The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

153. Babylonian Astronomy—The earliest science of studying the stars and the planets. The Babylonians are credited with introducing and perfecting the art, making it the basis for secularized divination, astrology, and prophetic oracles. Its premise is that the stars and heavenly bodies have more than an aesthetic purpose in creation. They believed that the stars and planets influenced humanity and its everyday existence, that careful study of their activity could explain earthly events or predict their outcomes. The Babylonians settled on the number seven as the cardinal number of spiritual significance. Its introduction was passed on to Israel who later had the tradition explained by the creation story revealed to Moses. The sun and the moon were seen as distinct from the other seven planets believed to be ruled by powerful angelic beings with authority to influence and manipulate humans as well as their world. Modern astrology takes much of its foundations from this ancient civilization as does the prophetic. 154. Babylonian Captivity—The term for the seventy-year period that God’s nation was in bondage to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, for their persistent unfaithfulness to Him. They relentlessly pursued idolatrous worship and were sentenced to enslavement by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians as a result. Ezekiel 1:2 and 39:28. 155. Babylonian Religions—An ancient religion based on a conglomerate of worship forms and fetishes that sprang from the early civilizations of the ancient Near East. These included the Ubaidians, Sumerians, Akkadians, and Amorites, groups that progressively and collectively comprised old Babylonia. They promulgated and perfected spiritual contact and religion in the region of biblical Shinar. Their beliefs and rituals were predicated upon the early peoples endeavoring to explain their circumstances in life, to answer the mysteries of their world and interact with the invisible agents of creation that no doubt took advantage of their ignorance. They contrived a network of deities to worship and a host of perverse rituals to appease them. Doing so enabled them to resolve the daily conflicts and confusion associated with humanity and creation over which they had no control. The cultures also sought, by their superstitions, to influence their world and through them assure their sustenance from the land. They hoped to preserve their lives, even after death, through their worship and sacrifice rituals. Every act of worship was a feeble effort to participate in and somehow manipulate the forces of nature that dominated them at will.