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Mystery of the Maya and Aztecs
SOLVED

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Inhabitants,
Languages and Religions of the World



Roots of Religion


If the first discoverers of the Americas came from Asia and were the direct descendants of those who were scattered abroad from Babel, what would we expect to find among their civilization after being isolated from the western world for more than four thousand years?

As they made their great journey from Mesopotamia, up through Asia, across the Bering Strait, and began to settle in various locations across the Americas, what sort of culture would we expect to find among their numbers?

Would they remember their Creator? Would they have passed on the record of the Genesis Flood to their generations? Would they have any memories of the events leading up to the confusion of language at Babel? Would they have brought with them the corrupt religion that was developed there?

When Europeans rediscovered that distant and insulated region, they found a number of different tribes that in most cases were separated from one another by distance and language. However, they all had one thing in common, they had similar religious beliefs, and in the more temperate climates, they built great cities and pyramids.

Although they had vague recollections of a High God and Creator, He was largely unknown and a mystery to them due to the number of gods that were introduced into their pantheon over the centuries. There were major gods and minor gods, but all of these were basically the personifications of the host of heaven and the forces of nature. They worshipped the sun, moon and stars, rain gods and fertility gods. They also made idols to represent them and placed them in temples on the top of their pyramids.

In order to see if there is any connection between the culture that was formed at Babel and the cultures found in the Americas, such as the Maya and the Aztecs, we must first go back and examine precisely what happened there. We must not forget that whatever took place at Babel, “the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:9). So, “By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations” (Genesis 10:5).

The nations then, were originally formed when each family group was separated into their own region of habitation with a new language. The key element to remember however was that their language was confused only after they rebelled against the Lord. Then they were scattered abroad bringing their polluted traditions wherever they went.

When the Lord observed their rebellion He said, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Genesis 11:6).

The people were of one language in one location, and now they were of one mind to build “a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11:4). This massive construction project, they imagined, would give them the political power (city) and religious adhesive (tower) to keep them united in one place lest they be “scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4).

This was their rebellion for God had told Noah and his family to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 9:1). But now it appears they no longer had a fear of God, and began to boldly defy His will. If there were no stones then they would make bricks to build their city, especially “a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11:4).

It should be noted, that the phrase “may reach” is not in the original, and has led some to believe that their purpose for building the tower was to “reach” heaven. However, the reason they counseled together to build the city and the tower was to keep from being “scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4).

Literally then, this passage may read, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top is unto heaven”. Not that the top could “reach” heaven, for no structure could attain that height without collapsing under its own weight, rather, as Henry Morris indicates, the top was dedicated unto heaven (The Genesis Record, p. 270, 1976). In other words, the summit of their tower would be used to worship the host of heaven.

Originally they may have tried to mask their rebellion with some sort of piety as men do today, claiming that this great edifice was dedicated to the one true God where all may gather to worship under His starry throne. However, “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22). Disobedience under the pretense of piety is the worst kind of sin and will never escape the all seeing eye of God.

This rebellion had a leader of course, and his name was Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah. The Bible tells us, “he began to be a mighty one in the earth” (Genesis 10:8). He had made a name for himself acquiring fame and a reputation (v.9) and became the world's first dictator organizing a single government under his rule, and the “beginning of his kingdom was Babel” (Genesis 10:10).

He gradually expanded his kingdom over the entire region of the Tigris-Euphrates valley. He built many cities that eventually became centers for other kingdoms such as the Acadian and Assyrian empires, which were eventually melded into the great Chaldean empire under Nebuchadnezzar.

After his death, Nimrod was evidently deified and worshipped as Merodach or Marduk. His influence throughout Babylonia was so great, that almost 2000 years later that region was still known as “the land of Nimrod” (Micah 5:6), and to this day there are still towns in that region that bare his name.

His political and religious intrigue so captivated his subjects that when they were scattered throughout the earth, they made for themselves little colonies of Babel infecting the whole world with his political and religious scheme.

Figuratively speaking, Babylon became known as “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:5). In essence, Babylon produced a great spawn of spiritual harlots. These became the Gentile nations now spread throughout the whole world with their idolatry.

The Revelation describes Babylon as “the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication” (Revelation 19:2). We are told that “the kings of the earth have committed fornication” with her down through history, “and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Revelation 17:2). The prophet Jeremiah said, “the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad” (Jeremiah 51:7). Jeremiah understood the true history of the nations and the impact that Babel had on them.

The apostle Paul was well acquainted with Biblical History also. He gave a brief summary in the book of Romans as to what happen in those early post-Flood years saying, “when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). If there was ever a time when the population of the world “knew God” it was shortly after the Flood at Babel. However, they became “vain in their imaginations” and rebelled against their Creator. Once they had counseled together to turn from the will of God, the Lord said, “now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Genesis 11:6).

Paul goes on to say, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:22-23). This they began to do at Babel.

The Psalmist tells us, “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalms 19:1), however, the apostle Paul says, they “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). In the vanity of their mind they began to imagine all sorts of creatures in a connect-the-dot fashion amidst the starry host of heaven. These creatures soon became the gods of heaven who blessed the earth with sunshine and the rain.

With the host of heaven now deified, idols of these images were soon chiseled out of stone, and carved out of wood. It then became necessary to build temples to house them. In a nutshell, this is a brief summary of the beginnings of pagan religion that sprang forth from Babel giving rise to every form of abomination throughout the whole earth.

The Lord rebuked the nations time and again for likening Him to idols. Many times He tried to lead them back to the truth, referring them to the Beginning, when He laid the foundations of the earth, pointing out to them, that it was He who created the starry host of heaven with His great power:

“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance … All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth … that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in … To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:15-26).

However, the nations continued steadfast in their path of destruction and were content to worship the sun, moon and stars, rather than the One who was the very cause of their existence. So they “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:25).

Last Update: 6/26/2009

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