in North Africa, you have St. Fatima, Aicha, Ali, Hussein, the Imam of the legal sect, or the shrine of the veneered Sheikh of a locality is paid more attention and visits to any other worshiping figures. Pictures of Moslem saints are prohibited in public places or in mosques but that do not prevent homes to hang pictures of their preferred saint as relevant to current standards of beauty for both genders.

There is this myth that the Jewish religion is the first to adopting monotheism; it is just a myth. Ancient civilizations were never monotheists; they all had an overall God, nominally superior to the other demy-gods but that nobody paid much attention to or prayed to Him or even remembered asking his help in ex-votos. El was the all encompassing God in the Middle East as was Allah in the Arab Peninsula or Zeus for the Greeks but He never generated a dime to tribes that had exclusive rights to his worship. People converged to more palpable and understandable demy-gods and cities and towns adopted one of them as symbol and recognition of their trades or power. In general, more weight was given to the “messengers of a God” (they were written in plural) than to a specific God.

Yahweh (God of thunder) was always one of the Gods to the Jews after Moses but might have converged to be the unique God to the Jews in Judea in the second century BC. Many of Canaan demy-Gods were far more beneficial and interesting than this newly created Yahweh that came into the picture during war periods; then, Jewish mercenaries were asked to support Baal under the banner of the dusted off Temple and bust of Yahweh. Salomon worshipped Ashtarout (the Goddess of Sidon of Lebanon) and Baal had many Temples in Jerusalem while Yahweh had only one.

One common denominator to all salafist or extremist religious sects (Christian, Jewish, Moslems, or cults) is being totally peeved and obfuscated that the One True God is being sidetracked for substitutes. Joshua offered the Jews choices of keeping Yahweh as sole God or accepting other demy-Gods. When the Jews decided to keep exclusively a “tribal” God then Joshua ordered all strangers’ Gods destroyed. In ancient time, destroying the bust of a God didn’t mean that he no longer existed but that the local God was to be more efficient to the survival of the tribe or community. When the Prophet Mohammad entered Mecca without a fight he ordered all the 160 idols destroyed or effaced (pictures) save two: Allah and the Virgin Mary. Mary was not bestowed virginity at all but she was veneered as the mother of the latest great prophet Jesus (Issa). In Islam, idols were no longer Gods and never existed as was the case in ancient cultures. The early Protestants erased pictures and destroyed busts of all Saints except crucified Jesus. For the Protestants, erasing pictures of Saints didn’t mean that Saints didn’t exist but they were not that worthy to be worshiped and supplant God through interceding.

I have noticed that centralized churches promote many saints with pictures and busts; it is a tactic to please the people so that it may enjoy total control over their temporal existence; that these centralized churches inherited pagan religions aided a lot to that widespread propagations of multiple idols for each locality. Decentralized religions have no urge to promoting idols and pictures such as in Islam: it is the temporal power at every state that appoints clergies, Imams, and sheiks.

Goddesses Within: Guide to female myths (part 1);

adonis49 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:08:50 +0000

Goddesses Within: Guide to female myths (part 1); (Oct. 30, 2009)

Here we go. The Jungian psychologists, the Woolger couple (Roger & Jennifer Barker), wrote that each female harbors qualities of six goddesses in certain ratios; the goddesses of power, civilization, eros (sexuality), underworld, nature, and mother. The mixture of qualities can be determined by answering sets of questions; thus, a female can be represented in categories of ratios on a goddess wheel.

The goddess of worldly power, ruler wife, tradition, morality, and matriarch is represented by Hera, wife of Zeus. For example, Elizabeth Taylor represents Hera in “Cleopatra, & The taming of the Shrew”, Julie Harris in “A Doll’s House”, Mary Tyler Moore in “Ordinary People”, Liv Ullmann in “Scenes from a marriage”, Shirley MacLaine in “Terms of Endearment”, and Marlene Dietrich in “Witness for the prosecution”.

The goddess of wisdom, civilization, education, city culture, careerist, competitor, intellectual, dutiful daughter, or rebel father world logic is represented by Athena. For example, Athena is Holly Hunter in “Broadcast News”, Jane Fonda in “The China Syndrome”, Rita in “Educating Rita”, Faye Dunaway in “Network”, Sally Field in “Norma Rae”, Meryl Streep in “Plenty and Silkwood”, and Jill Clayburgh in “An unmarried woman”.

The goddess of love, sexuality, body as sacred sensuality, romance, beauty, passion, salons, and patroness of the arts is represented by Aphrodite. For example, Greta Garbo is an Aphrodite in “Anna Karenina”, Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen prefer blonde and Some like it hot”, Vivien Leigh in “Gone with the wind”, Ingrid Bergman in “Indiscreet”, Debra Winger in “An officer and a Gentleman”, Brooke Shield in “Pretty baby”, Ellen Burstyn in “Same time next year”, and Meryl Streep in “The French lieutenant’s woman”.

The Goddess of occult medium, visions, dreams, transformation, inner guide, and healing psychic power is represented by Persephone. Deborah Kerr represents Persephone in “Black Narcissus”, Sissy Spacek in “Carries & ‘Night, mother”, Lee Remick in “Days of wine and roses”, Farrah Fawcett in “Extremities”, Jessica Lange in “Frances”, Ruth Gordon in “Harold & Maude”, Kathleen Quinlan in “I never promised you a rose garden”, Katharine Hepburn in “Long Day’s journey into the night”, and Barbara Streisand in “Nuts”.

The goddess of the wild, Amazon shamanist, blood mysteries, adventures, huntress, lover of wilderness, and lady of the beasts is represented by Artemis. Sigourney Weaver represents Artemis in “Aliens & Gorillas in the mist”, Jane Goodall in “Among the wild Chimpanzees”, Daryl Hannah in “The Clan of the Cave Bear”, Karen Black in “Killing heat”, and Brigitte Nielsen in “Red Sonja”.

The goddess mother, of menstruation, body as vessel lady of plants, childbearing, earth mother, generation nurturance, and daughter is represented by Demeter. Jessica Lange embodies Demeter in “Country”, Cher in “Mask”, Sally Field in “Places in the heart”, Sissy Spacek in “Raggedy man” and Shirley MacLaine in “The turning point”.

There are motion pictures on dialogues among goddesses such as “Cat on a hot tin roof”, “Gone in the wind”, Hannah and her sisters”, “Juliet of the spirit”, ‘Suddenly last summer”, and “The turning point”. The names of the goddesses are Greek but you can borrow names from other ancient myths that the Greek and the Roman adopted in their mythologies such as Isis and Osiris, Ashtar, Ashtaroot, Annana, Adonis, Baal, or El.

There are follow up posts on the book “The Goddess within: A guide to the eternal myths that shape women’s lives”, including the set of questions that define your blend of Goddesses.

Pagan Roots of Halloween

messianicmdg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:04:46 +0000

I am going through all the booklets I have on the topic
so you can read my resources. If you want to write
an article or book on the topic please feel free to use
as you like.

Rough Notes -WDHCF

Where did Halloween originate from?
How did we get it?
Halloween was celebrated by pagans centuries
before the First Century Congregation was founded.
Introduced into the First Century Congregation
centuries after the death of the Apostles, yet it
was celebrated by the pagans centuries before the
First Century Congregation was founded.
From Halloween Through Twenty Centuries, by Ralph
Linton, page 4, it says, “The American celebration
rests upon Scotish and Irish folk customs which
can be traced in direct line from Pre-Christian
times. Although Halloween has become a night of
rollicking fun, superstitious spells, and eerie
games which people take only half seriously, its
beginnings were quite otherwise. The earliest
Halloween celebrations were held by the Druids in
honor of Samhain, Lord of the Dead, whose festival
fell on November 1.”
very distant from being righteous festival.
pagan holiday masquerading as though it was a
genuine custom of the true Congregation of
Yeshua / Jesus Christ.
parents allow their children to get involved in the
spirit of the pagan custom.
The Encyclopedia Americana states, “it’s clearly a
relic of pagan times.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica states, “It long
antedates Christianity. The two chief
characteristics of ancient Halloween were the
lighting of bonfires and the belief that this is the
one night in the year during which ghosts and
witches are most likely to wander about. History
shows that the main celebrations of Halloween were
Druidical and this is further provided by the fact
that in parts of Ireland October 31 is still known
as Oidhch Shamhna, “Virgil of Saman.’”
Halloween celebrated by the pagans long before
Yeshua / Jesus Christ was even born.
Halloween was celebrated by the Romans.
Encyclopedia Britannica continues, “On the Druidic
ceremonies were grafted some of the characteristics
of the Roman festival in honor of Pomona held about
November 1, in which nuts and apples, representing
the winter store of fruits, played an important
part.”
Halloween’s pagan customs are widespread around the
world to celebrate this season.
The Book of Halloween by Ruth Kelley writes, “The
pagan Druid priests taught the immortality of the
soul, that it passed from one body to another at
death … They believed that on the last night of
the old year (October 31) the lord of death
gathered together the souls of all those who had
died in the passing year and had been condemned to
live in the bodies of animals, to decree what forms
they should inhabit for the next twelve months. He
could be coaxed to give lighter sentence by gifts
and prayers. ”
Halloween Through Twenty Centuries page 5 writes,
“On the New Year, their sins being expiated, they
were released to go to the Druid Heaven.”
Wheel of the Year, picture found
here
illustrates Pagan festivals such as Samhain
(Halloween), Yule (Saturnalia – Christmas),
Imbolc, Ostara (Ishtar – Easter) Beltane, Litha,
Lammas, Mabon, which some of their customs have
been grafted into Christianity.
Halloween / Samhain promoted the ‘Doctrine of
Immortality of the Soul” that the dead are not
really dead.
almost all heathen countries had festivals or days
set aside to honor the dead.
These festivals originated from the death of Nimrod,
(Genesis 10:8-10) whom Semiramis said had resurrected
from the dead when an evergreen tree grew out of a
dead tree stump which is the origins of the Christmas
tree associating Yule (Saturnalia – Christmas) to Samhain
(Halloween).
The meaning of the word “Halloween” – Allhallows or
Hallowmas, or All Saints Day which is one of the
festivals of the Catholic Church says Lintons
Halloween Through Twenty Centuries, page 3.
Samhain / Halloween was the evening celebration
commencing at sunset, in anticipation of November 1,
honoring the Lord of the Dead.
Who is Lord of the Dead?
Yeshua / Jesus Christ states in Matthew 22:31-32
“But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have
ye not read that which was spoken to you by God,
saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God
of the dead, but of the living”
God is not God of the dead but in reality and in
righteousness, Yeshua / Jesus Christ is Lord of the
dead.
the dead do not serve God (Psalm 6:5, 115:17), the
soul that sins dies (Ezekiel 18:4), the dead know
nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5), the dead’s thoughts
perish (Psalm 146:4), only God has immortality
(1 Timothy 1:17, 6:15-16), and only God can destroy
a persons soul (Matthew 10:28)
to consult the dead is an abomination.
(Leviticus 19:31, Deuteronomy 18:9-12) and is part
of the abominations of the nations.
(Deuteronomy 18:9, 1 Kings 14:24, Ezekiel 6:9)
How is Yeshua / Jesus Christ Lord of the dead? He
defeated death as atonement for our sins but also to
become Lord of the dead (Romans 14:9)
Yeshua / Jesus Christ through his resurrection
obtained the keys to Hades or state of the dead.
(Revelation 1:18)
Who did Yeshua / Jesus take the authority of “Lord
of the Dead” from? Satan / Lucifer ofcourse.
(Hebrews 2:14)
What is Yeshua’s / Jesus Christ’s function as Lord
of the Living and the Dead?
on the last day to change the righteous from mortal
to immortal (1 Corinthians 15:51-58,
1 Thessalonians 4:14-18), to resurrect the righteous
to eternal life (John 3:16) and the unrighteous to
resurrection of condemnation (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54,
11:24-26, 12:48, 5:28-30)
Paganism make the “Lord of the Dead” other than
Yeshua / Jesus Christ but give authority to deities
such as Samhain, Baal, Nimrod, Hercules, Tammuz,
Adonis, Achilles, Orion, Belial, Mithra, Horus,
Osiris, Thor, Yule, Cronos, Kronus, Saturn, Odin,
Bacchus, Dionysus, Molech, Deonius, Jupiter, Man
the Branch, Wodan, Attes, Attis, and many others
depending which variation of paganism the name
derives from.
Paganism really is worshiping Satan / Lucifer as
“Lord of the Dead” , as Satan deceives the whole
world (Revelation 12:9) and Satan / Lucifer is the
Prince the power of the air (Eph 2:2) and god of
this world (2 Cor 4:4).
Giving these deities the authority of “Lord of the
Dead” rather than Yeshua / Jesus Christ is
glorifying Satan / Lucifer and is a form of
Idolatry.
In my opinion Halloween is Satanic.
people today are deceived into believing that
Halloween is harmless fun, but infact are honoring
Satan on this day.
most people know deep in their soul that Halloween
is Occult, sinful, and honors Satan / Lucifer
Apostle Paul states that this kind of worship is
worshiping demons (Galatians 4:8)
Halloween is not a righteous form of worship to
worship God
The True God demands that worshipers worship him
in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:23-24)
What is the origins of All Saints Day?
November 1st, derived from the pagans is celebrated
by in hundreds of Church denominations to honor
the dead Saints
Pope Urban IV states All Saints day is “to honor
all the saints, known and unknown, and to supply
any deficiencies in the faithful’s celebration of
saints’ feasts during the year” according to
Reference Catholic Encyclopedia
How did Christianity come to venerating saints
come to be observed on the day in honor of the
devil?
The Catholic Encyclopedia continues, “… The
Church, feeling that every martyr should be
venerated, appointed a common day for all.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia continues, “Gregory III
(731-741) consecrated a chapel in the basilica
of St. Peter to all saints and fixed the
anniversary on November 1 … Gregory IV
(827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November
to the entire church. The vigil (Halloween) seems
to have been held as early as the feast itself.”
From Halloween Through Twenty Centuries Ralph Linton
says, “All Saints’ Day was introduced into the
church calender because the year was not long
enough to make it possible to dedicate a special
day for each spirit of the Catholic Church, … That
the day chosen was one already associated in the
popular mind with a thronging of spirits of the
dead which was quite in line with church policy
of incorporating harmless pagan folk ideas. ”
Protestant Churches observe All Saints’ Day “since
it was on this day in 1517, that Martin Luther
posted his epoch-making ninety-five theses on the
door of the castle church at Wittenberg, … He
chose Halloween night because he knew that the
townsfolk … would be coming to the church that
night.” (Halloween pp 9-10)
What is the origins of “Trick or Treat?”
Where did the prank of children knocking on peoples
doors and shouting “Trick or Treat” come from?
From Halloween Through Twenty Centuries Ralph Linton
says, “… certainly it comes from pagan times. …
led by a man in a white robe wearing a horse mask.
… which indicated that this custom was a survival
of a Druid rite.”
The horse head was sacred to the Sun God.
The procession levied a contribution from the
farmers in the perverted name of what probably was
an old Druid god. Unless the procession was treated
liberally with gifts, the farmers were tricked with
the threat of a curse that would ruin following years
crops.
The custom of having processions at Halloween were
further derived by wealthy churches during the Middle
Ages copying the ancient Greek and Roman processions
parading the relics of patron saints.
Poorer churches could not afford to buy relics so
they used caricatures of their patron saints
Halloween Through Twenty Centuries page 103 states,
“Those who were not playing the parts of the holy
ones also wanted to get into the procession and so
dressed up as angels or devils. The Allhallows
procession around the churchyard eventually became a
gay and motley parade.”
the “Trick or Treat” custom simply derived from these
former degenerate absurd customs which came out of
paganism, grafting them into Christianity labeling
them with Christian names.

Shalom
Michael Grant

Ba'al é escolhido como o maior vilão de Stargate

Jorge — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:02:23 +0000

Ba’al, um dos líderes da raça parasítica Goa’uld, foi escolhido como o maior vilão da franquia Starg

Secrets of Lucifer

commendatori — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:50:37 +0000

Secrets of Lucifer (1 of 7) Secrets of Lucifer (2 of 7) Secrets of Lucifer (3 of 7) Secrets of Lucif

Ketika tersesak berdoalah

parhobass — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:29:52 +0000

Elia, mengalami himpitan yang luar biasa, ia sedang melarikan diri dari kejaran Izebel. Izebel mengejar nyawanya karena Elia telah menghapuskan nabi-nabi dewanya. Nabi dewa-dewanya dengan berani-beraninya melawan TUHAN.

Elia, bukannya tidak percaya TUHAN, Elia bukannya sekali dua kali melihat Gagah Kuasa TUHAN, dan Elia bukan kali ini ajah tersesak, tetapi kali ini ia… terancam, sampai harus melarikan diri, sendirian.

Yang paling membuat dia tersesak adalah…. ia berpikiran bahwa hanya dia satu-satunya yang tersisa di muka bumi ini yang masih percaya akan TUHAN…. Andakah salah satunya yang merasa sendiri, merasa ditinggal oleh orang-orang yang paling mengenal Anda…

maka berdoalah, seperti Elia, berdoalah…

Jawab TUHAN:”Lakukanlah ini,…lakukan itu… dan AKU masih menyisakan 7000 orang yang sama sekali tidak menyembah BAAL”.

Apa yang terjadi, ketika Elia merasa sendiri, TUHAN menyisakan suatu kumpulan orang yang masih percaya, sama seperti Elia, percaya kepada TUHAN, dan bersih dari menyembah allah lain. Jumlahnya sekarang 7000 kali Elia.

Orang bisa disisakan TUHAN untuk selamat, apalagi Kitab Suci, Kitab Suci adalah firmanNYA. Benar Kristus adalah Firman, tetapi Kitab Suci menyatakan sepanjang jaman, bahwa Firman itu HIDUP dan ADA dan berkarya untuk kita. Maka yakinlah Kitab Suci yang semakin tersesak oleh “Izebel”, penyembah allah lain, pasti IA jaga. Jika kita berdoa maka kita telah menjadi firman yang hidup, dan kehidupan kita menjadi tulisan-tulisan Kitab Suci yang menghidupkan.

Baal ( Pagan god) VS Catholic god

yahstruthseeker — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:30:52 +0000

NOTE: Catholicism and YHWH do not mix. Roman Catholism is steeped in idolatry and has nothing to do with Yahushua-or His life, His ministry, His Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension to the Right hand of Father YHWH!!!

NOTICE THE LIST BELOW. NOTICE HOW BABYLON INVENTED THE DOCTRINE TO WORSHIP THE PAGAN SUN GOD. THEN NOTICE THE “CHRISTIAN” CHURCH OF ROME ADOPTING 100% OF THE PAGAN DOCTRINES GIVING THEM CHRISTIAN NAMES

**-[Baal-vs-The "Catholic" God]-**
INVENTED FOR THE PAGAN SUN GOD BAAL	CATHOLIC DOCTRINES OF THE VATICAN
1. The nativity of the Sun, the birth of Tammuz Dec. 25	The nativity of Jesus, Christmas Dec 25
2. The Midsummer festival held Jun 24	The Nativity of St. John held June 24
3. The assumption of Semiramus who became the mother godess	The assumption of Mary, who became the mother of God
4. The mother goddess was worshipped as the Queen of Heaven. Jer. 7:18	The Virgin Mary worshipped as the Queen of Heaven.
4.a “Queen of Heaven” is wrath suduer of the Pagan god	Mary, “Queen of Heaven” subdues the wrath of Christ and His Father against sinners.
5. Cakes decorated to the goddess with a “+” drawn on it. Jer. 44:17,19	Hot cross buns
6. 40 days fasting for Tammuz, Ezek. 8:14	40 days of Lent
7.Pagan festival of Easter. Ezek 8:16	The festival of Easter
8. The ressurection of Tammuz at Easter and the procession of graven images during holy week	The procession of graven images of Jesus, Mary, and Peter, and of the saints
9. Veneration of graven images of Baal, Ishtar, Tammuz and lesser gods in the heavens	Veneration of graven images of Jesus, Mary, Peter, and of the “lesser” saints in the heavens
10. The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment	The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment
11. The doctrine of purgatory	The doctrine of purgatory
12. The belief of the dead visiting the living, feast held for all in November, (All souls day)	The festival of all souls day held Nov. 2, and all saints day held Nov. 1 (All souls day)
13. Burning incense and candles Jer 11:17; Ezek 8:11	The burning of incense and candles
14. Chants and repetative prayers. Beaded prayer chains.	Gregorian chants and the Rosary
15. Symbol of the cross as symbol of Sun worship. Mesopotamian cylinder seal depicted the “cross in the sky” as a symbol of sun worship. Ancient carvings of an Assyrian king has a huge cross carved on his chest. The oldest pictures in the world from Mesopotamia has text with is explaining the “cross” in the sky as the sun. This particular find is on display at the University Museum in Philadelphia.	The crucifix
16. Amulets and idols ro scare away evil spirits	The wearing of crucifixes and medals displayed for protection. (Scapular = main example)
17. The round disk “sun” wafer IHS symbol of Isis, Horus & Seb, eaten as food for the soul. Some wafers also had a large “+” sign engraved on them as well to symbolize Baal.	The wafer used in the Eucharist is round with IHS engraved on it on on one side, and many have a large “+” engraved on the other side.
18. Painting of the child (Tammuz) and mother (Semiramus) with the glory of the Sun around their heads	Paintings of the child (Jesus) and mother (Mary) with halos or of the Sun around their heads
19. Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water	Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water
20. Necromancy (Talking to the dead)	Mysticism (Novenas (prayers) to the dead)
21. The first day of the week kept sacred to honor the Persian sun god Mithra. “SUN”day	The admitted change of 7th day Sabbath to “SUN”day
22. Title Pontifex Maximus name for chief head of the pagan Babylonian system of idolatry	Pontifex Maximus one of the first names for the office of Pope
23. Janus and Cybele, holders of the keys to Heaven and Hell	The pope claims to have the keys of Peter
24. The high priest kings carried on a throne to the to the Temple of his god	The Pope carried on a portable throne to the Basilica of St. Peter (Sedia Gestoria)
25. The Pagan high priest king believed to be the incarnate of the Sun god	The Pope proclaims to be Christ’s Vicar (replacement) here on Earth. It is also recorded in numerous documents that the pope believes he is god on earth.
26. Offerings of “good works” to appease the gods	Penance, indulgences, salvation by works
27. Houses for the virgin priestesses (Prostitutes) to be employed at Pagan temples to “service” priests that were not ‘gay’	Nuns. (Recent modern day sex scandals involving Nuns has uncovered this well hidden reality)
28. Human sacrifices burned by fire as offering to appease Sun god	Opposers of doctrines of the Roman Catholic church burned at the stake
29. Gold was considered the flesh of the “Sungod”	Vatican and numerous Cathedrals are lietrally drenched in gold throughout
30. Gargoils = a pagan god of protection	Vatican as well as thousands of Catholic churches have gargoils on their roofs for ‘protection’
31. Phallic symbol of the male sex organ placed on roofs as a sign of allegiance with Baal	Largest phallic symbol in center of St. Peter’s square as well as steeples on all Catholic churches
32. Solar wheel as symbol for Baal worship can be found carved into ancient as well as modern Buddhist temples,, carved into ancient ornament representing Osiris. Stone carvings showing a whell to represent and Assyrio Babylonian altar.	St Peter’s square has largest solar wheel on planet. ALL Catholic churches have numerous solar wheels in stain glass windows as well as many other areas of the church. Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris sports a very huge one on it’s face. There is a great one in ceiling as well as the floor tiles of the monastery of St. Ignatius Loyola in Spain. Numerous paintings, statues, ornaments, and letterheads of all Catholic churches have one or more “solar wheels” depicted upon them. And the ONE WORLD CHURCH that started on June 26, 2000 uses the solar wheel as its official logo.
33. Symbol of serpent on numerous Roman bath houses	Symbol of serpent on numerous Catholic church in door handles, Papal crests, etc.
34. Atlas carries the universe on his soilders	Numerous Popes depicted in paintings in same manner
35. Symbols of the “Unicorn, Peacock, and Phoenix” used to signify sun god	Symbols of the “Unicorn, Peacock, and Phoenix” used to symbolize the Christ in many churches on doors or chapels as well as sanctuarys holding the ‘eucharist’
36. Crescent moon used to signify moon goddess “Nanna”	Crescent used to cradle Eucharist in the Monstrance of the Catholic church. As well as depicted in numerous paintings and scupltures with Mary standing within it
37. Three letters “S.F.S” within a small blaze is used to represent the universal symbol for the number “6″ in the Pagan mysteries	S.F.S in a small blaze is carved into the Vatican Monstrance in the Vatican museum as well as many monstrances the world over
38. Alternating rays of the sun burst used to represent unity of “man and woman” common in all aspects of Paganism. (Curved ray = female “yonic” Straight ray = male “phallic”)	Monstrance of Catholicism as well as many paintings and sculptures all depict same rays of both the “phallic and yonic” symbolism can be found literally all over the Roman Catholic church
39. Carvings of “nature spirits” (fauns or satyrs) depicting a horned, hoofed-god were a common feature in all Pagan cults	Carvings of “nature spirits” (fauns or satyrs) depicting a horned, hoofed-god are found all over the Treasury of the Vatican beneath St Peters square as well as many Cathedrals
40. Statues of a “Madonna” found in all Pagan cults as well as Egyptian Madonna Isis with her son Horus, or Hindu cults with Divaki and her son Krishna	Statues of Mary can be found in all Catholic churches holding baby Jesus
41. Statue of Zeus holds symbol of thunder and a lightening bolt to symbolise his position as a god.	Mary depicted in many statues holding the pagan symbol of thunderr
42. Demi-gods holding crooked diving staff representative of the serpent and lightening bolt	Pope carries exact same staff (serpent crosiers)
43. Adad, Enlil, Baal, Neptune, Poseidon and other “gods” of storm and sea were depicted as carrying tridents	Crosses as well as statues of Jesus and Mary in Cathedrals all over the world carved with tridents on them.
44. Hand gestures in the form of a trident found depicted in Jupiter, Buddah, Appollo, Hindu diety’s, as well as “votive hands” in pagan temples	Statue of St. Peter (Actually the old Jupiter statue of Rome) as well as millions of other statues, painitings, photos, and videos of everyone from Jesus and Mary to priests, cardinals,bishops, all the Popes, Vatican guards and even lay people in the Catholci church seen holding up the three finger trident salute of pagan Rome. (Now called the salute to the Trinity)
45. Pine cones used to represent the diety of a solar god Osiris, Bacchus, Dionysus, as well as Mexican gods, Hindu gods, and Assyrian gods	Largest pine cone sculpture in the world found in the “Court of the pine cone” at the Vatican. Pine cone is also found carved into the crooked pagan staff (serpent crosier) or the Popes of Rome. In fact the pine cone is found all throughout the Vatican as well as Cathedrals as decoration.
46. Oanne, Babylonian fish-god (half man half fish) was depicted by Pagan high priests by wearing a fish head mitre (head dress) upon a mans head to symbolize man and fish joining when “sun god” set into the ocean. (Neptune = case in point. Half man half fish) One particular Biblical diety = “Dagon” Dag=fish On=sun	Mitres are worn by all Popes of Catholcism
47. The Roman sun-god with the alternating yonic and phallic symbols surrounding his head was found carved in excavated Roman bath houses in England. It is alos found as “Apollo” on the facade of the Pergamum Museum in East Berlin.	Almost all Catholic churches have the exact same carving above their pulpits, pillars, on statues, as well as carved into ceilings above altars. Some Catholic churches actually have it carved into the Eucharist itself.
48. Statues of the Romanized Egyptians Isis with globes in hand, Hercules as a solar diety carried the very same globe in hand, and the Persian sun-god Mithra is also depicted with the globe in hand as a sign ruler of the Universe.	The Vatican has a solid gold statues of Jesus with the globe in hand, plus a black marble statue called “the black virgin of Montserrat” and a statue of a “child Jesus” with globe in hand, the list goes on…
49. Coptic shells were carved to symbolize the Universe. Roman grave stones used them to represent the Heavens. Statues of Atlas can be found carrying the “universe” shell upon its shoulders. Pagan Rome carved Poseidon with the shell in his head. Venus was said to be born IN a coptic shell.	St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican has the Pagan symbols within the papal crest upon the wall. The Coptic shell is found over the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. This cosmic symbol is often used as a font for holy water in Catholic churches the world over. They even have statues of angels holding the pagan symbol
50. Large evil eye can be found carved on a Roman sarcophagus in the National Archaeological Museum in Rome Italy. Masonic pendants have them as well. Hathor the “eye of Osiris” can be found all over Egyptian temple. It was commonly used as protection against evil magic.	This very same evil eye within the pyramid is found on Roman Catholic pulpits, ceilings, altars, doors, pendants, medals, etc. It is also on the back of the dollar bill of the USA on the left side
51. The multi-level crown was first worn by old Babylonian gods in 1800BC. The horned tiara was carved atop Assyrian winged-bull cherubims. The Jewish Kabbalistic solar diety wore this very same tiara, as did Krishna.	The bronze tomb of Pope Sixtus (Pope6) has this three ringed tiara on his head. On that tiara you can also see 6 serpents upon it. All the Popes have word the tiara as a symbol of their authority as “gods of the earth, heaven, and hell” Hence, the “three rings” upon it. The Vatican has a solid gold tiara on display in the Vatican treasury. This is the very crown the Pope will hand to Antichrist when he arrives to impersonate Jesus Christ in the days ahead.
52. Quetzalcoatl, the lord of life and death in the Aztec and Toltec cultures of 1000 AD had an open chest with an exposed heart displayed. This was believed to be nourishment offered to the sun gods.	Literally hundreds of thousands of statues, paintings, posters, lithographs, etc have Jesus as well as Mary depicted in the same manner with what the Catholic church calls “The sacred heart.” Notice that these “sacred hearts” also have the symbols of the sun god Mithra glowing rather boldly behind them.
53. Assyrians carvings show eagles as genies hovering over the dead. Their “book of the dead” depicts just such a picture on its cover.	Eagles are used as symbols all over the Roman Catholic church. See Rev 18:2 speaks of the Vatican as the “hold of ever foul spirit, and a cage of ever unclean and hateful bird.”
Want to see ALL these facts and more in an animation WITH PICTURES?

Cardinal Newman admits in his book that; the “temples, incense, oil lamps, votive offerings, holy water, Holidays, and seasons of devotion, processions, blessings of the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure (of priests, munks and nuns), images, and statues… are all of PAGAN ORIGIN.” -The Development of the Christian Religion Cardinal Newman p.359

The penetration of the religion of Babylon became so general and well known that Rome was called the “New Babylon.” -Faith of our fathers 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p. 106

“Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the instruments and appendages of demon worship to an evangelical use… the rulers of the church from early times were prepared should occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace.” -Development of Christian Doctrine, Cardinal Newman. p. 372Cardinal Newman lists many examples of things of “pagan origin” which the papacy brought into the church “in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen: “in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen:” “The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison.”–Cardinal J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition, p.373 [Roman Catholic].

“in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen:” “The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison.”–J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition, p.373 [Roman Catholic].

“The mighty Catholic Church was little more then the Roman Empire baptized.”– A. C, Flick, The Rise of the Mediaeval Church, 1909 edition, p. 148. From ancient Babylon came the cult of the virgin mother-goddess, who was worshiped as the highest of gods–see S. H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition. This worship was taken over as Mary-worship by Rome. Heathen sun-worship on Sunday was likewise adopted by the Roman apostasy.

“In order to attach to Christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility, the priests adopted the outer garments and adornments which were used in pagan cults.” -Life of Constantine, Eusabius, cited in Altai-Nimalaya, p. 94

“The Church did everything it couldto stamp out such ‘pagan’ rites, but had to capitualet and allow the rites to continue with only the name of the local diety changed to some Christian saint’s name.” -Religious Tradition and Myth. Dr. Edwin Goodenough, Professor of Religion, Harvard University. p. 56, 57

“From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivals, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present … as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called tot the source whence these rites have sprung. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: “Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists.” -Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. VII

“We know that Mithraism was a state religion of Rome at the time that the Christian church was established there. Evidently tenants of Mithraism such as Sunday worship and eating the wafer in the mass were adopted into Christianity at that time” -Jim Arrabito “666 & the Mark”

In Stanley’s History, page 40: “The popes filled the place of the vacant emperors at Rome, inheriting
their power, their prestige, and their titles from PAGANISM.”

“In short, sun worship, symbolically speaking, lies at the very heart of the great festivals which the Christian Church celebrates today, and these relics of heathen religion have, through the medium of their sacred rites, curiously enough blended with practices and beliefs utterly antagonistic to the spirit which prompted them.” -Sun Lore of All Ages, Olcott, p. 248

“Yet the cross itself is the oldest of phallic emblems, and the lozenge-shaped windows of cathedrals are proof that the yonic symbols have survived the destructions of the pagan Mysteries. The very structure of the church itself is permeated with (sexual symbolism) phallicism. Remove from the Christian Church all emblems of Priapic origin and nothing is left…” -The secret teaching of all ages by Manley P. Hall

“When the zealots of the primitave Christian Church sought to Christianize paganism, the pagan initiates retorted with a powerful effort to paganize Christianity. The Christians failed but the pagans succeeded. With the decline of paganism the initiated pagan hierophants transferred their base of operations to the new vehicle of primitive Christianity, adopting the symbols of the new cult to conceal those eternal verities which are ever the priceless possession of the wise.” -The secret teachings of all ages, Manley P. Hall p. CLXXXV

“…The world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.” -The Great Controversy, p. 50

”The belief in miracle-working objects, talismans, amulets, and formulas was dear to Christianity, and they were received from pagan antiquity . . . The vestments of the clergy and the papal title of ‘pontifex maximus’ were legacies from pagan Rome. The [Catholic] Church found that rural converts still revered certain springs, wells, trees, and stones; she thought it wiser to bless these to Christian use then to break too sharply the customs of sentiment . . . Pagan festivals dear to the people, reappeared as Christian feasts, and pagan rites were transformed into Christian liturgy . . . The Christian calendar of saints replaced the Roman ‘fasti’ [gods]; ancient divinities dear to the people were allowed to revive under the names of ‘Christian saints’ . . . Gradually the tenderest features of Astarte, Cybele, Artemis, Diana, and Isis were gathered together in the worship of Mary”–Wil Durant, The Age of Faith, 1950, pp. 745-746.

Langdon tells us that Mary worship came from ancient Babylon where the virgin mother-goddess was worshiped under the name “Ishtar.” Elsewhere in the Near East, the mother-goddess was called “Astarte, Ashtoreth, Persephone, Artemis, [Diana] of Ephesus, Venus, and Isis.” This goddess, considered to be greater than any god, was called by these heathen the “virgin mother, merciful mother, Queen of Heaven, and my lady” [which is what "Madonna" means in Italian]. Langdon says she was often sculptured in mother-and-infant images, or as a “mater dolorom” [sorrowful mother] interceding for men with a wrathful god. And thus ancient paganism was brought into the churches and lives of Christians.–see S.H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition, pp. 12-34, 108-111, 341-344. Laing mentions several other corruptions by which the mother-goddess was worshiped by heathens, that Rome adopted into Christianity: holy water, votive offerings, elevation of sacred objects [lifting of the host], the priest’s bells, the decking of images, processions, festivals, prayers for the dead, the worship of relics and the statues of saints.–see Gordon J. Laing, Survivals of Roman Religion, 1931 edition, pp. 92-95, 123-131,238-241.

Two dominant elements brought into Christianity from paganism by Rome were Sun worship symbols and the religious practices of ancient Babylon] “The solar theology of the Chaldaeans [Babylonians], had decisive effect . . . [upon the] final form reached by the religion of the pagan Semites, and following them, by that of the Romans when [the Roman emperor] Aurelian, the conqueror of Palmyra, had raised ‘Sol Invictus’ [the invincible sun-god] to the rank of supreme divinity in the Empire”–The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 11, pp. 643, 646-647. From Palmyra he transferred to the new sanctuary the images of Helios [the sun-god] and Bel, the malaise patron god of Babylon–see Cumont, The Oriental Religions In Roman Paganism, 1911 edition, pp. 114-115, 124.

“The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season . . . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . . The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the Church would seem to say, ‘Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.’ And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus”–William L. Gildea, “Paschale Gaudium,” in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].

”The removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330, left the Western Church, practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organization. The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon [when the barbarians over-ran the empire] forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head.”–A.C. Flick, The Rise of the Mediaval Church p. 168.

“Whatever Roman elements the barbarians and Aryans left . . . [came] under the protection of the Bishop of Rome, who was the chief person there after the Emperor’s disappearance . . . The Roman Church in this way privily pushed itself into the place of the Roman World-Empire, of which it is the actual continuation; the empire has not perished, but has only undergone a transformation . . . It [the Catholic Church] is a political creation, and as imposing as a World-Empire, because [it is a continuation of] the Roman Empire. The Pope, who calls himself ‘King’ and ‘Pontifex Maximus’ [the title of the Roman Emperor in the time of Christ], is Caesar’s successor.”–Adolf Harnack, What is Christianity? 1963, pp. 269-270.

“Long ages ago, when Rome through the neglect of the Western emperors was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked him to rule them; and thus, . . . commenced the temporal sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, the vicar of Christ took up the scepter to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages.”–American Catholic Quarterly Review, April, 1911.

[Speaking of the time, about 500 A.D., when the Roman Empire was crumbling to pieces:] “No, the [Catholic] Church will not descend into the tomb. It will survive the Empire . . . At length a second empire will arise, and of this empire the Pope will be the master–more then this, he will be the master of Europe. He will dictate his orders to kings who will obey them”–Andrea Lagarde, The Latin Church in the Middle Ages, 1915, p. vi.

“From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivles, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present… as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called to the source whence those rites have spring. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: “Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists.” -Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius. P. vii

So I hope people can see the similarities between these two. As well Protestant churches – are full of graven images ( crosses, pictures of “jesus” etc)and celebrate all the pagan holidays of Easter, Christmas etc. Christianity today HAS NOTHING to do with the YHWH ,Elohim of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and His Son Yahushua Ha’Mashiach the Messiah. Time to repent and truly be saved!!

II - Baal, Pagan Deity of Nature and Fertility

Phil — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:11:59 +0000

Table of Contents Introduction “Short ‘n’ Sweet” Description of a Jezebel Ke

I - The Biblical Jezebel, Queen of Israel and High Priestess of Baal and Ashtoreth

Phil — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:03:44 +0000

Table of Contents Introduction “Short ‘n’ Sweet” Description of a Jezebel Ke

Would You Climb Ayers Rock? Or Would You Worship Uluru?

mjss26 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:55:55 +0000

The Background:

There was an article running in the travel section of Sydney Morning Herald’s online edition a few months ago asking whether or not tourists should climb the largest single rock in the southern hemisphere (if not the world).
The question arises because the local tribes of Aborigines revere it as a god they call Uluru. Perhaps they would rather say it is a spirit if not a god, but reverence and worship lead us to consider it the same thing in context.

The Problem:

Now, where would Judaism sit with this question? The purpose of a Jew is to guide the world to a relationship with the sole G-d/Creator through the example of our own. The oft cited imperative to be an Ohr LaGoyim – a light to G-d’s other children, the nations of the world, make this purpose clear.

Many Jews and Jewesses are ‘celibate’, in this regard, which, when out of intentional ignorance (rare – because it’s not often fully informed intentional ignorance) or due to a lack of decent Jewish education, is a tremendous shame. Besides, we don’t espouse celibacy in our physical relationships – why should we in regards to our spiritual one? Would that more Jews understood what they were meant to do instead of floating around eating kreplach and bagels (the caricatured ‘cultural Jew’), leading lives otherwise indistinguishable from those of our brother nations. Fact remains, 90% of Jewish people today (even amongst the ultra religious, if I may be so bold) pay little or no attention to our overriding responsibilities as G-d’s firstborn.

Most (especially secular) Jews never hear that wonderfully phrased statement ‘you cannot represent the Jews until you know what the Jews represent’. But this is not the topic.

The Myth and the Repugnance of “Toleration”:

What does Jewish law say about respecting other religions’ false gods and idols? Would we not promote harmony by catering to the needs of the Wicca, orthodox cannibals, and indeed any and every cult, sect or full-blown religion that pops up?

Mine is not to affirm monotheism over polytheism at any length. It is self evident that each god comes with his, her or its own code of morality, thereby offering the human a choice of moral code – whichever suits him and his lifestyle best. Absolute morality allows (in principle) for no fragmentation of morality, no dissonance and confusion.
It should be noted, however, that I am a complete novice in the religion of the Aborigines; my greatest exposure was at primary school, learning about their Dreamtime creation stories. So I am ready to be corrected on the statements I make (based on what I believe the Jewish legal code requires us to do – in which I am also a relative novice).

In fact, tolerance can be an unpalatable word, as my controversial take on the matter might be to many – including a great many Jews themselves. Tolerance has the connotation ‘your actions make me physically sick, BUT in the name of the ‘enlightened’ age I will allow you to continue as you do, and even sit next to you.’

It is tolerance that sees righteous nations seated next to violently criminal, despotic regimes at the fundamentally flawed United Nations.
Rather, let’s talk it out- your ideas versus mine, at the dining table with a nice meal in a respectful but unwaveringly truth-seeking manner. Not an easy thing by any stretch, but brotherhood is obviously superior to mere toleration.

If one is to tolerate every other concept of morality without challenge, there really is no morality, in the same way that all colours spun around on a wheel = no colour (white). Judaism cannot ultimately tolerate false spiritual paths because that is in direct conflict with one of, if not the, major objectives. To maintain the pretense is exactly that- intellectually dishonest.
And we see, that Judaism requires us to mock polytheism (NOT polytheists- that distinction is of course crucial) wherever it is found. Just as the prophets did (Elijah openly mocked the priests of Baal all afternoon, in front of the entire nation, and other prophets describe how ludicrous it is that a man chops down a tree, burns half of it into ashes to cook dinner, finishes eating, turns around and bows to the other half saying ‘you made me’).

Open-Ended:

Actually, I think I’ve provided enough data. The question is open, therefore: does Judaism oblige its adherents to march up Ayers Rock if it’s in front of us, to demonstrate that it is nothing but a rock? Or is it less confrontational?

Are we shirking our purpose if we refrain from climbing it? Are we attributing honour and reverence to it if we don’t, thus contradicting this purpose?

ELIA

dianasihotang — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:20 +0000

Sumber: Majalah Cerita Alkitab-AMI (Anak Manis Indonesia) / No.02/Th-XXII ELIA bisa dianggap nabi di

DOES BAAL GAD equal LORD GOD?

yahstruthseeker — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:07:04 +0000

“And it shall come to pass in that day,” saith YHWH of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.” (Zechariah 13:2)

DOES BAAL GAD equal
THE LORD GOD OF CHRISTIANITY?

By Donald Adkins

To many Christians, the above question would be blasphemous to even contemplate! They would never even consider the thought, much less study like the noble Bereans, of whom it is written in the Scriptures: “Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica who received the word with great eagerness, and searched the Scriptures daily, if these words were so.” (Acts 17:11)

Scripture says that the old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, has deceived the whole world: “And the great dragon was thrown out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who leads all the world astray.” (Rev. 12:9) Do you realize just how deep that deception is? This article will reveal some of the depths of that deception, to those who are able to receive it.

Does it not behoove us, therefore, to study the Scriptures in order to see if we too have been led astray? More so in light of the following Scripture which explicitly tells us that salvation comes in only one exclusive name: “And there is no deliverance in anyone else, for there is no other name under the heaven given among men by which we need to be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Is it not evident then, according to the above quoted verse, that if Satan wants to keep us from being saved or delivered, all he has to do is to deceive us into calling on another name rather than the one exclusive name that has been given for that very purpose by our Creator?

I am always shocked and amazed at the ignorance of the Creator’s professed people who cannot understand the simple fact that one is one and never two, three, four, five, etc… Now surely, if there is only one name given, how can these professed believers say that it doesn’t matter what name they call on? Are they not deceived by that old serpent, Satan the Devil, if they are calling on any other name other than that one exclusive name that was given by our Creator Himself? Surely you can see that the only answer to our questions is—yes, they have most definitely been deceived!

WHO OR WHAT IS BAAL?

To find the answer to this question, a good place to begin is using the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary.

#1167 ba’al, bah’al; from 1166; a master; hence a husband, or (fig.) owner (often used with another noun in modification of this latter sense):- + archer, + babbler, + bird, captain, chief man, + confederate, + have to do, + dreamer, those to whom it is due, + furious, those that are given to it, great, + hairy, he that hath it, have, +horseman, husband, lord, man, + married, master, person, + sworn, they of.

Now, if these were the only uses of the word baal, we really couldn’t complain, could we? Why? Because even Scripture reveals that YHWH was a husband to Israel (cf. Isa. 54:5; Jer. 31:32). This in Hebrew, would be, “YHWH is baal to Israel.” Thus, baal is used in a good sense. But this is not the only usage of the word, as we shall show.

#1168 ba’al, bah’al; the same as 1167; Baal, a Phoenician deity:-Baal, (plur.) Baalim.

Here we find another Baal, a bad one, a false deity. Can we find out more about this false deity? Yes, let me quote page 1212 in the Explanatory Notes of The Scriptures:

Ba’al: This word it seems, gradually became a proper name. A similar Semitic word derives from the Aryan root Bhal, which means “to shine,” according to some. According to W. H. Roscher’s well-known lexicon of mythology, Ba’al (Bel, Belos) was the ancestral and national deity of the Semites, and says that Ba’al was the founder of Babel (Babylon), according to secular history. He is identified with Zeus, Jupiter, Ammon, Asshur, Assur, Kronos, and Bel-Markud. Morris Jastrow, Max Müller, and W. H. Roscher all three agree: Baal is the Babylonian sun deity. The Ba’als of the nations were sun deities, and Ba’al worship means sun worship.

Quite revealing isn’t it? Now, would YHWH appreciate it if we called Him after the name of a false deity? A closer look at a couple of Scriptures will answer that question easily! Let us see just what the Mind of YHWH is in regards to the above question.

“And in all that I have said to you take heed, and make no mention of the name of other mighty ones, let it not be heard from your mouth,” Ex. 23:13.

“…And make no mention of the name of their mighty ones, nor swear by them, nor serve them, nor bow down to them,” Josh. 23:7.

YHWH has explicitly spoken to us, by the above verses of Scripture, not to mention the name of the other mighty ones, even to the point that they not be heard coming out of our lips. So the answer to our question is: NO! YHWH would not be pleased if we called Him by the name of any other mighty one! So YHWH would not be pleased if we called Him Baal in the bad sense. But, how is it that we can call Him baal in a good sense and be right, but yet use the same word, and it be in a wrong sense, causing YHWH’S anger to burn against us? What is the answer to this apparent contradiction of YHWH’S word?

Let’s look again at Strong’s #1167. Do you see the answer? It’s really simple! Notice that it says: #1167 Baal is…(often used with another noun in modification of this latter sense)…

But what does this mean? To find the answer we need to research a few more Scriptures that will shed much needed light on the subject. The three Scriptures I want us to look at relate to a place in Syria called Baal Gad.

“Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, and all the South, and all the land of Goshen, and the low country, and the desert plain, and the mountains of Yisrael and its low lands, from Mount Halak that goes up to Seir, and as far as Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon…,” Josh. 11:16-17.

“And these are the kings of the land which Joshua and the children of Israel smote beyond the Jordan, on the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon as far as Mount Halak that goes up to Seir, which Joshua gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions,” Josh. 12:7.

“And the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath,” Josh. 13:5.

Have you noticed that in each of the above quoted texts reference is made to a place called Baal Gad? Just what and where was this place called Baal Gad? Let’s again go to the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary for the answer.

#1171 Baal Gad, bah’al gawd; from 1168 and 1409; Baal of Fortune: Baal Gad, a place in Syria: Baal-gad.

Now that wasn’t much of an answer was it? We still haven’t found out who or what Baal of Fortune was. Let us dig deeper to find out the truth by looking up the reference that was given under Strong’s #1409 for more light.

#1409 gad, gawd; from 1464 (in the sense of distributing); fortune: troop.

WORD GAMES

Now that still doesn’t give us much light, you might say. You’re just giving us the run around with word games, you might say. Well, that’s exactly what Satan, that old deceiver wants you to think! You see, he doesn’t want you to be diligent seekers for truth. He doesn’t want you digging up in the treasure house of the Hebrew language, because if you do, he knows you will find out the deceptive word games he’s played on you!

Didn’t Yahushua tell us our search for truth would be like searching for hidden treasure? (cf. Mt. 13:44) Do you find hidden treasure just lying on top of the ground or do you have to take a spade or shovel and work hard, digging to find it?

Believe me, the answer was revealed under Strong’s #1409 if you know where to find the Scripture that reveals this false deity—Baal of fortune! Actually it will be quite revealing once you see it!

“But you are those who forsake YHWH, who forget My set-apart mountain, who prepare a table for Gad [that troop, KJV], and who fill a drink offering for Meni [that number, KJV]. And I shall allot you to the sword, and let you bow down to the slaughter, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear, and you did evil before My eyes and chose that in which I did not delight,” Isa. 65:11-12.

If you have a KJV Bible, you will find for Gad it says “that troop” (Strong’s #1409). In fact many Bibles have center or side column references that inform the readers that Gad (that troop) is a false deity!

This can also be discovered by looking at Strong’s #1408:

#1408 Gad, gad; a var. of 1409; Fortune, a Bab. Deity: that troop.

Here is where Satan has played word games to deceive the whole world into worshipping a false Babylonian deity of Fortune! But who is really being worshipped behind the name of this ancient idol Baal-Gad? And how has Satan accomplished this so easily? Word Games! Remember Acts 4:12 (Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. Remember that Yahushua also said, “…if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” (John 5:43)

Notice under Strong’s #1167, one of the definitions of the word Baal into English is lord!

BAAL ZEBUWB OR BEELZEBOUL

#1176 Baal Zebuwb, bah’al zeb-oob; from 1168 and 2070; Baal of (the) fly; Baal-zebub, a special deity of the Ekronites: Baal-Zebub.

Remember when the Pharisees called Yahushua the Messiah Beelzebub (Mat. 10:25) and claimed that He cast out the demons by the prince of demons (Mat. 12:24, 27; Mk. 3:22; Lk. 11:15, 18, 19). Well, now go to Strong’s Greek #954 and be ready for a shock!

#954 (Greek) Beelzeboul, beh-el-zeb-ool’; of Chald. Or. [by parody upon 1176]; dung-god; Beelzebul, a name of Satan: Beelzebub.

GAD, GAWD, GOD

Are you beginning to see that Baal = lord or LORD or master and that Baal is none other than Satan himself?! But coupled with Satan’s title of Baal which equals lord, or Lord, or LORD, or master is the word Gad. Gad meant Fortune or that troop. Could the old saying about a person selling their soul to Satan have any bearing here? Satan will give you a fortune for your soul, but once you have sold it to him, he will usually double cross you and take your life (soul) away! How many troops of lost souls does Satan have through his deceptions?!

Notice how the Masorites vowel pointed the word Gad in Hebrew in 1409 like this: גָד: When pointed like this, the word is pronounced Gawd or God or god in Hebrew. Now if we translate Baal Gad into English what does it become? Does it not become LORD GOD? Or lord god? Or Lord God? The capitalization doesn’t change the sound of the word in any way and even so the fact is Baal Gad is the Lord God who is Lord Satan or Master Satan!

PUTTING IT TOGETHER!

Let me quote another explanatory note from pages 1214-1215 of The Scriptures: Gad: Apart from Gad, the son of Ya’aqob (Jacob) there was another “Gad.” The astrologers of Babel called Jupiter (Zeus) by the name “Gad.” He was also well known among the Canaanites (the Kena’anites) where his name was often coupled with Baal, Baal Gad, which according to the Massoretic vowel pointing in the book of Yehoshua (Joshua) is pronounced: Baal God. This same name is discovered in the ancient Germanic languages as Gott, Goda, Gode, God, Gud, Gade. And searching further back into its Indo-Germanic (Indo-European) roots, we find that it traces back to the word GHODH, which means “union” even “sexual union.” No wonder this meaning is still evident in the Dutch and German gode. It is also not difficult to see it in the English “gadfly” and “gadding about.”

It is no wonder then that Satan was termed Baal Zebuwb in Hebrew and Beel Zeboul in Greek! So we have seen that both mean “Lord of the flies” (See Brown, Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon to the Old Testament under 1176).

How ironic that Satan was pictured as a gadfly or as one who gads about! A look at the definition of these two words in Webster’s New World Dictionary is quite revealing: gad·fly n., pl. flies’ [GAD² + FLY²] 1. a large fly that bites livestock 2. One who annoys others.

gad·a·bout n. a person who gads about; restless seeker after fun, etc.

Gad¹ (gad) [Heb. gadh, lit., fortune] Bible 1. The seventh son of Jacob 2. The tribe of Israel descended from him

Gad² (gad) interj. [euphemism for GOD] [also g-] a mild oath or expression of surprise, disgust, etc.

gad¹ (gad) vi. gad’ded, gad’ding [LME gadden, to hurry, perhaps back-formation < gadeling, companion in arms < OE. gædeling: for IE. Base see GATHER] to wander about in an idle or restless way, as in seeking amusement—n. an act of gadding: chiefly in the phrase on (or upon) the gad, gadding about—gad’der n.

Now let’s compare the meanings here with Isaiah 65:11 where Gad has been translated as “that troop.” 1. A troop is defined as a group of persons, animals, or, formerly, things; herd, flock, band, etc. 2. Loosely, a great number; lot 3. A body of soldiers 4. A subdivision of a cavalry regiment that corresponds to a company of infantry 5. A unit of Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts under an adult leader 6. [Archaic] a group of actors; troupe, etc. (Webster’s New World Dictionary).

These definitions would cause the meaning of this word to fall in the category of gad¹ in the sense of “gather” which is why the translators rendered Gad as “that troop.” Gad¹ corresponds with the meaning of the deity of fortune which also was YHWH’S intended purpose for using the word, while Gad² ties it all together in the sense of a “euphemism for God.”

In the book of Job, when Satan appeared with the sons of Elohim before YHWH, he was asked, “Whence comest thou?” Satan’s answer was, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job. 1:7, 2:2) Satan as Baal-Zebub (Lord of flies) does exactly what a gadfly and a gadabout does. He is a restless seeker after fun. He goes to and fro, up and down seeking to annoy others (especially man, but also YHWH) which he thinks is fun.

Satan does have a terrible bite, and he can be very annoying too—just like a gadfly! Also he gads about looking for souls to devour and it must be a lot of fun for him to deceive and cause so much misery and suffering upon humanity. (c.f. Job chapters 1 & 2 again; 1 Pet. 5:8). No wonder James Strong said that Beelzeboul was a name for Satan (cf. Strong’s #954 Greek Dictionary).

So what have we learned from our study of a few Scriptures using the inspired Hebrew language and a few Greek words? We have learned that God was originally the name of an idol once worshipped in Babel (Babylon). It was later spread throughout the land of Canaan being picked up by the Canaanites and adopted by the children of Israel when they went into apostasy!

We also have learned, from Isa. 65:11-12, the shocking truth that many of YHWH’S people have been tricked into forsaking YHWH for this pagan idol by Satan playing “word games”. (c.f. Jer. 2:10-13)

The saddest part of all is that behind this pagan idol called Baal Gad (Lord God) stands the real being who is worshipped by the whole Christian world—Satan himself! (c.f. Isa. 14:12-17; Eze. 28:1-9; 2Thes. 2:3-12). Yes, Christians are awaiting a final anti-Christ to come, but do not realize he is already in their midst and worshipped! Christians are preparing a feast table for God—Satan; and they don’t even know it, and wouldn’t believe it even if you told them! Christians just don’t realize who stands behind the idol and its name to receive its praise and worship (c.f. Lev. 17:7; Dt. 32:17; Ps. 106:37; 2 Chron. 11:15; 1Cor. 10:21-22).

Baal Gad is the LORD God of the Christians; but don’t try to tell them I told you so, because they wouldn’t believe it even if you showed it to them straight out of the Hebrew Scriptures! But if you are a Christian, and you see the truth herein presented, what should you do about it? The Scriptures have the answer: “Truly then, having overlooked these times of ignorance, YHWH now commands all men everywhere to repent,” Acts 17:30.

“Come, and let us turn back to YHWH, for He has torn but He does heal us. He has stricken but He binds us up. After two days He shall revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, so that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us pursue to know YHWH. His going forth is as certain as the morning. And He comes to us like the rain, like the latter rain watering the earth,” Hos. 6:1-3.

“O Yisrael, return to YHWH your Elohim, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. Take words with you, and return to YHWH. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity, and accept what is good, and we will render the bulls of our lips. Ashshur does not save us. We do not ride on horses, nor ever again do we say to the work of our hands, ‘Our mighty ones.’ For the fatherless finds compassion in you,” Hos. 14:1-3.

And YHWH says, in response to our repentence: “I shall heal their backsliding, I shall love them spontaneously, for Thy displeasure has turned away from Him. I shall be like the dew to Yisrael. He shall blossom like the lily, and cast out His roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and His splendour shall be like an olive tree, and His fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under His shadow shall return. They shall revive like grain, and blossom like the vine, and become as fragrant as the wine of Lebanon. What more had Ephraim to do with idols? It is I Who answer and look after him. I am like a green cypress tree, your fruit comes from Me. Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of YHWH are right; the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.” Hosea 14:4-9.

As the Apostle Kefa (peter) cried out, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Yahushua the Messiah for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” Acts 2:38.

In another place he reveals that the name of the Messiah is the only name under heaven whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

It is the admonition of this ministry that we repent of our sins and fulfill the criteria revealed in Acts 2:38 and 4:12. May YHWH bless you to see, hear and understand these things and may you be led to fulfill them in your life.

Editor’s note: Just because one uses the correct name of the Heavenly Father and his son, that does not necessarily mean that they are any better than Christians who have yet to be enlightened to the truth presented in this article. We all need to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (YermeYah):

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is YHWH which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of YHWH, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.

Spiritual Delusion,"there is no new thing under the sun"

pjmiller — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:03:40 +0000

Eccl. 1:9 – “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun”

The originating point of false gods and idolatry has fascinated me for years. I’m a firm believer in learning what you can about the beginning of something–especially something as dangerous and eternally important as spiritual delusion. If you can learn about its rise, the knowledge can better prepare you to recognize it now.

Along with holding steadfast to the faith handed down to the Church, deception or delusion is the one thing we are repeatedly warned to be careful of, in the days preceding the Lord’s return.

In the past I’ve posted a couple articles which spoke of Nimrod and the Babylonian religion, and their significance today; (Zion And Babylon, The 7 Mountains of ‘Babel’, & Idolatry in the Temple & Babylonian Religion).

This evening I came across a few quotes from some interesting sources concerning Nimrod and the connection to baal. I thought they were insightful, so wanted to pass them on.

“…Nim´rod….He displayed himself a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah….” (Genesis 10:8,9)

“Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God.” – Josephus (c. 37 – c. 100 AD/CE)

“His name is Nimrod, It means ‘the rebel,’ and is evidently meant to designate the nature of the man. He was the first specimen of giant tyranny after the flood. His Defiance of Jehovah was perpetrated in wickedness and ambition under the very eye of Jehovah. Nimrod’s assumptions were religious as well as political. Nimrod presented himself not only for obedience but also for worship. His awful greatness was of ambitious rebellion, apostasy and defiance of Jehovah. And as it was Babel that was the beginning of his empire, so is ‘Babylon the great’ its consummation and close.” – “Nimrod” by Horatius Bonar – 1808-1889

“Nimrod’s rebellion was to head a great confederacy in open revolt against God. This confederacy is described in Genesis eleven and that it was an organized revolt against Jehovah God is very clear. From this point onward – Babylon in Scripture always stands for that which is in opposition to God ” – Fundamental Baptist Institute Gleanings In Genesis; chapter 16 “Nimrod And The Tower Of Babel” by Author W. Pink

“Nimrod, who began to prevail in wickedness, for he shed innocent blood, and rebelled against Jehovah.” – “The Companion Bible”, E.W. Bullinger; Appendix 28, pg. 29)

“The wine of old Babylon’s fornication was a debauching system of idol worship and carnal self-exaltation, over and against the revelations and institutes of Jehovah. We find it (the teachings of Ancient Babylon) to this day among all the nations of the earth, affecting and controlling their thinking, their policies, their faith, and their worship. Two-thirds of the population of the earth – at this hour – are Pagan idolaters, driveling under the same old intoxication which came forth from Nimrod and Babylon.” – ” THE WINE OF OLD BABYLON” - ‘The Apocalypse’ by J. A. Seiss

(*J.A. Seiss wrote the above in the 1800’s. I’d say his estimate of two-thirds of the world’s population, is much much higher today.)

“Virtually all pagan practices had their beginnings in the city of Babylon during the time of Nimrod. Ancient traditions show that he rebelled against God, and in so doing, created a worldwide apostasy.” -The Bible as History (p.331) by Werner Keller

“The Garden of Eden was in Southern Iraq, not far from where Nimrod, under Satan’s motivation, built Babel, which was the beginning of Babylon. The Babylonian spirit is invading the world. Its influence is breathtaking…and spreading its idea to the entire world. There is no other proper description of Babel and the evil intent of this first expression of false religion.” - Babylon: The Axis of Evil by Joseph Chambers

“Later, the Roman Empire assimilated into its system the gods and religions of the countries over which it ruled. Since Babylon was the source of this paganism, we can easily see how Rome’s early religion was a form of Babylonish worship that had developed under different forms and different names in the countries to which it had gone.” – Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity By Roderick C. Meredith

“Not only has the original Babylonian religious system served as the source of all the world’s non-Christian religions, but it has also infiltrated and corrupted Christendom to an alarming degree.” -Babylon – Source of False Religion “Babylon, Mystery Religion” by Ralph Woodrow

“Nimrod died, but the seed he sowed has lived till this very day; and there are so many points of similarity between him and Baal that it is reasonable to suppose that the heathen god Baal is no other than the Babylonian Nimrod.”- BAAL; Babylon; and The Second Coming of Christ CHAPTER XXVI. Taylor/Taylor

“The name of the Babylonian god “Bel” is only another contraction of the word “Babel.” Bel is mentioned many times in connection with the history of Babylon and it is folly to think that he is any other than Baal. The monuments of ancient Babel testify that the founder of Babel was worshipped as “Bilu Nipru,” or Bel Nimrod, i.e., “the god of the chase.” In course of time the cognomen “Nimrod” was dropped, and he became known as only “Bel.” This makes it clear that Nimrod, Baal, and Bel are all one and the same.” – BAAL; Babylon; and The Second Coming of Christ CHAPTER XXVI. Taylor/Taylor

“The whole picture seems to indicate a slow change over from the worship of Jehovah, derived originally from Abraham and Isaac…to an exaltation of Baal. Just the same drift would have taken place in Israel more than once except for the strenuous opposition of the prophets. The prophets brought about revivals in which the people returned to the worship of Jehovah.” – The Hyksos, Kings of Egypt and the land of Edom CHAPTER VII – Religion and Date of the Edomite Empire -The Nabataens, Builders of Petra

“Baal is a Canaanite-Phoenician word that means “LORD”. ” -Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (Miller)

“Baal signifies “the god – the lord”, and was a term applied to the chief of the primitive groups of nameless deities …. the Baal of Heaven was the sun god. There were as many Baals in Asia as there were Horuses in Egypt. Baal was a generic term for “Lord” and encompassed many gods fashioned after Nimrod.”- Egyptian Myth and Legend; Changes in Social and Religious Life Chapter XXIV; p307

“After their deaths, Nimrod and his wife Semiramis (the ancient “queen of heaven”) were confirmed by their priests as gods and given homage as Marduk and Astarte. Numerous other gods were patterned and fashioned after Nimrod. BEL/BAAL – was the primary name by which other nations were introduced to the worship of Marduk. Baal means “lord” or “master”. Under this name he was worshiped by the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Syrians and to some extent by the Egyptians. BAAL worship is sometimes associated with “Baal-zebub”, and is still known today as one of the name or “epithets” of Satan.” – Nimrod, Mars, and Marduk by Bryce Self

Below is an excerpt from an article at Light House Trails, By Ted Kyle.

This trail of betrayal and delusion began with the first gathering of mankind together into a nation. That nation was ruled by Nimrod (Gen. 10:8; 1 Chron. 1:10; Micah 5:6), until his death; and in that same general time frame, God splintered the proto-nation into family (tribal) groups with the Confusion of Tongues at Babel.

Semiramis, Nimrod’s widow, was the guiding (human) spirit behind a new religion artfully crafted to pull the tribes of man back into a new spiritual unity–and ultimately a political unity as well. Guiding the guide, of course, was Satan, ever intent on thwarting God’s plans for man and substituting his own.

So powerful was this pagan religion that it ultimately led very nearly the entire world into apostasy. It goes by many names and takes many forms in many lands. It pays homage to many gods. But their original impetus derived from the first delusion of a powerful leader (Nimrod) who was slain and who was believed to have returned to life as a great god

These related religions were known as “mystery religions,” for they were shrouded in mysteries revealed only to initiates. Hence there was a popular level of revealed pagan religion, into which the masses entered, and a higher level open only to a select few, who underwent initiation rites which they were sworn never to reveal.

Please recall that all this began just a few generations after the Great Flood. Nimrod was a great-grandson of Noah (Gen. 10:7)–and Noah was well acquainted with Jehovah God. Not only did Noah know God, he survived the Flood by 350 years (Gen. 9:28). So he was still very much alive when Nimrod flourished.

In view of the brief time frame and the overwhelming success of the mystery religions we must ask:

How was it possible to pull the wool over almost the whole of mankind so thoroughly as to cause them to turn their backs upon the true God, who had so recently revealed His awesome power through the Great Flood?

Deuteronomy 13:1-3. In this passage, which is included in Moses’ restatement and summation of the Mosaic Law, is a warning from God about false prophets: “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

If a prophet gives a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder comes to pass….

Think about that.

God was warning the Children of Israel against genuine wonders–things that would really happen or at the very least would convincingly appear to happen–but they would be false signs. And God would allow this as a test to show who really loved Him–and who therefore would resist the tremendous temptation to follow the crowd, which was being swayed by what their eyes beheld or their hearts believed.

We are told by ancient historians Justin and Epiphanius that in the initiation rites, the image of a god (Osiris, Tammuz, or Adonis–all of whom represented Nimrod) spoke to the candidates. We are also, however, given to understand that powerful drugs were administered to the candidates, and these may have be hallucinatory. In any case, the candidates were convinced–not only of the truth of the vision but also that they would be forever lost if they revealed beyond the brotherhood what they had seen and heard.

I believe that the appeal of this false religion was three-fold, relying on false signs, a false vision, and a false permissiveness. The vision centered, I am convinced, on a false messiah or savior, who offered devotees the salvation mankind has always yearned for. This false messiah was Nimrod or one of his many avatars. But this spiritual bait offered yet more–much more. Not only was a savior put forward, with the hope of eternal life, but men and women could have all this without giving up the sinful pleasures of this life. In fact, Semiramis, wife of Nimrod who was subsequently “deified” by this false religion, was known to be a lewd woman, reveling in orgies. She encouraged her devotees to follow her example.

Summing up, think of the great deception as a savior offered, with confirming signs, and “come as you are–stay as you are.” Small wonder that the bait was swallowed en mass.

Note especially that Satan put forward his own candidate for the Messiah many centuries before God, in the fullness of time, revealed Jesus Christ as the true Messiah.

Demonic Influence Over Israel and the Young Church

I will not belabor this point, for it is obvious that the same seductive power which was exercised over all mankind shortly after the Fall was specifically exercised over the Children of Israel to lead them from worshipping Jehovah God to serving the false gods of surrounding pagan nations. Suffice it to quote a warning from God given shortly before Moses’ successor, Joshua, led the Israelites into the Promised Land.

Moses told the assembled people that after they crossed the Jordan, they would face blessings from Mt. Gerizim if they obeyed the Lord, and curses from Mt. Ebal if they disobeyed Him. The first curse pronounced was against setting up idols, which represented false gods:

“Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen” (Deut. 27:15).

But despite their good intentions at that instant, the time came when “They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not” (Deut. 32:17).

The Old Testament goes on to record the dismal fulfillment of that curse and its consequences among the People.

That the apostasy was still a huge issue at the time of Christ, and spilled over into His young Church, is shown in Paul’s warning to the Corinthians:

“What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils (demons), and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” (1 Cor. 10:19-21).

Is demonic power active in our present-day culture? Indeed it is, despite the fact that we live in a society that essentially does not believe in supernatural power of any sort. (Excerpt: Signs, Wonders, and Visions, The Trail of Spiritual Delusion: Our Weary World Has Seen It All Before)

(the) “inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication… And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH…The waters which thou sawest, where the Whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”- Revelation 17

Just musing tonight…