Messiah In The Old Testament Episode 22
Inca and Masai Flood StoriesWelcome to Messiah in the Old Testament. In our last episode I gave you an introduction to the world of flood stories. And what a wonderful world it is, full of very detailed, very colorful, very exciting stories of cataclysm and deliverance from that cataclysm. These stories cause me to get really excited and sometimes animated. I'm going to tell you two stories today and, in each episode, I will tell you more and more stories. Now if you remember, the flood stories come from different continents, come from different cultures and remember I put that map up and I'll put it up now for you.
You can see all these different points on the map where these flood stories come from, every continent that is inhabited. Obviously, Antarctica, there were no stories from Antarctica. Maybe there was originally, but we don’t know about that now because the climate has changed and there are no indigenous people living in Antarctica. But these stories come from very wide variety. Now if you remember way back in the beginning of this show, I told you the stories of creation, creation stories from around the world.
And these stories came from the same varied, you know, different comments, different cultures. We understand that origin is really important to a culture. Everyone asks the existential question: Where did I come from? Where, who is my Creator. Where is my origin or my beginning. And it makes sense that you would have origin stories from every culture all around the world. But if you look at those same cultures, you're going to find the vast majority, if not all, have some form of flood story. Now, why would they have a flood story? What's the existential thing related to a flood story? Is it because they were delivered from cataclysm and there's hope that in the future they would be delivered again if there was another cataclysm? Hard to know, but it
makes me think that if these cultures have all these creation stories, have all these flood stories, have these sacrificial systems that it all probably started from one central source and then spread out throughout the earth. And that, of course, fits my biblical point of view, understanding the Tanakh and understanding the Old Testament. You might have a different point of view, which I have no objection or problem to at all. But what I'm trying to present to you is evidence of this beautiful worldwide panorama of flood stories that lends some validity and credence to the biblical flood story. That Noah lived. That Noah obeyed God. That Noah, the righteous man, delivered mankind through his actions.
Now, as we go through these flood stories, I want you to remember the elements that we pointed out in our last introductory episode. That there are eight things that are critical to each and every one of these flood stories. And I’m going to go through those elements that are present in the flood story. The first element is that there is always a righteous hero. That hero is lifted up, elevated. It could be a righteous man, a pious man, somebody who is recognized as a leader. That hero is the central portion of the story. Then element number two is that there is some event or sequence of events or continual behavior that results in judgment. That results in the angering of God or the gods, depending on the story. And then that judgment then is meted out against mankind. Number three then is the element that some form of punishment is meted out and some cataclysmic event happens. Number four element is that the hero then is provided some means of escape from this cataclysmic event and in most of them there is a flood hence the ‘flood stories.’ But there are some instances where things other than a flood [happen]. And then number five element is that there are companions that accompany our hero in their escape from the judgment. Number six [element], a portion of mankind, of animals, even in some stories plants are spared. And those portions are then carried through the cataclysmic event, through the deliverance back onto the other side after the cataclysmic event is over. And then finally number seven is that the hero and his companions are carried safely through the cataclysm. And then finally number eight is
that all are saved and provided a means to set the earth right again. So, as we go through our stories, I want you to keep these eight elements in mind. And we’re going to go through and create a table showing you all the stories and all these elements and how they differ. But keep that in mind as we go through.
Today I’m going to tell you the Inca story I’m going to tell you the Masai story. Now, let's think about it. Those two stories come from different continents. They come from different cultures. The Inca culture is vastly different than the Masai culture.
They’re separated by an ocean. They’re separated by almost 8000 miles. The two stories could not be further apart. But yet they share similarities. They share those eight elements. They ring oddly familiar that maybe those two stories came from the same source. And that’s, of course, my theory that all of these stories come from a single source.
The creation stories, the flood stories, the sacrificial systems they all come from one single place. And that is the story that is told in the Tanakh. That conforms with my biblical worldview. It all fits together very nicely. You may differ [in your opinion] and I have no issue with that at all. We’re here today to present the stories and to give you some evidence that the all these flood stories point back to the biblical flood story. I’m going to tell you now the Incan story. Now, obviously we have to go to South America, to the Andes.
And we’re going to find that the Incan Empire, before the explorers got to it, included almost 16 million people. They were living in this Empire. Obviously, it was ruled by a king. And there were many subcultures [living] in there. It was kind of like the Romans when they ruled the world and they had all their different provinces. The Incas had the same thing, but there was one king over all these people. The Empire ranged from the southern part of Columbia, all the way through Ecuador, all the way down through Peru. There are remnants of the Incan Empire.
The people today which identify as Quechua Indians from the Quechua tribe. They are direct descendants of the Incans, the main culture of the Incan empire where all the kings came from. Obviously, there were other Indian cultures around them that were included in the Empire. Now, Pizarro arrived on the coast of South America, on the coast of Peru and he was the one who discovered and then explored and finally conquered the Incan Empire.
He arrived in 1528 and the end of the Incan Empire is considered [to be] 1533. So, from 1528 to 1533, a 5-year period, there was a time of exploration, a time of learning. Pizarro wanted to know what the geopolitical lie of the land was. He sent missionaries in, some might consider them spies, to learn all the traditions and all the stories to see if there was something Pizarro could use against the Incan Empire. Now, a bit of history, the Incan Empire had just gone through a massive civil war. They were not at their strongest position when Pizarro came on the scene.
Their king, Atahualpa, had killed his half-brother, had consolidated his kingdom. And if it been a few years later he probably would have reunited the Incas and Pizarro never would have a chance to overthrow them. But that's another story for another day. Pizarro sent missionaries in to find out all these stories.
These missionaries, obviously, were Catholic missionaries and they learned the traditions of the Incans. So, a lot of stories came out of that time period, of flood stories. There was this pervasive idea that there was a worldwide flood [in the past] and the missionaries used that to their advantage and said that that was part of their tradition as well.
They told them the story of Noah and the flood and the animals and all of that. And they were able to gain some entry into the Incan culture, the Incan way of life. Now, a lot of these early reports are very similar to biblical reports. In fact, you can tell the missionaries said that the Incans had the same biblical story. I think that missionaries look at everything
through the lens of the church and they probably would be considered somewhat pagan if they published the pagan version of the of the flood story. But there were some who went in which were more chroniclers and more secular.
In fact, Agustinos and Francisco Davila published a book called Informaciones acerca de la Religion y Gobierno de los Incas which literally says Information about the Religion and Government of the of the Incas. This book was taken from their notes. This book was actually published centuries later in Lima Peru, but it was based on their notes. In the notes, there is a description of a flood story and there are other sources that substantiate that. In fact, if you go to certain parts of Ecuador today, you will hear this story being told. Now, as with a lot of Incan stories it starts out with llamas.
And llamas were just an integral part of the Incan way of life. They were like sheep. They were sacrificed. They were used for food. They were used for clothing. They were like sheep. So, there was a man who had a herd of llamas. And he kept his llamas in a field.
And he noted that over about a month’s period of time that his llamas were not acting quite right. The llamas seemed to be down, they seemed to be depressed and weren’t acting right. They weren't eating as much as they normally did. And so, he was getting very concerned about his llamas. So, he went out into the field and he struck up a conversation with his llamas. Now, I don't think I would get very far talking to a llama. But apparently this Shepherd was able to talk to his llamas. So, he asked them what on earth was going on? What is wrong?
And the llamas directed him to a constellation in the sky and said that all the stars in that constellation were conspiring to bring a flood on the earth and destroy the earth. In some accounts, there is a concept that the gods were unhappy with the violence and the sins of men. Again, you start getting that whole Catholic input into the story. But the world was going to be destroyed. One story is kind of hilarious.
The llama says to the shepherd, “Loco, don't you know in five days the world is going to be flooded. So, these llamas knew that the destruction of the world was coming. They knew a flood was coming. And that's why they were depressed. Well, the shepherd obviously was quite alarmed with this, so we went home and told his family and they came up with a plan. So, this shepherd grabbed his family, grabbed his possessions, grabbed his llamas and they went to a mountain.
Now, in one story it is kind of funny, he actually carries his llama under his arm to the mountain. I thought that was quite comical. I can’t imagine carrying a llama a long distance to a mountain and then carrying him up the mountain. But anyway, they get to the mountain and the name of the mountain is variable depending on your story. But in the story by Agustinos, the mountain is Vilcoto. Now, if you look on the map, go to Google maps, you are not going to find Vilcoto anywhere. You'll find the name Vilcoto and you may be able to find Vilcoto Avenue here and there. But there is no mountain named Vilcoto. We don't know where this mountain was, whether it was a mythical mountain or real mountain. So, the shepherd, his family and his llamas arrive at the mountain and they find that the mountain is already jam packed with animals.
All the animals from the region were up on the mountain because they all knew the flood was coming. The animals understood the flood was coming. Nobody had to tell animals that they had to go up to the mountain to be safe. So, the animals get up there and so the floods come. So, the oceans overflow their banks and the whole, the plains are inundated and the water starts rising and rising and rising.
In one story the water gets to the feet of the animals and they are panicking and there is all this distress. And then finally the flood subsides and start going down. In one version the actual top of the mountain comes off and floats on top of the water and rides out the flood, kind of like an ark. And then as the water subsides the top of the
mountain comes back down onto the mountain. So, then the water starts going down and the animals come down. They spread out through the earth and then the shepherd and his family they repopulate the earth. And this is the Incan story and I really enjoy this story. I mean, I like any story with llamas.
Next, I’m going to tell you the story from the steppes of Africa. It's the story of the Masai people. You may know about the Masai. The Masai are very tall people.
They are the tribe that believes that a young man does not become an adult or a man until he kills his first lion. And they believe that every cow, all the cattle in the world belongs to them. Obviously, that causes problems with their neighbors. But the Masai have a tradition that includes the story of a man named Tumbainot.
Now, the Masai culture, obviously it is a distinct, separate culture. But I had opportunity to work in Africa at a hospital called Tenwek Hospital. I worked with the tribe which is called the Kipsigi. The Kipsigi are part of the Kalenjin group. And they had oral traditions similar to the Masai. And there’s a lot of stories from this whole region.
In fact, there is a group of people which are called the Nilodic people that say that they came down from the Nile River Valley. And they brought with them stories of the Children of Israel and the plagues and all that. And they also brought stories of the creation, stories of the worldwide flood. So, this story is not just specific to the Masai, but I like the Masai story the best of all of them.
So, there was this man who lived in the Steppes of Africa. He lived down, probably in the Serengeti Plain. And he took a wife and had three sons. Now, his brother died so then he married his brother’s widow and then had three more sons. So, he had two wives and six sons. Now, the days of Tumbainot were days of decadence and evil. The story goes that
the world was full of evil men. It was packed full with a huge population and those men were not being obedient to God.
But murder had not yet come into the world until one day, one man hit another man on the head and killed him. And then murder entered the world. And it was when murder started that God became very unhappy and decided he was going to wipe out all mankind. So, God was provoked, but Tumbainot found favor in the eyes of God.
And God then instructed Tumbainot to build an ark and to take his two wives and six sons on the ark and also some of every kind of animals on the ark and he would be saved from the flood. God then sent a long rain.
That rain then filled the earth up, flooded the earth. And Tumbainot, his family and the animals were all saved by riding on the ark. Now, the flood went on for days and days and refused to subside. And Tumbainot was starting to get a little concerned.
So, the story goes he sent out a dove to see if the dove would find any place to land. Tumbainot figured that if the world was drying out and they just happened to be in a pocket of water that the dove would land and not come back. But the dove did come back. So, then he waited longer and then sent out a vulture. And he tied an arrow to the foot of the vulture. And figured if the vulture landed, when he flew back the arrow would have fallen off his foot. And sure enough the vulture came back with no arrow on it. So, then Tumbainot knew that there was dry land around. So then,
Tumbainot and his ark then ran aground on dry land. And they disembarked from the ark and then went out and repopulated the earth. Now this is very similar to the Biblical Story. As I said, there was this feeling that people emigrated from Egypt down into Eastern Africa. And a lot of the people I talked to [in Kenya] felt that they were direct descendants from the Children of Israel. And certainly, the Ethiopians, Haile Selassie called himself the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So, this
story, I think it is a very important story as it parallels and tracks exactly what the biblical story is saying. There are obviously some minor [different] details with the two wives and six sons, but the basic story is the same.
Thank you for watching our show today. We hope that you enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. Now, after watching this episode you might be saying to yourself, “Who is this Messiah that Dr. Smith is talking about?
Is he talking about the Christian Messiah? Is he talking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary. And then lived a blameless and holy life on the earth, And then was tortured and crucified. And after he died he then was resurrected from the dead after three days. Then after people witnessed this, he was then taken up bodily by Elohim into heaven from the Mount of Olives.
Or is Dr. Smith talking about the Muslim prophet Isa. Isa Ibn Maryam, the messenger, who was sent by Allah to bring a message to the people. The Quran says he that lived a holy and blameless life, was born of the virgin Mary. He fulfilled all the Jewish prophecies in exact accordance. But one difference, instead of being crucified, he then was taken up by Allah into heaven before the Romans laid hands on him. And he awaits there now in the fourth heaven where at the end of days at the day of judgment he will be revealed to all.
Or is Dr. Smith talking about the Jewish Messiah? The Messiah who has not yet been revealed, that the entire Jewish world is waiting for his revelation. Now, the beautiful thing is that you can hold to any of these beliefs. And we can all still learn together about Messiah. We can learn about our Christian Messiah. We can learn about our Jewish Messiah. We can learn about our Muslim prophet Isa who will be revealed. It doesn’t matter what you believe. You can even be an atheist or agnostic and still learn from this program about Messiah. Now, I have to admit I am a Christian so I approach things, obviously, from a Christian point of
view. And I promise you, as we reveal these prophecies, which I believe have all been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Or will be fulfilled when he comes back, returning in the clouds in the same way he was taken up. I believe that all of this is true, but I promise you I will do my very best to present these prophecies from a neutral point of view. And try to keep my Christian bias to a minimum. Obviously, it will pop up from time to time but I will try to stay only in the Tanakh and try not to get into the New Testament very often. Now, if you want more information about Messiah, we have resources for you.
We have a website which is findingmessiah.org. Now, on that website you are going to find several resources. You will find links to all the videos, all the episodes that we have created so far. You will find links to download the transcripts of any of these episodes. And then you will find a section where you can get more information about Messiah through frequently asked questions. And then there is a section for donation. If you want to come alongside our ministry at Finding Messiah.
Now, there’s going to come a time in this series where you are going to be confronted with the question: What are you going to do with Messiah? Who do you believe Messiah is? Which of these Messiahs do you believe Dr. Smith is talking about? And Messiah will become real to you if you look at all the information presented and come to your conclusions. So, join us as we continue our journey through the Old Testament Scriptures looking for all the Messianic Prophecies. And join us next time as we reveal those to you.
