I am not an authority on pagan religions, nor do I wish to spend a lot of time studying them. As noted in the previous article, Nimrod was known variously as Marduk, Baal, et cetera. He and other beings (“gods”) that sought power and control are known by many names because of the different languages and cultures, and therefore there is much confusion on this subject. I am reminded of the Scripture, “God is not the author of confusion.” (First Corinthians 14:33) Therefore, we know the source of this confusion.
All pagan religions appear to stem from the Babylonian Mystery Religion. And we have Nimrod and Semiramis to thank for this. Here is the gist of the basic story;
Nimrod, the first king, was married to Semiramis. She was described as a beautiful and politically savvy woman. After Nimrod died, or was killed, Semiramis became pregnant (!?!). To explain this, Semiramis proclaimed this to be a miraculous conception. The child that was born was Tammuz, who was then declared by Semiramis to be Nimrod reborn.
This pagan trinity of father, mother and child became the foundation for the Babylonian Mystery Religion. Satan is the great counterfeiter. I am sure it was his leading that caused this pseudo-trinity to be formed. Because Nimrod was dead, it appears that the focus of this religion was on the Queen Mother, Semiramis, and child, Tammuz. This mother/child worship spread across the known world, but was given different names. For instance in Egypt, the worship was of Isis and the baby Horus. In India, it was Devaki and the child, Krishna. In Germanic tribes it was Hertha, the virgin mother, and her child. In our own times we have the Virgin Mary (being perverted as the pagan “Queen of Heaven”) and the baby Jesus.
Not only was the child Tammuz supposedly miraculously conceived, but legend also has it that Tammuz was killed by a boar, and in the process, some of his blood fell on the dead stump of an evergreen tree which then grew up overnight. The evergreen tree became a pagan symbol of the rebirth of Tammuz. My understanding is that Tammuz came to be associated with the fertility of crops. When the days grew shorter as the Winter solstice approached, Tammuz symbolically died. By the way, under the calendar in use almost 2,000 years ago, the pagan Winter solstice holiday fell on December 25th. Then, when the days began to grow longer and crops could be planted for the new growing season, Tammuz was reborn.
In fact, witches and pagans of today laugh at Christians for using their occult symbols and holidays. In addition to the Winter solstice (evergreen) Tammuz Trees, this usage is continued with the fertility goddess Astarte or Ishtar. The Spring solstice, a time of new birth, (and curiously close to Resurrection Sunday) is still celebrated with fertility symbols; rabbits (noted for procreation) and chicks and eggs (both symbols of new life). It is easier to make the Christian connection if you think of Ishtar, or Easter eggs.
Now, almost 2,200 years after the time of Nimrod and Semiramis, we are still afflicted by the religious system they instituted in Babylon. However, Scripture tells us that there will be a judgement of this system in the Last Days. The fall of Mystery Babylon is one of the last events prophesied in the Revelation. (Revelation 18) Again I say, the Word of God is symmetric. What is opened in Genesis, Nimrod’s rebellion, is closed in the Revelation, the defeat of Mystery Babylon.
In the Revelation 19:1-6 the fall of Babylon is immediately followed by the only “Hallelujahs” in the New Testament, which then usher in the Return of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah!