Monday, May 6, 2013

The Queen of Heaven

The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger.
Jeremiah 7:18, NIV

A lady I knew well went to Japan to study art. She was very good at what she did. She treated paper to make bird quills and totally realistic-looking tree bark. She was there for two years and was given an honorary Japanese name. She immersed herself in the local culture.

She confessed that she spied on her neighbors. She had gauzy white curtains that she would look through to observe them. One evening she saw a family on the rooftop of their home, perform a ceremony similar to that referred to in Jeremiah 7 and Jeremiah chapter 44. She thinks it had something to do with the planet Venus.

In Jeremiah 44 we have an exchange between God and his people concerning offering cakes imprinted with the image of the Queen of Heaven. The people claimed that such practices granted them prosperity. When they ceased, hard times overtook them.

The Bible mentions the Queen of Heaven five times. This cult, originating in very ancient times, is still with us.

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