Ancient myths and legends
Introduction
Where did the myths and legends of the ancient world originate? Why is the theme of super-human hybrids saving our world so popular in the media these days? Why do you find creation myths in major ancient civilisations, often with the roles of God and the serpent reversed?
Some prophets are grappling with these issues in light of end time prophecies and this article touches on some of their thinking based on the biblical narrative, from an euphemerist point of view (a theory attributing the origins of the gods to the deification of historical heroes). Whilst we believe more work needs to be done we leave the reader to consider these issues for themselves.
In the days of Noah
The book of Genesis gives us a picture of what the pre-Flood world looked like. People lived considerably longer. There had been a corruption of God’s creation with rebellion and hostility towards God along with worship of false gods (apostasy) and men thinking of themselves as gods (apotheosis). We’re told that there was increased angelic activity and transhumance (hybrids). This scenario is echoed in the apocryphal books of Enoch, Jasher and Jubilies, which indicate that animals and humans sinned with each other, producing hybrids.
Today, a repeat of that scenario is not as ‘sci-fi’ or far-fetched as some would think. Nick Bostrom, the Director of the World Transhumanist Society, Oxford, remarked:
In the 21st century we could build gods if we wanted to. Technology will allow for longer life . . . There will be three types of beings in the near future: humans (and two other categories, neither of which is totally human).
While some might consider the above comment fanciful, it is a fact that the UN has recently appointed an ambassador to the alien world (UN Office for Outer Space Affairs or UNOOSA).
Longevity
We read in Genesis that before the Flood people lived for anything up to nearly a thousand years. Methuselah has the longest recorded lifespan: 969 years. Children and grandchildren in pre-Flood families must have thought their grandparents immortal, and compared to an average lifespan of around 40 years in Tudor England, they were! The immortality of the gods in ancient myths and legends is easier to understand in the context of usual human lifespans in the ancient world.
Giants
The first biblical references to post-Flood giants can be found in Numbers 13, when the spies went into Canaan, and in Amos 2:9 where giants as tall as cedars (i.e. up to 150 ft) are mentioned. Giants, hybrids of humans and the Nephilim (fallen angels), resided on earth and can be traced back to descendants of some of Noah’s sons.
For example, Noah’s son Mitzraim had a son named Caphtor who was the father of the Philistines. Goliath was a Philistine. Interestingly, the Philistines migrated to southern Canaan from Crete – the seat of the Greek gods. Noah’s son, Cush, was the father of Nimrod, the mighty one, which could be interpreted ‘giant.' From Noah’s son Japheth’s line we can trace Gog and Magog, who feature in biblical prophecies about the End Times and are depicted as giants in the Lord Mayor’s Show in London each year. Noah’s son, Canaan, whose family populated the land of Canaan clearly had giants in it, as mentioned above.
Babel and Nimrod
The apocryphal ancient manuscripts tell us that the plan behind the tower of Babel was to depose God, and Nimrod, the mighty one, who founded Babylon was the instigator of the ziggurat construction. Nimrod was, it seems, the first emperor of the old world order of kingdoms, because he was the leader who gathered them all together in the building project. His satanically-inspired goal was to set himself up as the god of the world.
Nimrod’s various names
It follows that when God decisively halted the building work and confused the languages, Nimrod, the leader and enemy of God, came to be called by different names. Gilgamesh, Baal, Melqart, Adonis, Eshmin, Dumiozi, Dionysus, Bacchus, Orion, Marduk, Mithra, Ninurta, Apolla, Ra, Osiris – all these were referred to as mighty hunters in the pantheon of gods in their different cultures. They were given supernatural status and myths and legends grew up around them, but they originate in a person, or a human hybrid, a giant, who really walked the earth.
The connection with ‘Watchers’
Archeology shows us that human civilisation on earth began around 3-3,500 BC. The Mayan calendar, for example, dates from 3114 BC. According to the books of Enoch and Jasher, it’s around this time that Watchers landed on Mount Hermon and created the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6. In the Recognitions of Clement we read:
Fallen angels taught men the use of magical incantations that would force demons to obey man . . . This became ingrained into the Egyptians, Persians and Babylonians. Nimrod, called Ninus by the Greeks, was handed this knowledge and by it caused men to go away from the worship of God and go into diverse and erratic superstitions and they began to be governed by the signs in the stars and the motions of the planets.
It’s in the same time-frame that we can trace the origin of megalithic temples featuring solar and lunar alignments (Hagar Qim); the earliest known gold artefacts being manufactured (Varna Necropolis); the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphs being devised; New Stone Age people in Ireland building the 250,000 ton Newgrange solar orientated passage tomb; and the beginning of the construction of Stonehenge. These monuments to other gods or ungodly beliefs are an indication that the satanic influence of Nimrod had successfully pervaded the earth.
Ancient mythology
In artefacts of the pantheon of gods in different cultures, giants often feature, especially in Sumerian pictures. Nimrod the giant was the founder of Babylon, in the ancient region of Sumer. The Sumerian religion influenced Mesopotamian mythology as a whole, surviving in the mythologies and religions of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and other culture groups. If real giants on earth fuelled the ancient myths and legends, equally, human-animal hybrids really existed on earth, immortalised in the myths as spinx, centaurs, fauns and so on. These feature extensively in classical and neo-classical art.
Interestingly, in the creation myths of these cultures, the role of God and Lucifer are reversed, with the serpent figure being the saviour not the tempter. From the beginning, it has been Satan’s plan to corrupt God’s plan for creation and with Nimrod as his chief accomplice, he succeeded in deceiving the nations and cultures of the world with a mixture of lies and half-truths which were perpetuated in the myths and legends of their cultures.
Apotheosis
The belief in deification of great leaders (apotheosis) was common in the ancient world. The pyramids of Egypt bear witness to this; the Pharaoh was believed to ascend to the status of a god and the elaborate burial ritual was designed to prepare him for ultimate resurrection.
The fiery furnace fate of Daniel and his friends resulted from their refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar as a god. Augustus Caesar thought he was a god, as did many of his descendants. Kings through the ages have believed in apotheosis too.
In the dome of the Capitol Building in Washington DC, there is an elaborate mural entitled ‘The Apotheosis of George Washington.' He is shown as a god with the pantheon of Greek gods and heroes.
As in the days of Noah
In Matthew 24 Jesus warned his disciples that a time would come when features in the time of Noah would reappear on the earth. It’s a sign that the return of Jesus is near.
Other pages on our web site explore the reality and dangers of rebellion and hostility against God; the corruption of God’s creation; men thinking of themselves as gods and stating that they, through science and intellect have replaced the need for God; worship of other gods by design or deception; and the effects of the advanced technological age we live in on faith and belief. All these, in some form, were evident in the days of Noah.
It is within man’s capability to produce human/animal hybrids; Dolly the Sheep was just the beginning. In the days of Noah fallen angels interbred with humans with disastrous results. If we saw evidence of such things happening again, we may be sure the time of Jesus’ coming is imminent.
While it may seem far-fetched, the popularity of ‘sci-fi’ films featuring super human hybrids saving the world could be an indication that such things may not only be the figment of man’s imagination. Their role in the legends they are creating is not dissimilar to that of the gods of ancient history. Interacting and intermarrying with humans could indicate that such things may be a reality some day.
Where did the myths and legends of the ancient world originate? Why is the theme of super-human hybrids saving our world so popular in the media these days? Why do you find creation myths in major ancient civilisations, often with the roles of God and the serpent reversed?