Paper 95 Overview: The Melchizedek Teachings in the Levant

The Melchizedek teachers spread their message about one God throughout the lands of the Middle East. These teachers went to many places like Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran, and Arabia to share their beliefs. In some places, their message was successful, while in others they faced challenges or opposition.

These Melchizedek teachers helped shape the religious ideas of many different peoples. Even when their original teachings were changed or mixed with local beliefs, they still helped move people toward believing in one God instead of many gods. Their influence can be seen in many religions that came later.

The Levant was the homeland for many religions of the western world, just as India gave rise to eastern religions. Salem missionaries traveled throughout southwestern Asia, including Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran, and Arabia. They shared Machiventa Melchizedek's good news with varying levels of success. Sometimes they failed because of poor planning, while other times events beyond their control worked against them.

By 2000 BC, the religions of Mesopotamia had mostly lost the teachings of the Sethites. They were being influenced by beliefs from two groups of invaders - the Bedouin Semites from the western desert and barbarian horsemen from the north. The Salem teachers managed to simplify the number of gods the Mesopotamians believed in, but they couldn't get them to accept just one God.

The Brahman priests rejected the Salem teaching that faith alone was enough for salvation. They fought against the Salem missionaries' attempts to end temple prostitution, which was a part of goddess Ishtar worship. After the Salem gospel was defeated, worship of Ishtar increased greatly, and star-gazing and fortune-telling became popular again, causing the priesthood to become more corrupt.

The Melchizedek teachings took their deepest root in Egypt, from where they spread to Europe. The Egyptian religion was influenced by the arrival of various peoples from the Euphrates valley. The political and moral conditions in Egypt made it more favorable to the Salem teaching than Mesopotamia. Each tribal leader who became king tried to make his tribal god more important than other gods.

For a long time, Egyptians had worshipped nature gods, with different tribes honoring animals like bulls, lions, or rams. They believed that preservation of the body after death helped a person's journey into the afterlife. This led to the practice of embalming and making burial statues. The Egyptians also believed that stars in the night sky were the souls of worthy dead people.

Many ethical and moral ideas developed naturally in Egypt, without the need for outside influence. Even though much culture was imported from Mesopotamia, a remarkable amount of moral understanding evolved among the Egyptian people themselves. Moral development doesn't completely depend on revelation or outside teachings. Humans can develop spiritual values from their own experiences because a divine spirit lives within them.

Thousands of years before the Salem gospel reached Egypt, Egyptian leaders taught about justice, fairness, and avoiding greed. Their motto was "Established is the man whose standard is righteousness." They encouraged gentleness, moderation, and discretion. These naturally evolved ethical ideas provided good soil for the Salem religion to grow in later years.

In time, a great teacher called Amenemope arose in Egypt. He taught that conscience was the highest judge between right and wrong. He also taught that punishment follows sin, and salvation comes through calling on the sun god. His teachings were later translated into Hebrew and became a sacred book for the Jewish people, even before the Old Testament was written down.

Amenemope taught that riches and good fortune are gifts from God, which influenced later Hebrew philosophy. He believed that awareness of God should guide all behavior at every moment. His teachings about honesty in government positions were so noble that they would still be respected by modern leaders. He taught that earthly riches are temporary and prayed to be saved from fear.

The teachings of Amenemope were losing influence when an Egyptian royal woman accepted the Melchizedek teachings through the influence of a Salem doctor. She convinced her son, Pharaoh Ikhnaton, to believe in one God. Ikhnaton understood the Salem religion better than anyone since Melchizedek himself. He maintained the idea of one God, which was important for the later arrival of Jesus.

Ikhnaton took extraordinary steps to turn Egypt from many gods to one God. He changed his name, abandoned his capital city, and built a new city. He created new art and literature for his people. However, he moved too quickly and failed to provide for his people's physical needs. After his death, the priests he had opposed returned to power and blamed all of Egypt's troubles on his religious changes.

From Palestine, some Melchizedek missionaries traveled through Mesopotamia to the Iranian plateau. For over five hundred years, the Salem teachers made progress in Iran. The whole nation was moving toward the Melchizedek religion when a change in rulers led to persecution that almost ended the monotheistic teachings there. The Abrahamic covenant was nearly gone when Zoroaster appeared in the sixth century BC.

Zoroaster created a religion of action rather than prayers and rituals. He taught about a wise God who supported civilization. His religion fought against evil and backwardness. Later followers mistakenly worshipped fire, which Zoroaster had only used as a symbol. Zoroaster died heroically in battle for what he believed was the truth of the Lord of light.

The Melchizedek teachings about one God were established in Arabia much later than in other places. The Salem missionaries failed in Arabia because they misunderstood Machiventa's instructions about organization. But they did follow his advice not to spread their message through military force or government pressure. Each tribe in Arabia continued to worship its own fetish, as they had for thousands of years.

Despite these challenges, there were families and clans throughout Arabia that held on to the idea of one God. What united many Arabian tribes was their respect for a black stone in a temple at Mecca. This shared point of reverence later led to the development of Islam. The strength of Islam has been its clear teaching that Allah is the only Deity, but its weakness has been using military force to spread its message.