Watchman on the Wall

Southwest Radio Ministries: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. God is still on the throne and prayer changes things.

This week, we are debuting Micah Van Huss's brand new book, Mythologies Decoded: Echoes of the Bible. With Micah discussing the ancient parallels between mythologies and scripture, we are set for an exciting week of programs.

I want to send a huge thank you to everyone who came out this past Friday and Saturday to our Prophecy in the News Live conference in Minnesota. We had such a great time, and it would not have been possible without the support of churches and families in the community. So thank you, thank you, thank you, my friends.

Our final conference of the year is coming up, October 22nd through the 24th. Join us in Bristol, Virginia for three incredible days, each with a different focus. Day one: Apologetics, defending the faith. Day two: Bible Prophecy, understanding what's ahead. Day three: Mysteries of the Bible Verse, uncovering the fascinating truths hidden in scripture. It's three days of powerful biblical teaching, great speakers, and Christian fellowship.

Space is limited, so don't wait. Get your tickets today at swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. October 22nd through the 24th at exit seven in Bristol, Virginia.

What if the ancient stories of gods, giants, and supernatural beings weren't merely mythology but echoes of something very real? This week, Micah Van Huss joins us to explore his brand new book, Mythologies Decoded: Echoes of the Bible, and the remarkable connections between ancient mythology and scripture. To help guide us through the conversation, here is John Ruiz.

John Ruiz: Hello friends, and welcome to Watchman on the Wall. It is such a pleasure today to have you here with us and to introduce a very dear friend, Micah Van Huss. Grandson, son, husband, and father—all those things that are so important. He is a hero who doesn't like to draw attention to himself, but he has served our country in faraway lands under fire and returning fire.

He has served at home, a member of the state legislature for many terms, championing things that matter: truth, uprightness, faith—the things that will get you in trouble in this modern world. Micah has worked for many years with Southwest Radio Church, and now has written a brand new book.

Mysteries have been his interest for a long time, and the new book is Mythologies Decoded. You can get your own copy by calling 1-800-652-1144 or go online to swrc.com. That's Mythologies Decoded. Thank you so much for your interest and welcome, Micah. We're so glad to have you.

Micah Van Huss: John, it's so good to be with you. I appreciate the very kind introduction. I look forward to having a good conversation.

John Ruiz: How did you find your own personal interest in mythology and mysteries and the things that you've been working on and studying so deeply for quite a while now?

Micah Van Huss: If folks have followed me here at Southwest Radio Ministries, they'll know that I have a love for the mysterious, a love for studying God's Word as it relates to the mysteries of His creation. As far as what got me into the mysteries, I would say when I was going back and forth to Iraq, I had come home at one point and my brother, Clayton Van Huss—who many people know as our archaeologist here—he showed me Genesis chapter 6 where God chose Noah to survive the flood because his bloodline had not been tainted with that of the Nephilim.

And as you read King James, whatever version you read, you'll see that it talks about angels having giant offspring. And then five verses later in Genesis 6, Noah was perfect in his bloodlines. That's kind of what set me off. Now, specifically on the mythology, what got me interested in Mythologies Decoded—my first book was Ancient Cities and the Gods Who Built Them, kind of the idea that a lot of the world's megaliths are way too advanced for humans to have been able to make on their own with their own knowledge.

In that book, I have a chapter on Atlantis, which is a mythological city. I do believe that there is a good chance that Atlantis was a real city. In fact, the city of Atlantis and the city of Troy originally came from Plato's writings, and people said the city of Troy was a mythological city—it's not real—until 1871 when Heinrich Schliemann found the city of Troy.

So that gives a lot of credence to the idea that Atlantis actually is a real historical place. And so in my first book, Ancient Cities and the Gods Who Built Them, I wrote a chapter, the first chapter, on Atlantis. That whole concept really fascinated me on the mythologies. And so here in my fifth book, Mythologies Decoded, we really do a deep dive into the mythologies.

John Ruiz: To put it in a nutshell, just in a very short thing, what is your driver? What is your central claim in this book as you experience all these many things that you've discussed there, applying everything that you've learned? Where are you at in your personal belief system interest right now today? What's the central thing?

Micah Van Huss: The main idea of Mythologies Decoded is "the nations remembered." So after Babel, people carried those ancient memories of the ancient world into different languages when God divided the languages at Babel. They carried those memories, all the same memory from the eight survivors that stepped off the Ark. They carried those memories in different languages, religions, and cultures.

So the names and the details changed, but the basic stories remained. And so we have multiple names for the same entities, multiple names for the same historical people just because of the division of the languages. Obviously, much like the telephone game, over time these stories will change on their own, forgetting the languages.

But scripture is the standard that I use to judge these broken memories. The subtitle of the book, Mythologies Decoded, is Echoes of the Bible. So the core theme of this book is that a lot of the mythological stories are actually echoes of true events. Now, primarily with the flood, there are over 670 cultures that talk about a great flood. We get into more than just the flood, all kinds of echoes, but we're hearing these stories in a distorted way and they're actually echoes of a truer story.

John Ruiz: I happened to see news recently of a "discovery" of a city or a location that has some relevance, I think, to what you're talking about and certainly to scriptural background. I couldn't help but think of your dear brother who has been involved in excavation and searching for truth in through some difficult circumstances.

I thought immediately of Clayton when I heard that, supposedly, now provably, they have been able to locate Bethsaida—which is the way I guess it would be said under the spelling back in those times. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe that the news report said where Jesus had healed the blind man, but I think that was also the location of the pool where he healed because people were waiting for that healing water, and he was showing that that wasn't necessary. Do those kinds of discoveries surprise or change your thinking in any way as you're going through your research?

Micah Van Huss: So, surprise, yes; change my thinking, no, because the Bible is my anchor. I believe the Bible is true regardless of what discoveries have or haven't been found. For instance, man and dinosaurs were created on day six of creation. I believe the Word of God. I believe God's Word is true.

I do have my foundation, and so people will discover, "Oh, we found a tablet with King David's name on it," and "Oh, we found his temple in Jerusalem." So I guess David was real, but still, evolution is how things really happened, so we can't believe that. But I don't approach it that way. God has lived inside of me for over 40 years now. I have experienced the Creator, so I know He is real. And so it has proven to me that His Word is true.

And so, yes, my foundation's in the Bible. So I wouldn't say it changes my thinking, but I would say, yes, some of them do surprise me. And of course, as you mentioned Clayton, folks pray for him. He is getting ready to head back to Israel. Now he is going to live in Israel with his wife Abigail, and they're going to continue to dig at these wonderful sites. Clayton has run into shootings, terrorists, they have been in a few situations there in Israel, so continue to pray for Clayton and Abigail Van Huss.

John Ruiz: Yes, sir. The situation over there is fraught with great danger all the time, even when it's not open warfare. I also have to mention this to you, just to ask you, ask your opinion: The Odyssey has reached a little bit of notoriety here of late with a new movie version and so forth and so on.

I don't think that many people are really that well-versed in The Iliad and some of the other figures that come out of that time period—Homer and Achilles and so forth. Do you find that as a good thing, a good impetus, that at least some version of it is coming back to the fore?

Micah Van Huss: Yeah, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the latest version. I think this is Christopher Nolan's version of The Odyssey, which I have not seen yet. I've heard it's a very good movie from people online that I trust. And so I'm not really in the habit of going to the theaters too much here in my older age. There's a lot of people I don't like giving my money to. So I will watch The Odyssey when it comes out from the comfort of my own couch.

But yeah, there were some things changed about this version of The Odyssey from what I've heard, but I don't think any of them are too great to have really changed a lot of what was written in The Odyssey. So yeah, I mean, I love cinema. Troy is a great movie from 20-some years ago and I've always loved the epics, so I look forward to seeing it.

And of course, we do obviously talk about The Odyssey here in my latest book, Mythologies Decoded. In fact, I've done something in this book for the first time ever, this being my fifth book. The last chapter of the book is actually a fictional story. I have been taking notes on a few fictional books that I have wanted to write. So far for Southwest Radio Ministries, everything I have written has been historical study, biblical study.

But the last chapter of this book—the first eight chapters are historical, biblical study—the last chapter is called "The Odyssey of Salvation," and it is a fictional story mirrored from creation to Revelation. So it was a fascinating write. So that's in there, and I had a ton of fun writing it.

John Ruiz: To get your own copy of Mythologies Decoded, call 1-800-652-1144 or visit swrc.com. Again, we're talking with author Micah Van Huss about Mythologies Decoded at swrc.com, 1-800-652-1144.

One of the interesting points that you have made—and I really never knew that, such a privilege to be with you and to admit to learning so much from you over the course of your study, and I hope you consider that a great compliment, for it certainly is from me and from others—you mentioned that the ancient world remembered more than we often gave it credit for, and the fact that so many cultures, civilizations, peoples, separated by oceans and years of time, would actually have very similar stories within their cultures. Things that it seemed to me were much, much too consistent for it to be happenstance. Do you think that?

Micah Van Huss: Absolutely. And again, this is why I call the subtitle "Echoes of the Bible" because all these stories, so many of them from mythology, are actually echoes of things that really happened. Let's jump from here onto Cronus. Cronus was the Greek leader of the Titans. Cronus is actually an echo of, I believe, Lucifer in the Old Testament.

And this goes a little bit back to my last book, Angels Eternal, where I don't necessarily adhere to the traditional teaching that Lucifer is Satan. I believe Satan's real and Satan is the most powerful enemy against which God wars today. But I do believe when we're talking about Lucifer, that Lucifer was actually Shemyaza.

And in the non-canonical writings, Shemyaza was the leader of the 200 angels that rebelled in Genesis chapter 6. And I also believe that Shemyaza/Lucifer is the angel that is bound in the abyss in Revelation 9. When Apollyon rises out of the pit, Abaddon, Apollyon, he rises from the pit and I do believe that that is Lucifer/Shemyaza/Cronus from Greek mythology because Cronus was the leader of the Titans who rebelled and Shemyaza was leader of the Watchers who rebelled.

And God chained Shemyaza in the pit with the other fallen angels from Genesis 6. And we find that all throughout scripture: Isaiah chapter 24, 1 Peter chapter 3, 2 Peter chapter 4, Jude. We see these angels that are chained up in the abyss, which is Tartarus. And the only time the Bible by name mentions Tartarus is 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 4 or verse 5—it's one of those two. Tartarus is the Greek underworld where the fallen angels are cast, where Cronus and his rebels are cast. And so there's all kinds of echoes of the things that take place in scripture and around scripture and in Second Temple literature to do with the mythologies.

John Ruiz: Micah writes that the ancient world didn't divide reality into neat categories like religion, history, or mythology the way modern society does. To ancient people, these concepts constantly overlapped. Mythology was woven into kingship, law, temple worship, calendars, war, and national identity. In many civilizations, mythology functioned as history itself.

I think that it is fascinating to even contemplate what especially the apostles witnessed during their time with Christ, and then the apostle born out of season, Saul of Tarsus. The idea, I think, is that he was blinded by the reality of what he had come into contact with. He knew, I believe, he knew exactly who it was. All of a sudden it just happened, and he cried out, according to the Bible, "Who art thou, Lord?" Well, I believe he meant just exactly what he said.

Jesus responded, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." And he had to be led down into Damascus because his eyes hadn't been poked out, but he was blinded, I think, by the totality or at least what he had come into contact with: the revelation of Christ as a real entity. Do you think that those men would have gone to the trouble that they went to unless they would have seen the truth in some of these entities, some of this history, some of what had been carried on with them, certainly especially the Apostle Paul?

Micah Van Huss: Yeah, and the time in which those men lived was saturated with obviously the Greek mythology, the Roman mythology. I mean, we're talking about just in that timeframe of the Romans. I studied the chapter one of this book, it is the history of mythology, and we see the mythologies go from the Greeks, from fantastical stories to more practical stories with the Romans.

In fact, Ovid, the Roman poet, he made fun of a lot of the mythologies. So you see a step down over time of the mythologies being treated as religion or truth, down to different cultures treated it differently to not as important or maybe just a theory, etc. But yes, these men lived in a time—in fact, was it Paul and Barnabas who were called Greek gods in the New Testament? That was in my last book and I already forgot the names.

But there is a passage of scripture where they are worshipped as gods. They come and they do miracles by the power of Yahweh, the true God, and the citizens, the Roman citizens, they start calling them the Greek gods, the Roman gods, because they're doing all these wonderful things. And they say, "Well, don't worship us. No, no, no, no, no, we're not gods. We're servants of the true God." So yeah, these men lived in a time, absolutely, when these mythological stories that we see as so far distant, that they were very, very close to them.

John Ruiz: There's a great scene, at least to me, in the wonderful presentation called The Chosen, and Peter is sitting and talking with the Roman official, Gaius. They're talking about the gods and Peter is talking about the one true God, and so he asks Gaius, "Who do you believe in?" and he starts naming them all off—for Neptune, the god of water, and so forth and so on.

And so the actor playing Peter exclaims, "Stop, stop, I'm exhausted already!" So there was so much more to the foundation of these beliefs, regardless of whether they were true or not. It was known and understood by so many people, and there was so much to it. The parallel I would like to make there, and to ask your opinion: is it not the very same with the New Testament built upon the foundation of the Old Testament? There's so much there, it's impossible to read it, even read it, without getting something new each and every time you do.

Micah Van Huss: Absolutely. And one of the fascinating things I found while writing this book was that the Old Testament was written in a time that these mythologies were being written too as well. And we get to books like Numbers and Chronicles and a few others where we read name after name after name and it's like, "Why am I reading this? Why is it important that I read these 20 minutes worth of names before I get to any kind of context or story?"

The biblical authors, inspired by God, they were being very specific because if you parallel those books from the Old Testament to what the mythologies of the time are talking about—these fantastical stories with fantastical beasts and all kinds of different names for all these creatures—the biblical authors were being very—they were grounding what they have written in truth, in genealogies. And so that's why those genealogies are there because the rest of the world is writing these fantastical stories. And that was a fascinating thing to discover because I always got bored reading Numbers and Chronicles and other—some of those passages.

So yeah, absolutely, it's fascinating. The Word is truth. And another along that line, you see these mythological gods that are very selfish, these mythological gods that die, these mythological gods that are corrupt. And Jesus Christ is the polar opposite. Jesus Christ is a servant and He has come to actually save. A lot of—most of these mythological figures die trying to be heroes, and Jesus Christ is the true God who is able to give His life and save mankind from their sins.

John Ruiz: We're so glad to have you here with us today talking with author Micah Van Huss about his new book, Mythologies Decoded. We'd encourage you to call 1-800-652-1144 or visit the website swrc.com. Again, that's 1-800-652-1144 or swrc.com.

Southwest Radio Ministries: What if the ancient myths aren't simply stories? What if they're memories? For thousands of years, civilizations around the world have told strangely similar stories: gods who came down, giants who walked the earth, mighty heroes, cosmic battles, and catastrophic floods. But why? In his brand new book, Mythologies Decoded: Echoes of the Bible, author Micah Van Huss investigates the fascinating possibility that these ancient legends are distorted memories of real events, events preserved accurately for us in God's Word.

Travel from Greek and Norse mythology to the ancient stories of Egypt and Mesopotamia and discover remarkable parallels involving the Nephilim, the Watchers, the flood, divine judgment, and Genesis. If you love Bible mysteries and ancient history, this book will make you look at the ancient world in an entirely new way. Get Mythologies Decoded today. Order your copy at swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. Mythologies Decoded, 1-800-652-1144.

Friends, if you have a prayer need, would you let us pray for you? We consider it an honor to pray with you. Prayer requests come in from all over the country through the mail, on the phone, and now through a special email address: prayer@swrc.com. That's prayer@swrc.com. Or you can always just give us a call: 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. Don't miss out on any of the important topics and information that is shared on Watchman on the Wall. Make sure you subscribe to our free email newsletter. Sign up today for the free email newsletter. Micah Van Huss continues decoding the mythologies on tomorrow's program, so be sure to tune in. Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful listeners like you. To learn more, visit swrc.com.