Called to Be Separate

Q: Who were some of the false gods which the Israelites worshipped?

A: One of Noah’s descendants, Nimrod, “began to be a mighty one in the earth…. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel….” Genesis 10:8-10.  Nimrod led the people in their defiance of God as they erected the tower of Babel. “…Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand…. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he would have a mind to drown the world again, for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!” (The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus, Whiston, Kregel Publications, 1960, 1978, p. 30, quoted in Sutton, William Josiah, The New Age Movement; And The Illuminati 666, The Institute of Religious Knowledge, 1983, p. 17, 18)

            The stories of Nimrod’s life, conquests, and death were passed on in the worship of Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The Egyptians called him Osiris, and the Romans called him Mars.

How did this come about? Nimrod and his wife Semiramis began to be thought of  as gods, as the sun and moon personified. When Nimrod died, Semiramis taught the people that his spirit now resided in the sun, that by morning he arose to bless the earth, and by evening he disappeared to fight with evil spirits under the earth. The godless post-deluvians were told to worship and give offerings to the sun each morning. The first day of the week was set aside for worship of the sun, while the other week days were assigned to other celestial entities.

                When Semiramis became pregnant, she claimed that her child had been miraculously fathered by the sun god Nimrod. Tammuz, as the baby was named, was born December 25.  His birthday was held in esteem as the rebirth of the sun. After all, the winter days were just beginning to lengthen on December 25. It became an annual celebration.

                According to legend, Tammuz’s wife, Ishtar, was the “queen of heaven.” The Hebrews called her Ashtoreth, and the Greeks and Romans, Venus.

                Tammuz was killed by a wild boar. One legend says that the whole world mourned after his death, and Ishtar searched for him in the under-world. At the end of this mourning, Tammuz was believed to have become the new sun god.

                Forty days were yearly assigned to fasting and mourning for Tammuz, at the end of which came Ishtar’s festival.  To honor this “queen of heaven,” the worshippers offered food and wine to the rising sun on the hilltops. Cakes were baked, marked with a cross. “Our lord is risen!” they declared on this day, which was known for its immoral practices and even human sacrifice.

                Baal was the main Canaanite god, the storm god. The word “Baalim,” found in the Bible, refers to a multiplicity of minor gods that the Canaanites believed inhabited trees, rocks, or springs in various locations. To the Greeks, Baal was Zeus, to the Romans, Jupiter.

                From its beginning with the founder of Babel, sun worship was devised by Satan to counterfeit the worship of the true God. Sadly, the Israelites partook largely of the Canaanite religion, including the worship of Baal, Ashtoreth, the sun, and other heavenly bodies.

                “And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images…and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.  And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments….” 2 Kings 17:16, 17. Second Kings 23:5 speaks of those that “burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.” “And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.” Judges 2:13.

            “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods….” Jeremiah 7:18.

While in Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel was shown the heathen worship being practiced in Judah. “And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.  Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.  So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.  And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel…with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up…. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house… and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz…. Between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.” Ezekiel 8:7-16.   

                Thus sun worship was a strong lure to the Israelites. In bowing to the sun, burning incense to the host of heaven, baking cakes for the queen of heaven, and weeping for Tammuz, they were partaking in a pagan system of worship which began at Babel and which centered around the worship of the sun.

                Yet God has always had His faithful people, who would not bow to any false god. “God's people failed to carry out his purpose, but there were among them those who were faithful and loyal. In the providence of God, the Jews were scattered by captivity through all countries; and during these years of bondage, faith in God was kept alive by faithful witnesses. There were those who would not disregard the Sabbath of the Lord, who would not observe heathen festivals. These were persecuted, and many lost their lives, as God's people always have since the death of Abel.” (White, Ellen, The Youth’s Instructor,   October 5, 1899)

Sources:

Crews, Dennis, Baptized Paganism, Roseville, Ca.: Amazing Facts, Inc., 1986.

The New Age Movement; And The Illuminati 666 (See above).

The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary, Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1979.