Shalom, shalom; peace, peace in the name of Yeshua. This is Crystal Sharpe and welcome to the Ancient Scrolls program.
I do have a website called Ancientscrollsonline.com. I post sources, articles, prophetic words, prophetic dreams: ancientscrollsonline.com.
Today I am still going to pursue Daniel 11, and discuss the idol Ishtar, also known as Artemis, or Diana, Aphrodite/Venus. I will give some ancient history on her. We will also continue examining the whore on the scarlet beast in Revelation 17. There are some comparisons that can made between these two, Ishtar and the whore on the beast. John is seeing a religion, this goddess worship that was before his lifetime, and practiced during his life time, now he sees its appearance in the future at the end of days.
The worship of Diana/Artemis was a demonic stronghold in Ephesus. Disturbances were created when Paul challenged them on their worship of idols created by man. This is in Acts 19.
But first I have a word from the Lord. It is for those who have ears to hear, or a heart to understand; those who are mature and seek after the kingdom of God. By this I mean, your hearts are for His kingdom, not riches, not fame, not glory; but you seek His heart on matters of righteousness and justice, and this is the heart of the kingdom of God.
Yeshua says in Matthew 6:33
Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. What is God’s kingdom about? Righteousness and justice. His throne sits on righteousness and justice.
Psalm 89:14 14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
It began, I am asleep, but my spirit is not asleep. My spirit person is awake and I am praying within a deep place in me. I am praying in desperation and with intensity. I am pressing for Him to hear me. It is my duty to pray and I am petitioning Him for His righteousness and justice to reign in the earth; and suddenly I hear Him answer me: “My righteousness and justice will reign in the earth.” This is what I heard. This is the message from the kingdom of God. We should learn righteousness and justice so that we can practice it, perform righteousness and justice.
Deuteronomy 6, the Shema
Shema, O Israel, the LORD God, the LORD is One.
You shall love the Lord your God with all Your heart with all your soul and with all your strength.
Psalm 24
The earth is the LORD’s and the fulness thereof; the world and those who dwell therein.
Father YHVH,
We thank You that You are God, there is none besides You. You are the King over the universe, king over heaven and earth. We anticipate Your kingdom to come where Your righteousness and justice will reign over the whole earth.
We pray in this hour that Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray for an increase of Your Spirit to saturate the earth with repentance, that it will sweep through the nation and the world. We understand that we are at the end of the age, and help us to walk out our days with more purpose knowing these are the final days before Your return. This world and all its glory, is diminishing, because Your kingdom is approaching. Encourage Your people today with Your Word. We pray for healing, and restoration in the lives of Your people. Help us to not be deceived as the enemy is going about seeking those whom he may devour.
We thank You for Your Word, for it is a lamp unto our feet. Bless You, Lord. In Yeshua’s name. Amen.
Last program I had spoken on some passages in Revelation and the book of Daniel on the characteristics of the beast. The Word gives us enough information to identify the beast in the latter days and enough information to recognize the same antichrist spirit in people today.
The antichrist spirit is alive in all the media, books, TV series, movies, news programs, and even some ministers are under this influence. Anything that is practiced against the Word of God is antichrist: adultery, fornication, zoophilia, child molestation, murder, sex trafficking, idolatry, hatred, jealousy, covetousness, malice, homosexuality, the celebration of 112 genders (Tumblr), I can’t even keep up anymore. God created two genders and the world created 110.
The world system is in defiance against the established order, the order of creation by God. The world rejects this order, and all we see is chaos. God brings order, the world brings chaos. Everything against the established order of creation by God is antichrist.
The antichrist spirit leads people away from God and to self, and self-centeredness where one is considered a deity or god.
Daniel 11:37. He shall regard neither the God (elohim H430) of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38. But in their place he shall honor a [the] god of fortresses.
There is a definite article in front of the word god and should read—the god, not a god but ‘the’ god of fortresses. Furthermore,
The word for god in this passage is Elóah h433. It is a Heb term for God, occurring 55 times in the OT (mostly in Job and poetic passages). Jb.27:3 “The spirit of God [Eloah h433] is in my nostrils.”
Eloah is spelled E-l-o-a-h and the –ah ending is indicative of fem singular. It is a mistranslation and should read that he honors the goddess of fortresses.
The most common OT Heb term for God is Elohím h430. Elohim is a masc plural ending –im (Father and Son), combined with the fem singular root Eloah (HS/Wisdom) or possibly El.
Daniel is saying: He shall worship the goddess of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. Daniel 11:38
So this ancient goddess was the goddess of “towers” or “surrounding fortifications.” In ancient Greek history citizens appealed to the goddess of fortifications to protect their city when it was under threat. It is especially interesting that ancient statuettes of this particular goddess, given different names by different cultures, these forms were cast with the figure of a tower upon the head. They were tower goddesses or goddesses of the fortress, to whom was attributed the power to protect a city or an empire.
3.So John (Revelation 17was carried away in the Spirit into the wilderness, And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of whores and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
The goddess of fortresses is the ancient goddess Ishtar (also known by some scholars as Inanna (Great Lady of An) Semiramis, Ashtarte, or Ashtoreth, and her name eventually evolved into Easter. Many churches today celebrate Ishtar in the spring according to the ancient tradition of goddess worship. Easter was never celebrated by the church until the fourth century. Now Ishtar is celebrated once a year by many churches with colored eggs. This is a symbol associated with her, eggs. The statue that is displayed in the Vatican has the upper part of it covered with what some consider eggs, or scrotums. Scholars still disagree on the exact representation that is displayed on the goddess, and some saying they are breasts as well; but anyway, there in the Vatican this idol is called Mary.
Some of the animal symbols associated with Ishtar was the dove, and quite often with a lion or lions which represents power. The lion is a prominent figure in Iraqi culture. In the book of Revelation 13, the beast is said to have a mouth like the mouth of a lion. Owls were not a prominent feature, but sometimes were engraved on pottery with her. Her being the Queen of Heaven, that is her title, she is depicted at times with the elements of the cosmos, the crescent moon, the sun and an 8-pointed star which represents Venus. I suppose it isn’t strange that Islam’s symbol is the crescent moon.
There are other names for Ishtar that developed over time, Isis, Artemis, Diana and Cybele to name a few and they all share the title Queen of Heaven. Scholars do not always agree on some of the history of Ishtar. So, it can be confusing when doing research.
The name meaning for Asht-tart is the woman that made towers. Ashtoreth is more of a Hebrew pronunciation and means the woman that made the encompassing wall.
Asht-tart,” for that just means “The woman that made towers.” It is admitted on all hands that the last syllable “tart” comes from the Hebrew verb “Tr.” It has been always taken for granted, however, that “Tr” signifies only “to go round.” But we have evidence that, in nouns derived from it, it also signifies “to be round,” “to surround,” or “encompass.” In the masculine, we find “Tor” used for “a border or row of jewels round the head” (see PARKHURST, sub voce No. ii., and also GESENIUS). And in the feminine, as given in Hesychius (Lexicon, p. 925), we find the meaning much more decisively brought out: Turis ho peribolos tou teichous. Turis is just the Greek form of Turit, the final t, according to the genius of the Greek language, being converted into s. Ash-turit, then, which is obviously the same as the Hebrew “Ashtoreth,” is just “The woman that made the encompassing wall.
History
Ishtar was first known as Inanna. People worshipped Ishtar and Inanna as individual goddesses, but over time they merged into Ishtar. Inanna began as an ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with war, sex, justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Sumer (4000BC- 3100BC, was an area that included some of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Kuwaite) and was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name Ishtar.[b] She was known as the “Queen of Heaven” and was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, which was her main cult center. She was associated with the planet Venus and her most prominent symbols included the lion and the eight-pointed star.
During the post-Sargonic era, she became one of the most widely venerated deities in the Sumerian pantheon, with temples across Mesopotamia. The cult of Inanna-Ishtar, which may have been associated with a variety of sexual rites, was continued by the East Semitic-speaking people (Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians) who succeeded and absorbed the Sumerians in the region. She was especially beloved by the Assyrians, who elevated her to become the highest deity in their pantheon, ranking above their own national god Ashur. Inanna-Ishtar is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible and she greatly influenced the Phoenician goddess Astoreth, who later influenced the development of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Her cult continued to flourish until its gradual decline between the first and sixth centuries AD in the wake of Christianity, though it survived in parts of Upper Mesopotamia among Assyrian communities as late as the eighteenth century.
Ishtar was the protector of prostitutes and brothels; she is the mother of whores. Having sex with patrons was considered an act of worship, the act being one of fertility and bringing rains for their crops; this included orgies along with the sacrifice of children.
In Sumer and later in Babylon, religious rituals involved sacred sexuality in the form of the Sacred Marriage an act simulating marriage between the fertility goddess Inanna/Ishtar and the shepherd god, Dumuzi. In this act, the high priestess of Inanna would have intercourse with either the high priest or the king of the city. Through the sexual act, divine fertile energy was released on the land ensuring good crops and productive herds. Sacred prostitution involved temple priestesses of Inanna/Ishtar having ritual sex with male visitors to the temple, again releasing the divine fertile energy. Both of these sacred sexual practices existed for thousands of years in Mesopotamia. It is best to understand these rituals as a religious act of devotion to the goddess rather than as sex per se. After all, secular prostitutes plied their trade in Mesopotamian cities as well.
Compare this to Revelation 17
And on her forehead a name was written, this is the Mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.
Jeremiah 44:15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings, and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have consumed by the sword and famine. And the women said, When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?
This is the relationship with Revelation 17
And on her forehead a name was written, this is the Mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.
But anyway, I am at the end of the program.
The awakening worship of Ishtar will leap into the public consciousness once more soon and it will amaze those who thought that this pagan worship had died forever.
If it is God’s will, I will be here next program. Remember to walk by faith and not by sight. Ask God to cleanse you from all unrighteousness every day. Keep your spiritual garments clean from spots, wrinkles and blemishes. Do two things this week: love and forgive. Love God and love your neighbor.
Ricco Cortes will sing the Aaronic priestly blessing.
Revelation 17
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written, this is the Mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
http://biblebelievers.org.au/2bab046.htm
ttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Ishtar-Mesopotamian-goddess
Cybele, the mother goddess, wears a crown in the form of a towered wall, a symbol of her role as protectress of cities, 50 CE, Roman, Getty Villa / Wikimedia Commons
