Posted on 08/19/2014 7:57:09 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
This coming August 22, the Feast of Mary, Queen of Heaven will be celebrated throughout the world. Deepertruth will focus this Tuesday on this most important topic.
The Marian teaching “Queen of Heaven” is steeped in Old Testament tradition.
There are those who misunderstand this teaching and will even claim it is Pagan. Nothing can be furthest from the truth.
Some will surely want to raise the scripture coming from Jeremiah 7:16-18, “You, now, do not intercede for this people; raise not in their behalf a pleading prayer! Do not urge me, for I will not listen to you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cites of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem? The Children gather wood, their fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven, while libations are poured out to strange gods in order to hurt me. Is it I whom they hurt, says the Lord; is it not rather themselves, to their own confusion?”
The queen of heaven that Jeremiah is speaking of is not the Blessed Virgin Mary who is the true Queen of Heaven, but rather a false god. The Israelites worshiped Pagan gods that displeased the Lord. The Babylonians worshiped a woman called “Ishtar“, she was the goddess of love and war. Prostitution was a part of the temple worship. She was known to have had many lovers.
Contrast this with the Blessed Virgin Mary who represents chastity, modesty, faithfulness, and love of God. She is the purest of God’s creation. Unlike Ishtar and other female goddesses who were worshiped and called “God the Mother“, the Blessed Virgin Mary is called Mother of God. Not because she is a goddess, she is not, but because Catholics recognize Jesus as Divine. He is truly God and man.
Is Mary the true Queen of Heaven, is there such a position within the kingdom of God? The answer is yes, and this Queen is the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The foundation for this is found in 1 Kings 2:12-20. “When Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David, with his sovereignty firmly established, Adonjah, son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. ‘Do you come as a friend?’ She asked. ‘Yes’, he answered, and added, ‘I have something to say to you,’ She replied, ‘Say it.’ So he said: ‘You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel expected me to be king. But the kingdom escaped me and became my brother’s, for the Lord gave it to him. But now there is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me.’ And she said, ‘Speak on.’ He said, ‘Please ask King Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite for my wife.’ ‘Very well,’ replied Bathsheba, I will speak to the king for you.’ Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right.”
Bathsheba thus became the first Queen of Israel, the Queen was not a wife of the king, but the King’s mother.
Jesus is truly the Son of David, The angel Gabriel spoke of Jesus saying, “Behold, you (Mary) will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:3-33).
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:20).
We see a glimpse of this heavenly glory with the Messiah in heaven in Psalms 45. In verse 9-10 we see a very important scripture relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It reads, “daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stand the Queen in gold of Ophir”. Psalms 45:1-9 refers to Jesus and verses 9-17 concerns this queen. The same Queen St. John writes, “And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1).
Psalms 45 continues to say, “Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house; and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your Lord, bow to him; the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts, the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes; in many colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. Instead of your fathers shall by your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever”(Psalms 45:9-17).
Notice that the “rich” seeks her favor, just like Adonjah had first sought Bathsheba’s intercession.
The Queen of Psalms 45 will be remembered and celebrated in all generations, and the people will praise her forever.
Is there any other woman in history that can fit this description? Hillary Clinton?
This praise will not be worship that is given to God alone, but it will be honor and petition.
Notice what Mother Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever” (Luke 1:46-55).
Psalms 45:9-17 and Luke 1:47-55 speak of the same person. The Virgin Mary, as the Queen of Heaven represents Jesus Christ in all that she does. There is no likeness to the pagan goddesses that were worshiped by the Babylonians and the cultures surrounding the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.
Luther prayed to Mary when he was a Catholic, show me a sermon of his where he espoused the practice of praying TO Mary after he got into it with the Pope. Prayer to Mary isn't part of the Lutheran Confession and I linked to the Defense of the Augsburg Confession related to the Invocation of the Saints. What the apostate elca claims has as much legitimacy as LCWR speaking on Catholicism.
would at least include a count of these web-listed North American Lutheran denominations:
Lutheran is the Denomination, adherence to the Lutheran Confessions, the standard. To the extent that a body follows them, they are Lutheran. Otherwise they fool themselves like they have apparently fooled you. LCWR Catholic? 'Catholic' churches not in communion with Rome Catholic? 'Catholics' that don't recognize the Pope Catholic? Sedevacantists Catholic? They call themselves Catholic, and that is the same standard you apply to 'Lutherans' here. What's the difference?
I was only following the constructs that you dogmatically laid out. You painted yourself into that corner.
For information about praying to Satan, you will have to talk to fellow non-Catholics about that.
It has already been established that the vast majority of Protestants don't pray to anyone but God. We are not the ones tempted to pray to created entities nor the ones who have to defend the illogical notion that prayer isn't worship.
David said that his prayer was sacrifice. Did he explicitly said that ALL prayer was sacrifice? No, but where in Scripture is it stated (or can be reasonably inferred) that there is a class of prayer that isn't sacrifice? You would agree that sacrifice can only be offered to God, right? You would agree that sacrifice offered is worship, right?
In his prayer recorded there in Psalm 103, David is talking directly to God's angels, exhorting them to "bless the Lord". His prayer at that point is specifically directed to angels, fellow created beings.
Using your tools of exegesis, David must be praying to his own soul in verses 1, 2, and 22 exhorting it to bless the Lord. In verse 22, is David praying to all God's works to bless the Lord? The structure of all five verses is the same - how can you justify translating two of them differently?
In the Book of Revelation, incense is used in the heavenly worship before the throne of God:
“Another angel came in holding a censer of gold. He took his place at the altar of incense and was given large amounts of incense to deposit on the altar of gold in front of the throne, together with the prayers of all God’s holy ones. From the angel’s hand, the smoke of the incense went up before God, and with it the prayers of God’s people.”
From the Book of Revelation
Revelation, chapter 8
CHAPTER 8*
3Another angel came and stood at the altar,* holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne.c
4The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.
The Book of Hebrews establishes that angels are ministering spirits on behalf of mankind. John's vision seems to describe how this role works to some degree. Yet, where are we granted license to pray to the angels? The Book of Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus is above the angels now. Why pray to the lesser beings without explicit instruction from God when the greater is available and the Biblical pattern shows that prayers are offered to God? Particularly, when the greater is explicitly granted the role as the sole mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5)?
The problem with using this text as support for prayers to created beings is that the text doesn't tell us to whom the prayers were directed. Just looking at the text alone, it is just as plausible to conclude that the prayers were directed to God and the angels were only acting as messengers to deliver them. The text doesn't say anything about the prayers being offered to the angels.
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