Good Old Time Religion...PART TWO

PART TWO

GOOD OLD TIME RELIGION

Good Old Time Religion Part One

PART TWO COVERS THE MARRIAGE OF CHURCH AND OLD PAGAN CUSTOMS

The Bible records that Israel became so enamored with Baal worship, that this religion and it's sex practices were practiced right in the temple of God! 2 Kings 23:7 NIV “He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the LORD and where women did weaving for Asherah.” Asherah was the name of a female goddess of fertility whose symbols were always representative of fertility...such as, eggs, bunny rabbits and the phallic symbol. The Asherah pole, a phallic symbol named in honor of this goddess, was one of her most important symbols of fertility!

As a young child, unknowingly I participated in a spring ceremony, which featured an Asherah pole. You may have too, if you’ve ever walked around a “May pole” on May Day. I don’t think my parents would have allowed me to “weave for Asherah” and participate in this if they had known it was a phallic pole.

Sunday and Pagan Ways.....

Speaking of sun worshipping cults, let’s move on to Baal’s day of worship. According to The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, “Sunday is the first day of the week, adopted by the first Christians from the Roman calendar...because it was dedicated to the worship of the sun”. Sunday in Latin is translated Dies Solari meaning day of the sun.

Sunday was the sun god’s day of worship. It’s historically provable that Sunday was the very day the sun worshipping faithful worshipped on. Yet the Bible in no place commands us to keep Sunday. Even the Catholic Church will tell you that the Bible commands no other day of worship besides the Saturday Sabbath and it is by Catholic authority alone that Saturday was changed to Sunday!

The Saturday Sabbath of the Bible was in fact the only day ever kept by Christ, Paul or anyone else mentioned in the Bible . And it was the only day observed by early Christians until three or four hundred years after Christ’s death. THIS IS WHERE THE MARRIAGE OF CHURCH AND OLD PAGAN CUSTOMS JOINED TOGETHER! At this time historians record that the day of worship was changed from Saturday to Sunday to accommodate the “conversion of the innumerable pagan masses” into Catholicism. It was at this time that the cross, which had been a symbol of sun worship, became a symbol of “Christianity.” An article called Celtic Cross History and Symbolism states that “The Cross did not become a common symbol of Christianity until the 4th century.” Sunday was not observed until the fourth century, Christmas was not observed until the fourth century. What does this tell us? This was the establishment of Gnosticism. (Blending of Christianity and paganism)

During this time of transition, the old pagan high places were converted into “Christian” churches. Popes not only condoned the pagan holidays, but transformed them into “Christian holy days” in order to reach both sects, allocating “Christian” names and purposes for them. Ancient statues of mother and child formerly known as the Pagan gods Isis and Horus were now Mary and baby Jesus! Pagan gods were now Catholic saints.

One of Catholicism’s most powerful symbols, St. Peter’s Basilica was built on the site of a Pagan temple. “The early, pre-Canaanite Phoenicians had a serpent god, which was called the Basilisk. This has been considered an early phallic god common in ancient religions...the word basilisk is where we got the later word “a temple of the phallic god”, or the Basilica. St. Peter's Basilica in Rome carries a remembrance in the form of a phallic ball on top....”

Graveyards and Churches....

Many, if not most of Europe’s cathedrals were built upon Pagan sites of worship. Interestingly, these huge Basilicas, Monasteries and Cathedrals all have crypts. Crypts or cemeteries were located near Baal’s altar as a place to put all the sacrificed dead. Tombs, graves and burial places are now associated with churches. Even many small churches maintain a churchyard cemetery due to the practice of placing human remains near the alter of Baal. This is especially evident in the Valley of Hinnom. It is there that Archeologists have found thousands and thousands of sacrificed children’s bones. The burial site actually contains inscriptions identifying the victims as first-born sons of noble families.

Obviously Israel worshipped Baal, and had done so from almost the very beginning. God could not break them away from it. He tried to avert Israel from becoming contaminated with this worldwide obsession. Understanding that some nations sacrificed their firstborn opens our understanding of why God told Israel that the firstborn belonged to Him. Hopefully He could sidetrack them from sacrificing their own children. It also explains why He destroyed the entire firstborn of Egypt. When God did that, He actually slapped the Egyptian’s gods in the face. Now the Egyptians couldn’t sacrifice their firstborn any longer to beseech their gods to help them. You might say aha! They didn’t practice child sacrifice in Egypt. Think again! Egypt is listed among the many nations who practiced human sacrifice in modern cult and subculture research.

The slaying of the firstborn by God made a massive statement to the Egyptians. The Bible says in Numbers 33:4 that the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them, for “the Lord had brought JUDGMENT on their gods by slaying of the firstborn in Egypt.”

In Acts 7:42 and 43 God questions Israel about who they had actually sacrificed to for forty years in the wilderness. He exclaims: “Yea, you took up the tabernacle of Molech...” Remember the molten calf that Aaron made? That was Molech...Israel brought the concept of Molech out of Egypt with them. “Since they had been in Egypt for the last 400 years as slaves...where else could they have acquired this god? Ezekiel 20:8 says, “neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt.” They were also exposed to this Pagan deity from every side as most of the nations Israel conquered were also worshipping this and other false gods. That being the case, where did this far spread practice of Baal worship originate?

Back we go to the first recorded tyrant after the flood. His name was Nimrod. He was the first called Baal, which means “Lord”. He was the first called Molech, which means King. This Babylonian tyrant rebelled against God’s rule and was the author, originator, and establisher of the first major alternative to God’s religion after the flood.

The Jerusalem Targum says : "He was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a hunter of the sons of men, and he said to them, 'Depart from the judgment of the Lord, and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod!' Therefore is it said : 'As Nimrod [is] the strong one, strong in hunting, and in wickedness before the Lord." “The Chaldee paraphrase of 1Chron. 1:10 says : "Cush begat Nimrod, who began to prevail in wickedness, for he shed innocent blood, and rebelled against Jehovah."

The Two Babylons by Hislop states that “As Nimrod, the god of fire, was Molk-Gheber or "the mighty king", he was the first who was called Moloch, or King, and the first who began to be mighty on the earth. We see at once how it was that the "passing through the fire to Moloch" originated. Nimrod, as the representative of the devouring fire to which human victims, and especially children, were offered in sacrifice, was regarded as the great child-devourer.” Hislop further states that “Nimrod was worshipped as the sun god after his death and was called the “child of the Sun, or the Sun incarnate”.

Tradition holds that after Nimrod died, his wife Semiramis became pregnant. She then claimed “immaculate conception”. This was the beginning of the concept of the fertility goddess...as anyone who can get pregnant without a man’s assistance is pretty amazingly fertile I suppose! This claim of “immaculate conception” was also a satanic counterfeit of the future virgin birth of Christ. Semiramis claimed her dead husband had impregnated her. She claimed that she saw a dead tree stump, and the next morning, there was a live tree springing from it. The dead stump was symbolic of Nimrod (Yule log traditions, etc...) and the new tree springing from it was her baby son Tammuz, who was supposedly the reincarnation of Nimrod”.

TAMMUZ AND LENT

Tammuz died at 40 years old, killed by a wild boar. Here is where the tradition of slaughtering a pig and eating Ham for Easter originated. After Tammuz died, an annually observed period of 40 days was instituted in which pagans “wept for Tammuz” prior to the festival of Easter. Catholics yet observe this period of fasting and mourning called “Lent.” Tammuz is actually mentioned in the Bible and the context of sun worship is interesting. “Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this." He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. Ezekiel 8:14-17

Something about putting the “branch to the nose” made God really mad! Bullinger, in the Companion Bible says that this “branch” was the “Asherah pole”, and because the translators felt it was “indelicate and derogatory” to picture God having this Phallic representation thrust right in His face, they changed the scripture to say “their nose” instead of “my nose”. (Bullinger says that this is one of eighteen times the translators changed the words around to keep from being indelicate.) But don’t forget where all those many phallic symbols such as church steeples are pointed to... straight up to God in heaven! Please excuse the crudeness, but, in effect, they were giving God “the finger.”

What do you think God’s reaction was to the leaders of His people, His own Priests turning their backs to the temple and bowing before the rising sun? Still in context, Ezekiel chapter 9 says “And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand...And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. (Remember that in context, the abominations here were the “weeping for Tammuz” and “bowing down to the sun” ) And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. These scriptures portrayed sun worship being practiced right in the very temple of God! Easter may have the appearance of being a Christian holiday, but it is really hardcore worship of the sun god Baal, and a total affront to God.

Semiramis died and was later deified, just as Nimrod had been. Some of the names used to worship this female fertility goddess are Astarte, Ashtaroth, Ishtar, Ostara, Eostre, Isis, etc...but modern churches prefer to use the word Easter! Her much beloved fertility symbols of eggs and bunny rabbits are still featured in the spring holiday of the same name, held at the time of the Spring Equinox.

Look up Easter in any Bible encyclopedia. Here’s a quote from Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, “Easter was originally a pagan festival...The only appearance of the word Easter in the Bible is a mistranslation of pascha, the ordinary Greek word for Passover.”

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says, “The term "Easter" is not of Christian origin.” The word Easter is nowhere mentioned in the Bible
except as a mistranslation of Passover. Wouldn’t God have mentioned Easter somewhere in the Bible , at least once, if He had wanted people to keep it?

Yet for thousands of years before Christianity, people have observed a sunrise service on Easter morning and took the “bloodless sacrifice” of a round sun shaped wafer as part of Easter observance. On the wafer, then and now, exist three initials. They are I.H.S. These initials are still commonly used over the alter of many modern day churches and you would be told it stands for “Iesus Hominum Salvator,” or “Jesus, the Savior of Men.“ Ancient idolaters would have told you something quite different. They would have explained to you that their round, sun shaped wafers with the initials I. H. S., stood for “Isis, Horus, Seb” that is, “the mother, the child and the father of the gods,” or the Egyptian TRINITY. Another “trinity” is Astarte, Bel, and Baal. Another trinity is Semiramis, Nimrod and Tammuz.

This “Queen of heaven” was considered much “kinder and gentler” than her consort the Canaanite Baal. It was said that she “tempered judgment with mercy” and the people favored her over Baal. She did not require a bloody sacrifice of firstborn children during her festival like her husband, nor did she require the ritual cannibalism that went along with Baal worship. By the way, do you know where the word cannibal comes from? The word Cahna means “the priest of” and bal means “Baal.” According to Hislop, in “The Two Babylons,” the priests of Baal were “required to eat of the human sacrifices, and thus it has come to pass that Cahna-bal, the priest of baal is the established word in our own tongue for a devourer of human flesh.” Babylon is the source of cannibalism, sun worship and Satan worship.

Evolution to Modern Witchcraft

We know that “soft core” Baal worship minus the human sacrifice, was adopted by the Catholic and Protestant churches but there is scriptural evidence that hardcore pure Baal worship actually evolved into modern witchcraft. The Bible clearly states in I Corinthians 10:20, "the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.”

“Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan...” Psalms 106:37-38 The Satanic Bible lists Baal and Moloch as two of the many names for Satan!

“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD” Deut. 18:10-12

In fact, Satan worship, which is purported to sometimes include human sacrifice, is identical in every way to the purest, original form of Baal worship. I actually found some information about satanic sacrificial ritual requirements on December 24th and 25th. This is copied from what I saw:

Dec 24th - Demon Revels
- Type: De Muer
- Activity: High Grand Climax, Human/Animal Sacrifice
- Age: Any age (male or female)

Dec 25th - Christmas
- Type: Blood
- Activity: Human Sacrifice
- Age: All

There was more than this, but I only looked at the information for a moment, as it was disgusting. Why would people who call themselves Christian want to have anything in common with satanic religion? Some truly love that old time religion. What harm is it that the children are dressing up like witches and demons...but how does God feel about it? Have you ever wondered why there are six references in the book of Revelation to the word “Babylon”....all referring to it’s total destruction? Babylon represents Satan’s religion on this earth. It represents Satan’s alternative to God’s way. Speaking of Babylon in Revelation, there is a serious warning to “come out of her”, “that you receive not her plagues,” as there will be nothing left of this false religion when God gets finished with it. We shouldn’t cleave to it or desire it, because in effect, we would be siding with Satan against God.

In Revelation, the Bible speaks of “MYSTERY, BABYLON, THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH...” (Rev.17:5) “For years, Protestant Christians have rightly understood the Great Whore to be the Catholic Church, which reigns on the seven hills of Rome (Rev.17:9). What Protestant Christians have altogether missed however is that the Whore (who is also called "the mother of harlots") has daughters. Who are this harlot's "daughters"? Who are the offspring of the Catholic Church, and where are these daughters today?” The protestant churches are the daughters of the Catholic church and they have followed her lead on Sunday worship and holidays...” Does it make any sense that most modern “Christian” churches keep the exact same holidays that Satanists and Pagans keep, with the only difference being that Pagans kept these holidays first?

The Pagan “Wheel of the Year” outlines the movement of the sun over a year’s time, showcasing the most important holidays to a Satanist or Pagan...and amazingly you will find that Catholics and Protestants alike also keep these festivals. Of course, not by the same names! While Pagans observe Ostara, Samhain and Yule, churchgoers call them Easter, (held first Sunday after the spring equinox) Halloween (held exactly between the Solstice and Equinox) and Christmas! (held on the Winter Solstice)

Yes, even December 25th is kept by the Satan worshipper, resplendent with all the trimmings and merriment, including the fir tree, gift giving, mistletoe, Yule logs, you name it! Don’t think for a minute that Satan worshippers or Pagans keep these holidays in reverence for God. They actually laugh at churches for keeping these ancient Pagan sun worshipping holidays and calling them Christian!

Around three or four hundred years after the death of Christ, an apostate church “joined up” with Pagan religion. Some might say, “What’s so bad about that?” The answer is that keeping anything connected to this Babylonian system is a flagrant violation of the first commandment...“You shall have no other gods before me.”

So far we see that worship of Baal was done on Sunday, Baal’s sign was the cross, followers were promised that they would go to heaven for coming to the alter, and those who refused were threatened with eternal punishment in the nether world, there was an upright “steeple” (Asherah Pole) near each alter, they kept their dead near their places of worship...and that mankind still prefers Satan, and his form of religion.

God’s Sabbath and Holy Days are consistently mentioned all through the Bible
and were kept by every one of God‘s servants, including Christ, from the front of the Bible to the back. If we know this, and yet, we still have a soft spot in our hearts for Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter, Halloween and other Babylonian traditions, will our hands be clean before God? Judgment is now on the house of God.

At some point, God wants every person to come out of this long-lived religious system that originated in Babylon. It is packaged so smartly that it is acceptable to church goers and Satan worshippers alike, with all the basic foundational tenants shared in common.

Maybe, just maybe, God really doesn’t want us to go back into spiritual darkness and with a tear in our eye, take part in that “good old time religion.” That truly would be an abomination!

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