This is Truth Matters! Daily devotion with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Truth Matters is a ministry of The Truth Project whose mission is to empower men and women in the Christian faith to teach Biblical truth in the culture and the marketplace of ideas, using the Bible as a sacred trust of truth in sharing the message of Jesus.
Learn more about the ministry of The Truth Project at www.projecttruthmatters.com. Today, more about the people at legends of Babylon. In Assyria, the name was Ishtar and Tammuz. In Phoenicia, it was Ashtart and Bel. And I'd like to note here that Jezebel, who originally married King Ahab in historic Israel, came from Phoenicia. And she and her father was a priest of Ashtart and Bel. In Egypt, it was known as Isis and Osiris. In Greek, it was Aphrodite and Eros.
And in Rome, it was Venus and Cupid. But this religious cult developed its own liturgy. They worshipped by the offering of wafers to Semiranias as the Queen of Heaven. They observed 40 days of abstinence, known as Lent, that memorializes the 40 days of her weeping. There was a feast following the abstinence to celebrate Tammuz's resurrection. Part of that celebration was the exchange of Ishtar eggs, symbolizing new life, which is where our word Easter comes from the word Ishtar. Even the sign of the cross, which is used in many liturgies, was the pointing of the letter T, which stood for Tammuz.
Do any of these sound familiar is what I want to ask you? I know that Lent is very familiar, Easter eggs is very familiar, Ashtart and Bel, the cross, some aspects of modern Christianity has origins in the pagan religion of Babylon. And these are, and I'm not trying to say that Christianity is not authentic, please don't take it the wrong way, I'm just saying these festivals that we observe have history in pagan religions like Easter eggs, for example. But we find reference of this pagan religion in the Old Testament. Jeremiah sharply condemns the nation of Israel for her worship of the Queen of Heaven. And we're talking about Nimrod's wife, Semiranias, who is the Queen of Heaven. So let's go to Jeremiah chapter 44, verses 15-18. But since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.
This speaks a lot about the condition of the hearts of the Israelites and the Stithnic people that Jeremiah preached to, that they were drunk with the world and they looked at the world as their security. You've been listening to Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Truth Matters is a ministry of the Truth Project, a North Carolina-based ministry dedicated to teaching biblical truth and sound theology to those inside and outside of the church. If you'd like to listen to these messages on demand, go to projecttruthmatters.com and click on the podcast link. Dr. Davis is also available to speak to your ministry group or church function. She can be reached by email at CherylDavis at projecttruthmatters.com. Or if you'd like to send a letter, the address is Project Truth Matters, Post Office Box 159, St. Paul's, North Carolina, 28384. You can hear Truth Matters weekdays on this radio station at 8 20 a.m. and 5 20 p.m. with a full length teaching program on Saturday afternoon at 12 30. Until next time, let's all work together to teach a biblical truth to assist, equip, edify, and encourage one another and bring the gospel to the world because truth matters. Music
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-06-29 13:03:25 / 2023-06-29 13:05:19 / 2
