THE GODS OF MYTHOLOGY

When Jesus lived here as a man he introduced us to a new concept of God.  He taught that he had a Father in heaven, and that his Father was our Father.  Mankind did not know such teaching within historic memory.
 

As I shall show, this was not a new concept on this planet.  This idea was known long, long ago but was lost to human memory.
 

Jesus taught another idea.  This planet had a celestial Prince, a divine ruler different from Jesus.  See John 12:31, 14:30 and 16:11.  Jesus referred to him as the Prince of the world, according him celestial honor.  Paul referred to this personality as the "god" of this world, 2 Cor 4:4.  To the very ancient people of this world he was known as a Brother, with the idea that he was someone who had responsibility for the human mortals of this world as a bigger brother.
 

The fact that Jesus was our Creator was taught explicitly by his apostles.  John 1:3 --  "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." "All things were created by him; all things in heaven and all things on earth, visible and invisible, whether they were thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. He was the very image of the invisible God," Col 1:15-17.  This also was known in very ancient times, but again lost in the misfortunes of our planetary past.
 

Furthermore, the fact of a host of celestial beings was also known in the past.  They were recognized as gods, and Sons of gods.
 

Ps 82:1 "God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment."
 

Ps 82:6-7 I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;  nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince."
 

It was the dawn of time, before the foundation of the earth:

Job 38:7 "...when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

Memories of these celestial affairs were retained on our planet, but they were preserved in highly distorted and perverted accounts, despoiled by the imaginations of men who had lost contact with the heavenly worlds.
 

When this world was isolated from the heavenly realms man was left much on his own. Thus he substituted his imaginations for the realities once known.  Not until Melchizedek began work with Abraham did a new planetary program begin. While Melchizedek may have revealed much, the record of those days were also fragmentary and confused.  We still did not have good record of the heavenly realms.  Later Jewish scribes who inherited the records of those revelations were left scratching to understand; they were puzzled and highly skeptical of the old accounts. Therefore, the historic Old Testament books reflects much of that confusion. Jesus offered no explanation of how the several historic episodes related to one another, or to his plans for planetary rehabilitation. Hence, men continued to drift in their speculations and gross misunderstanding. Christianity theology reflects that confusion.
 

In order to retrieve some of this forgotten knowledge I shall devote the next few chapters to additional evidence. This shall reinforce the reality of those far-off days. This review will also give us better understanding of the influence of celestial administrators who influenced our world in those very ancient times, and the relationship between our modern theologies and the pagan beliefs of long ago. We cannot arrive at understanding of a program of planetary rehabilitation unless we have some understanding of the context of heavenly transactions.
 

We can develop more meaningful insight into the divine rulership of this planet and its context in a higher universe administration. However, we need a framework in order to understand the history of our world and its position in the plans of God. The universe is under divine administration; the old myths reflect that fact.
 

Paul believed there were thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, as well as upon earth. Elsewhere he wrote that there were many gods and many lords, so-called, in the heavenly places, I Cor 8:5. But for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom all things exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things exist. There was a great administrative structure in the celestial realms. Jesus was the commander of all those realms; he was the first-born of all creation.
 

Jesus said there were many mansions, many places of abode, in his Father's house, the universe, John 14:2. He had prepared a place for us that where he was we might be also. He spread out the heavens like a tent to dwell in, Isa 40:22. He actually resides in the starry realms of space.
 

In light of the teachings of Jesus first, those of Paul second, and from other references in the Bible third, we can obtain a more realistic appraisal of the original form of the myths, the stories of the gods, and their actions. Voluminous material exists; I shall limit myself to a brief outline of certain major aspects to show how they relate to the actual order of things in the heavens.
 

In the debased polytheistic structures of ancient Greece, Zeus was the king of the gods. He lived in the north part of heaven on Mount Olympus, the holy mount of the gods. Zeus was the father of both gods and men, the god of weather, thunder and lightning^MAW,GB.
 

In the Bible it is Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, who lives in the north part of heaven.  

Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mt Zion in the far north, Ps 48:1-2.

During a war in the heavens Zeus fought with Cronos, Lord of the Titans, identified as his father. But Poseidon, the brother of Zeus, protested to his elder brother. Zeus claims supremacy while Poseidon reminds Zeus that he is equal in rank and that creation was divided among the gods. In the apportionment Zeus got the sky and Poseidon the sea^MAW. (The Greek name Zeus derives from Theos or Dios, their word for God.)
 

There was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his angels. The dragon and his angels fought but they were defeated and there was no longer any room for them in heaven, Rev 12:7-8.
 

Hillel ben Shachar, the one we know as Lucifer, said in his heart he would ascend to heaven, above the stars of God. He intended to set his throne on high, on the Mount of Assembly in the far north, Isa 14:12-13. He would usurp divine rule and authority.
 

The Greek myths are highly corrupt, with different versions of the same events. Uranus was the original father-god. Cronos was the one who first dethroned his father. The battle of Zeus with Cronos is a confusion on their respective roles. Cronos later became the father-god; Zeus in turn became his Son. In these other myth versions the fight did not occur between Zeus and Cronos; it occurred between Poseidon and Zeus.
 

Zeus was victorious; in the present dispensation he is in command of the heavens and of the earth. His victory established him as King of the gods; the rebel Titans were confined to the underworld. This dispensation is a time of suffering and its character is contrasted with a previous age that had no toil or tribulation.
 

Poseidon was cast down and Zeus was victorious. As Aeschylus wrote^MAW:

Lucifer, too, throbbed with gigantic strength. He shall be also as if he never were. Those who follow him also will find their master; they also will be gone.

The pattern is universal, repeated in myth stories around the world. In the Sumerian tales An is the father-god. Enlil is the Son, the king of the gods. In the confused accounts An is sometimes the king of the gods and Enlil plays a subservient role^HBS. As written by some ancient scribe on a clay tablet:
 
After heaven had been moved away from earth,
After earth had been separated from heaven,
After An carried off the heaven,
After Enlil carried off the earth.

In other versions of the stories Enlil was the father of the gods, the king of heaven and earth, the king of all the lands. He made the day come forth, took pity on humans, and established plenty, abundance and prosperity.
 

Enlil, whose command is far-reaching, whose word is holy, The Lord whose pronouncement is unchangeable, forever decrees destinies. It is he whose lifted eye scans the lands, whose lifted light searches the heart of all the lands, Enlil who sits broadly on the white dais, on the lofty dais, who perfects the decrees of power, lordship, and princeship. The earth-gods bow down before him, the heaven-gods humble themselves before him . . .

Who in our Judeo-Christian tradition decrees destinies? Whose word is holy and unchangeable? Who searches the heart of all the lands? Who decrees power, lordship and princeship?
 

Enki is the third most important god in the Sumerian pantheon. He was the god in charge of the abyss, and the god of wisdom. It was his responsibility to organize the earth in accordance with the general plans of Enlil. The actual details and execution were left to Enki.
 
My father, the king of heaven and earth, brought forth my epiphany on heaven and earth. My ancestor, the king of all the lands, gathered together all the divine laws, placed them in my hands. From Ekur, the house of Enlil, I brought craftsmanship to my Abzu in Eridu. I am the true seed engendered by the great wild ox, the eldest son of An.

Again the Sumerian myths offer insight into the religious history of our planet, a history which is obscured in the Bible. The Hebrew scribes could not portray the rulers of the heavenly realms as gods; they feared even to describe their roles. Hence the former Prince of this planet was demoted to a mere serpent who tempted Eve. His charge over the earth was suppressed. The Hebrew scribes did not tell us that he originally held responsibility for the execution of the divine laws, the establishment of the lands, the organization of the earth. In their scheme Adam and Eve were the first man and woman; it was into their hands that God entrusted the management of this planet.
 

But the Sumerian myths say an unexpected turn took place in the relationships among the gods; Enki rebelled. Displeased with, or jealous of the sway of Enlil, Enki disrupted the rule of Enlil and put an end to man's golden age by bringing on conflicts and wars among the people of the world.
 

Modern godless scholars believe the Hebrew stories derived from the myths of the surrounding Canaanite people. In those myths El is the father-god. The name El in Hebrew denotes strength and might. The name is used for God many places in the Bible. The Canaanite Creator was Baal, the son of El. The word Baal in Hebrew means "Master." Baal fought first with Mot, (Death), and then with Yamm, (Day). Yamm was the god of the sea, as Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea. Baal was cast down to the underworld by Mot but, through the aid of the goddess Anath, he rose again and was victorious over both Mot and Yamm^MAW. These tales derive from the ancient city of Ugarit; they date around the middle of the second millennium BC.
 

The same patterns can be found all over the world. The Maya Indians of the Yucatan believed that Hunab Ku was the father of the gods. His name, literally translated, means "one only God" or "one living God." He was the father of Itzamna, the Maya Zeus, the Creator. He was remote from the everyday affairs of creation. Itzamna had the titles of Emperor, Monarch, Prince, and Great Lord. He was lord of the heavens and of day and night, the sun god, the Lord of the Eye of the Sun. He was the inventor of writing and of books, the first priest, a benevolent deity. By another name he was god of the north and the north stars^RFMC,TAM.
 

The Maya mythologies also portrayed a struggle between the powers of good and evil over the destinies of men. The benevolent gods brought thunder, lightning and rain; the malevolent gods brought death, destruction, drought, hurricanes, and war. The Maya also believed in immortality of the soul and an afterlife. Their paradise was a place of delights with no pain or suffering but an abundance of food and drink. In the Mayan hell were hunger, cold, weariness and grief. Hunhau, the lord of death, was the prince of the devils who presided over the abyss.
 

The Australian aborigines believed in a god who dwells in the sky beside a stream of water. He receives the souls of the innocent. He sits on a crystal throne. He once lived for a short time upon earth but was raised up into heaven to the top of a holy mountain. He gave his son power over the earth but he remains in the heavens where he manifests his power through thunderbolts, thunder, and rainbows. Some tribes have an initiation ceremony in which they imitate the "bullroarer," their devil god, by twirling a piece of pierced wood about their heads.
 

The worldwide patterns show a father god and a son who is king of the gods. He created the other gods. There is a struggle among the gods. The evil god rules the abyss; this evil one is the prince of the devils, the one who brings destruction, tribulation, woe and a curse to the earth. Whether it is the primitive tribes of Africa or the American Indians -- all show similar patterns. The myths are distorted and corrupt memory of knowledge from very ancient times when people knew the Creator of the universe and his lordship over heaven and earth. They recognized him as the Son of the Father. Not until Jesus came were these concepts reintroduced but then only in highly limited revelation. Some of this was preserved in the Bible but the information is so scanty and so much outside the conceptual structure of Jewish and Christian traditions that it is virtually ignored. Traditional believers rightfully question debased pagan gods as human invention. How can they be representative of true living divine personalities?
 

But consider the characteristics of those pagan gods. They were superhuman; the stories carry miraculous elements. They were also immortal; they did not experience death. In the book of Hebrews in the New Testament we are told that Melchizedek had neither beginning of days nor end of life. He was without genealogy; he had neither father nor mother, Heb 7:3. If Michael was a Prince of angels would he have less life, or less power in his heavenly role? He is only one of the Chief Princes, Dan 10:13; there are many others like him in the heavenly places. Yahweh is God of gods and Lord of lords, Ps 136:2-3. He is a great King above all gods, Ps 95:3.
 

The Apostles had success in their conversion of Greeks, Romans, and Kelts because they could offer illustration of Jesus as a divine Son of God in the context of pagan understanding of the roles of the Gods. When Paul spoke to the Athenians, Acts 17, he did so on familiar terms. Only he wanted them to recognize a living God, and not one made of stone.
 

Unfortunately, Paul, and Peter, and the many believers who followed, suppressed much of the reality of Jesus as the Commander and Ruler of a universe.