This ancient Babylonian cult of the mother and child spread to other parts
of the earth. You will find it in the Egyptian religion as Isis and Osiris. In
Greece it is Venue and Adonis and in Hindu it is Ushas and Vishnu. The same cult
prevails in various other localities. It appears in the Old Testament in
Jeremiah, where the Israelites are warned against offering sacrifices to "the
Queen of Heaven." This Queen of Heaven is Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, the
original mother of the mother and child cult. The cult has also crept into
Christianity and forms the basis for the Mariolatry that has prevailed in Roman
Catholic Church, where the Mother and Child are worshiped as joint
redeemers.

 

If you would like to read more on this, there is a book by Alexander
Hislop, a very authoritative writer in this field, called The Two Babylons. I am
sure you will find it of great interest if you desire to pursue this
further.

 

This idolatrous religion culminates at last in the Bible in the book of
Revelation. You remember the "great harlot" that appears there whose name is
"Mystery Babylon the Great," the originator of all the harlotries and false
religions of earth. The essence of Babylonianism, as we understand from
Scripture, is the attempt to gain earthly honor by means of religious authority.
That is Babylonianism, and it has pervaded Christian churches, Hindu temples,
Buddhist shrines, and Mohammedan mosques. Everywhere it is the element that
marks falseness in religion, this attempt to gain earthly power and prestige by
means of religious authority. That is Babylonianism. That is what Nimrod began
and what God will ultimately destroy, as we read in the book of
Revelation.

 

The land of Shinar, mentioned here, is also the land of Shunar or Shumar,
from which we get the word, Sumeria, and the Sumerian civilization, with which
scholars are familiar. The city of Resen was founded by people who later
migrated into the north of Italy and began the great Etruscan Empire, which
again is familiar to any who study ancient history. We also have here the
countries that came from Egypt and are applesociated with it here, all of which are
countries of North Africa.

 

One further note on this section: Note that the Philistines, which appear
frequently elsewhere in the Old Testament, are linked with the Egyptians. This
is significant, for Egypt in the Bible is always a picture of the world; the
Philistines are a picture of the flesh in its religious aspect, religious flesh
or Pharisaism, if you like. These are forever typified by these two nations. The
second section of the sons of Ham centers on the descendants of Canaan,

 

    Canaan became the father of Sidon his first-born, and Heth, and the
Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgapooes, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the
Canaanites spread abroad. And the territory of the Canaanites extended from
Sidon, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These are the cons of Ham,
by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. {Gen
10:15-20 RSV}