Our Pagan World : The Easter Myth Exposed! : Part 3

OUR PAGAN WORLD -- THE EASTER MYTH EXPOSED! : PART 3

Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Net

Last Updated : July 23, 2006

More On Ashtoreth, Astarte And Ishtar, Pagan Worship Of The
Israelites, Defining The Groves, Pregnancy A Sign Of Divine
Blessings, Symbols Of Sex Goddess Ishtar/Easter, Star Gods
And The Host Of Heaven, Worshipping The Creation More Than
The Creator, Good King Josiah, Egyptian Osiris and Isis

As we observed in the explanation provided by the Encarta
Encyclopedia, Ishtar was known by different, yet very
similar names amongst the various cultures which inhabited
the lands of the Middle East in ancient times. The 1988
edition of the New Unger's Bible Dictionary, provides us
with this additional information regarding Astarte, the
Phoenician version of Ishtar, under the heading 'Gods,
False'. As a side note, the land occupied by Phoenicia is
currently a part of modern Lebanon. The Biblical Sidon and
Tyre were located there, and as I point out in my articles,
it was from King Hiram of Tyre, that King David obtained
timber for his house, and King Solomon obtained cedar trees,
as well as an experienced work force, for the construction
of the first temple in Jerusalem:

----- Begin Quote -----

Ash'toreth (ash'to-reth). Astarte, a Canaanite goddess. In S
Arabia the name is found as 'Athtar (apparently from
`athara, "to be fertile, to irrigate"), a god identified
with the planet Venus. The name is cognate with Babylonian
Ishtar, the goddess of sensual love, maternity, and
fertility. Licentious worship was conducted in honor of her.
As Asherah and Anat of Ras Shamra, she was the patroness of
war as well as sex and is sometimes identified with these
goddesses. The Amarna Letters present Ashtoreth as Ashtartu.
In the Ras Shamra Tablets are found both the masculine form
'Athtar and the feminine 'Athtart. Ashtoreth worship was
entrenched early at Sidon [1 Kin. 11:5,33; 2 Kin. 23:13].
Her cult even presented a danger of pollution to early
Israel [Judg. 2:13; 10:6]; Solomon succumbed to her
voluptuous worship [1 Kin. 11:5; 2 Kin. 23:13]. The peculiar
vocalization Ashtoreth, instead of the more primitive
Ashtaroth, is evidently a deliberate alteration by the
Hebrews to express their abhorrence for her cult by giving
her the vowels of their word for "shame" (boshet). See also
Anat; Ashera; Diana. (m.f.u.)

----- End Quote -----

Returning to the 1986 edition of Nelson's Illustrated Bible
Dictionary, we also find the following explanation regarding
'Ashtoreth', or in the plural form, 'Ashtaroth'. Please note
that the Assyrian/Babylonian god Tammuz later became known
as the supreme sun god Baal who was worshiped by the various
cultures which inhabited the ancient land of Canaan, (such
as the Philistines), and that Ishtar, or Ashorteth, became
his, (Baal's) consort, companion, and wife, thus once again
confirming this false goddess's association with the sun. In
other words, from the Germanic Ostara/Easter to the Middle
Eastern Ishtar/Astarte/Ashtoreth, she is associated with
love, sex, beauty, fertility and the sun:

----- Begin Quote -----

[ASH tah rahth] (wives)-- the plural form of Ashtoreth, a
pagan goddess. [1 Samuel 31:10] connects her with the
Philistines, and [1 Kings 11:5] connects her with the
Sidonians. She was often considered the companion or partner
of the male god BAAL [Judg. 2:13].

Apparently the worship of these goddesses was practiced by
the Israelites from time to time. Solomon compromised his
faith by worshiping at the altar of Ashtaroth [1 Kin.
11:5,33]. Along with the Baalim (the plural of Baal), the
Ashtaroth were thought by the Philistines to be responsible
for fertility and the growth of crops and herds.

The Ashtaroth were worshiped by other peoples under such
names as Astarte (Phoenicians and Canaanites), Inanna
(Sumerians), Ishtar (Babylonians), Aphrodite (Greeks), and
Venus (Romans). All these were goddesses of sensual love and
fertility.

----- End Quote -----

Consider now what the Hebrew lexicon states regarding the
names 'Ashtoreth', 'Tammuz' and 'Baal':

----- Begin Quotes -----

Ashtoreth {ash-to'reth}

Ashtoreth = "star"
1) the principal female deity of the Phoenicians worshipped
in war and fertility
1a) also 'Ishtar' of Assyria and 'Astarte' by the Greeks
and Romans

.....

Tammuwz {tam-mooz'}

Tammuz = "sprout of life"
1) a Sumerian deity of food or vegetation

.....

Ba`al {bah'-al}

Baal = "lord" n pr m
1) supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites

----- End Quotes -----

The Encyclopedia Mythica also has this to say regarding the
false god and goddess team of Ishtar/Ashtoreth/Astarte and
Tammuz:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Ishtar

Ishtar was the ancient Sumero-Babylonian goddess of love and
fertility. She is often described as the daughter of Anu,
the god of the air. In most of the myths concerning her, she
is described as an evil, heartless, women who destroyed her
mates and lovers. Her greatest lover was the farm god
Tammuz, who is similar to the Greek Adonis...

.....

Ashtoreth

Also Astarte or Ashtar. The supreme female divinity of the
Phoenician nations, the goddess of love and fruitfulness.
She symbolized the female principle, as Baal symbolized
maleness. The Babylonian and Assyrian counterpart of
Ashtoreth was Ishtar.

.....

Astarte

The Phoenician goddess of fertility and reproduction and the
principal deity of the port city of Sidon. As Astarte she
was worshipped as far west as Carthage, Sicily, Sardinia and
Cyprus. She was also the sister and co-consort of Baal,
sharing this role with their sister Anath. Astarte is also
known as Istar in Akkadian and Athtar in Sabaean.

.....

Tammuz

The Akkadian vegetation-god, counterpart of the Sumerian
Damuzi and the symbol of death and rebirth in nature. He is
the son of Ea and husband of Ishtar. Each year he dies in
the hot summer (in the month tammus, June/July) and his soul
is taken by the Gallu demons to the underworld. Woe and
desolation fall upon the earth, and Ishtar leads the world
in lamentation. She then descends to the nether world, ruled
by Ereshkigal, and after many trials succeeds in bringing
him back, as a result of which fertility and joy return to
the earth. In Syria he was identified with Adonis.

----- End Quotes -----

Easton's Bible Dictionary also provides the following info
regarding the false Sumerian/Assyrian/Babylonian god Tammuz,
who later became known as Baal the sun god to the Canaanites:

----- Begin Quote -----

A corruption of Dumuzi, the Accadian sun-god (the Adonis of
the Greeks), the husband of the goddess Ishtar. In the
Chaldean calendar there was a month set apart in honour of
this god, the month of June to July, the beginning of the
summer solstice. At this festival, which lasted six days,
the worshippers, with loud lamentations, bewailed the
funeral of the god, they sat "weeping for Tammuz" Eze 8:14.
The name, also borrowed from Chaldea, of one of the months
of the Hebrew calendar.

----- End Quote -----

Sadly, as it is noted above, and as I also clearly explain
in such articles as 'The Sins Of Disobedience', the ancient
Israelites did not remain immune to the worship of the false
god and goddess team of Baal and Ashtoreth, or Tammuz and
Ishtar if you prefer. The Bible plainly tells us that it was
as a result of their blatant worship of these deities, in
defiance of the one true God of Heaven, that time and time
again, they got into serious trouble with the Lord. Even
King Solomon, in all of his greatness, could not resist the
temptations of this very sexy god and goddess team. It was
when Solomon married pagan women who worshiped Baal and
Ashtoreth, that he was led astray from the Lord in his old
age, and his kingdom was eventually divided during the reign
of his son, Rehoboam. Please consider the following verses
where some of this pagan worship by the backslidden
Israelites is mentioned:

"And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth."
Judges 2:13, KJV

"For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites...Because that they have forsaken me, and have
worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh
the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children
of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which
is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my
judgments, as did David his father." 1 Kings 11:5, 33, KJV

"Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in
the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to
make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink
offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to
anger. Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they
not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?"
Jeremiah 7:17-19, KJV

"He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt
see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me
to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward
the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man?
turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations
than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the
LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the
LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and
twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD,
and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun
toward the east." Ezekiel 8:13-16, KJV

Allow me to call your attention to the last group of verses,
as it clearly describes to what degree the Israelites had
turned against the Lord, in favor of the false gods of the
Babylonians and their ancestors. Not only were these women
at the North Gate observing the festival dedicated to Tammuz
by weeping for him, but we are also told that in the inner
court of Solomon's temple, these men were turned AWAY from
the temple of the Lord, and they were facing east. Just as
Muslims located at points west of Mecca will turn east in
order to pray, these backslidden Israelites were facing east
and worshipping the false sun god! Please take note of the
fact that Tammuz wasn't only the god of food and agriculture,
he was also the sun god, which is why it was so easy for him
to evolve into Baal, just as Ishtar evolved into Ashorteth.
As a side note, it may interest you to know that some time
ago, the Palestinian Authority published a new postage stamp
which bears the image of the false god Baal/Tammuz. Does
that offer us a subtle hint regarding who Allah really is?

To gain a better understanding of Israel's backslidden state,
I again encourage you to read my in-depth series 'The Sins Of
Disobedience', as it mentions quite a few other false gods
and goddesses which were worshiped by the ancient Israelites,
and clearly reveals the dire consequences of abandoning the
one true God of Heaven. In addition to reading this series,
allow me to also encourage you to do an in-depth study of
the word 'groves' as it is found in the Old Testament, from
the Book of Exodus, to the Book of Micah. You will find this
word mentioned in such verses as the following, and it has a
very negative meaning:

"For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the
water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land,
which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them
beyond the river, because they have made their groves,
provoking the LORD to anger. And he shall give Israel up
because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made
Israel to sin." I King 14:15-16, KJV

Exactly what where these 'groves'? The Hebrew lexicon tells
us that they were places of worship which were established
on the high hills of Israel, in order to honor the false
goddess of sex and fertility; that is, Baal's wife, who is
known as Ashtoreth, Ishtar, Astarte, Ostara and Easter:

----- Begin Quote -----

0842 'asherah {ash-ay-raw'} or 'asheyrah {ash-ay-raw'}

from 0833; TWOT - 183h; n pr f

AV - grove 40; 40

Ashera(h) = "groves (for idol worship)"

1) a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and
happiness), the supposed consort of Baal, her images
1a) the goddess, goddesses
1b) her images
1c) sacred trees or poles set up near an altar

----- End Quote -----

While this may shock some of you, there are some writers who
have suggested that the wooden poles which were erected at
these abominable sites were carved in the shape of the human
phallus; that is, in the form of the male sexual organ, and
that prostitution and other lewd sexual acts were performed
in honor of this pagan sex goddess, in order to receive her
blessings; the greatest of which was obviously the ability
to bear many children. Women who were barren were scorned,
and were viewed as being cursed. We find a clear example of
this in the Second Book of Samuel where the Lord cursed
Michal after she had berated King David because he danced
somewhat naked before the women of Israel, as the Ark of the
Covenant was being returned to Jerusalem:

"And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David,
Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king
David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised
him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of the LORD,
and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that
David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings
and peace offerings before the LORD. And as soon as David
had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace
offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of
hosts. And he dealt among all the people, even among the
whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to
every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a
flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his
house. Then David returned to bless his household. And
Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and
said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who
uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his
servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth
himself! And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD,
which chose me before thy father, and before all his house,
to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over
Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. And I will
yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own
sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of
them shall I be had in honour. Therefore Michal the daughter
of Saul had no child unto the day of her death."
2 Samuel 6:16-23, KJV

So let's not forget that Ashtoreth/Ishtar/Easter was in fact
worshipped as the supreme goddess of love, fruitfulness and
fertility. Petitions were made to her in order that women
might become pregnant, (obviously thus contributing to the
size, strength and army of a nation), and also to ensure
that the spring cultivation would later result in the Earth
yielding her crops during the summer months, right before
Tammuz supposedly died. Of course, it was also at this time
that livestock would reproduce as well.

As we saw earlier, Ishtar, who was represented by the moon,
supposedly brought Tammuz, the sun god, back to life during
the Spring season following his long winter death; just as
Easter, that is, the Feast of Ishtar, is now celebrated each
year shortly after the vernal equinox on or about March
21st, when the Spring growth season officially begins. So if
we pause to consider the various symbols which have become
associated with this goddess, that is, rabbits, Easter eggs,
the human phallus, the blossoming of new life at springtime,
it is easy to see that it is all about sex and fertility. I
have read that even in ancient Egyptian drawings, the egg is
repeatedly used as a sacred symbol of fertility.

You may have noticed from the previous definitions that I
shared with you, that the name 'Ashtoreth', or 'Ishtar',
actually means 'star'. In a similar sense, our English words
star, aster, asterisk and asteroid are also derived from the
Latin and Greek words 'aster', 'asteriscus' and 'asteriskos'
which likewise mean star, or star-like. However, what I find
most significant about this relationship between Ishtar and
the word 'star', is the fact that it points us to a glaring
truth which is found in various places in the Bible; and
that is that just as we saw in part one of this series, the
ancient people of the various cultures we have discussed,
actually worshipped the heavenly bodies. Thus, it should
come as no surprise to us that Tammuz/Baal was the sun god,
and Ishtar/Ashtoreth was the moon goddess. Just as the sun
and the moon are the most prominent companion stars in the
day and night skies, these entities, whether they were real
or imagined, were highly significant to the ancient cultures
of the Middle East, and later even in Europe.

The problem, as we have already seen, is that God strictly
forbid, and still forbids, His people from worshipping these
false 'star gods'. In the Bible they are referred to as the
'host of heaven', and in one verse, that is, Amos 5:26, a
clear connection is made between assigning stars as the
physical representations of the false gods, as we see here:

"But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun
your images, the star of your god, which ye made to
yourselves." Amos 5:26, KJV

In the Book of Deuteronomy, when Moses is exhorting the
people to remain faithful to the Lord, among other things,
he reminds them that they saw no figure when God spoke to
them from Mount Horeb, and he then warns them to not worship
the Sun, the Moon, or the planets, and to not make images of
them:

"Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no
manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you
in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt
yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of
any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of
any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged
fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that
creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in
the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine
eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon,
and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be
driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy
God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven."
Deuteronomy 4:15-19, KJV

Thirteen chapters later we learn that the penalty for doing
such a thing, is that one must be stoned to death. Such was
the seriousness of worshipping the Creation more than the
Creator:

"If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which
the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath
wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in
transgressing his covenant, And hath gone and served other
gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any
of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; And it be
told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired
diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain,
that such abomination is wrought in Israel: Then shalt thou
bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed
that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that
woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die."
Deuteronomy 17:2-5, KJV

The Apostle Paul likewise warned of the danger of worshiping
the creature more than the Creator when he wrote to the
brethren at Rome:

"Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies
between themselves: Who 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 1:24-25, KJV

Sadly, in spite of these harsh warnings from the Lord, it
wasn't before long that this is precisely what the ancient
Israelites were doing; and as I have already pointed out,
they suffered severely, and unnecessarily, for it. Here
again are some verses for your consideration:

"Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their
necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not
believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected his
statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers,
and his testimonies which he testified against them; and
they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the
heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD
had charged them, that they should not do like them. And
they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and
made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove,
and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal."
2 Kings 17:14-16, KJV

"And he [Manasseh] did that which was evil in the sight of
the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the
LORD cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up
again the high places which Hezekiah his father had
destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a
grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the
host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the
house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will
I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of
heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD."
2 Kings 21:2-5, KJV

"At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the
bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes,
and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets,
and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their
graves: And they shall spread them before the sun, and the
moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and
whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and
whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they
shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung
upon the face of the earth. And death shall be chosen rather
than life by all the residue of them that remain of this
evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have
driven them, saith the LORD of hosts." Jeremiah 8:1-3, KJV

"...Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this
people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel,
that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in
Tophet, till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto
this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof,
and even make this city as Tophet: And the houses of
Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be
defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses
upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host
of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other
gods." Jeremiah 19:11-13, KJV

Thankfully, there were a few Jewish kings who truly feared
the Lord, and who thus put an end, at least temporarily, to
the blatant worship of the heavenly bodies, and the false
gods which they represented, as we see here with the example
of King Josiah:

"And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the
priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to
bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels
that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the
host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the
fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of
Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the
cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem;
them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to
the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of
heaven." 2 Kings 23:4-5, KJV

Thus far we have traced the long trail of the false Easter
goddess as far back as the ancient Sumerian, Assyrian, and
Babylonian cultures, which all shared some of the very same
cultural and religious beliefs and practices, and which were
all centered in the area which today constitutes modern-day
Iraq, and perhaps small portions of Iran, and Kuwait as
well. But is this truly the end of the trail? The answer
appears to be 'no'.

This sun god/moon goddess team which the Shemite cultures
worshipped were also known to the Egyptians. Baal and
Ashtoreth, or Tammuz and Ishtar, find their counterparts in
the Egyptian Osirus and Isis. Just as Ashtoreth/Astarte was
the sister, consort and wife of the sun god Baal, Isis, who
was also a moon goddess, and the goddess of fertility, was
also the sister and wife of Osirus, who, like Tammuz, was
among other things, the god of vegetation, and the god of
the dead. In fact, just as Ishtar went to the netherworld
and rescued Tammuz from the dead and brought him back to
life each year, so that vegetation would regrow and people
and animals would reproduce, Isis also went to the under-
world and rescued Osiris from the dead as well. Likewise,
both Ishtar and Isis were referred to, among other names, as
the 'Queen of Heaven'. The Random House Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary states the following regarding this Egyptian
pair:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Isis:

Egyptian Relig. A goddess of fertility, the sister and wife
of Osiris and mother of Horus, and usually represented as a
woman with a cow's horns with the solar disk between them:
later worshiped in the Greek and Roman empires.

Osiris:

Egyptian Relig. The king and judge of the dead, the husband
and brother of Isis, and father (or brother) of Horus, killed
by Set but later resurrected (after Horus killed Set): usually
depicted as a man, partly wrapped as a mummy, having a beard
and wearing the atef-crown.

----- End Quotes -----

The Encyclopedia Mythica also states the following regarding
Isis and Osiris:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Isis:

One of the most popular goddesses in Egypt. Isis belongs to
the Ennead of Heliopolis, and according to the Heliopolitan
genealogy is a daughter of Seb and Nut, sister and wife of
Osiris. Possibly she was originally the personification of
the throne (her name is written with the hieroglyph for
throne), and as such she was an important source of the
pharaoh's power. In the Hellenistic time Isis was the
protectress of sailors.

In the Osiris myths she searched for her husband's body, who
was killed by her brother Seth. She retrieved and
reassembled the body, and in this connection she took on the
role of a goddess of the dead and of the funeral rights.
Isis impregnated herself from the Osiris' body and gave
birth to Horus in the swamps of Khemnis in the Nile Delta.
Here she raised her son in secret and kept him far away from
Seth. Horus later defeated Seth and became the first ruler
of a united Egypt. Isis, as mother of Horus, was by
extension regarded as the mother and protectress of the
pharaoh's. She was worshipped as the divine mother-goddess,
faithful consort of Osiris, and dedicated mother of Horus.

Isis was depicted as a woman with the solar disk between the
cow horns on her head (an analogy with the goddess Hathor)
or crowned with a thrown, but also with the child Horus
sitting on her lap. A vulture was sometimes seen
incorporated in her crown. Also she was sometimes depicted
as a kite above the mummified body of Osiris. Isis'
popularity lasted far into the Roman era. She had her own
priests and many temples were erected in her honor. On the
island of Philae in the Nile delta her largest temple was
situated (it was transferred to the island Agilkia in
1975-1980).

.....

Osiris:

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld, although he
was also worshipped as a fertility, resurrection, and
vegetation god. He was married to Isis, a sky goddess. He
was father to Horus, the god of sky, and protector of the
dead.

Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, who shut his body in
a chest and threw it into the Nile, where it washed up onto
the shore and was trapped in a huge tree. The King Byblos
turned it into a pillar in his palace. Isis (who had been
searching for her husband) discovered the trunk, and
retrieved the trunk and the body. While Isis was away, Seth
found the body, and chopped it up into many pieces, and
scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis and her sister,
Nephthys, found the pieces and made wax models of them to
give to priests to be worshipped. When they found all of his
pieces, they were so sad they wailed loudly enough for Re,
the father god, to have pity on them. He sent Anubis and
Thoth to help. They mummified Osiris, and put his body in a
lion headed pier. Isis changed into a kite and fanned breath
into Osiris.

He was not allowed to stay in the land of the living, and
was sent to the underworld to serve as king, and to judge
the souls of the dead.

----- End Quotes -----

As we continue this series in part four, we will take a
deeper look at Isis and her connection to the Israelites,
examine the ancestry, faith and example of Abraham, discuss
the difficulty of forsaking religious traditions, and touch
on our concerns as Christians parents. Furthermore, we will
look at Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob's doubts, Rachel's gods,
slavery in Egypt, repeating the sins of the past, the danger
of accusing God, testing the spirits, America's wayward
generation, th wickedness and spiritual pollution of the
Internet and worldly enticements, discover who Dionysus was,
expose the Tammuz/Baal/Osiris/Dionysus deception, expose the
customs of compromising Christians during the 'Easter', and
discuss our jealous God. As always, I trust that you will
join me.

Go To Part Four . . .