Looking back in time, there are certain prominent figures who have managed to stamp their indelible mark on history: Hitler, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Alexander the Great – to name just a few. Their stories have been told and re-told until they have reached mythological proportions. In fact, sometimes actual people do cross the line from reality to mythology – such as Zeus. As the premier god worshipped in ancient Greece, our modern minds see Zeus as pure fiction – an imaginary deity manufactured by the less developed and mystical minds of the ancients. Yet, this first man of mythology has his basis in history. Before the Greeks adopted the name “Zeus” for their god, he was referred to as “Jupiter Dodonaeus” by the ancient Trojans (of trojan horse fame). In fact, the name Jupiter was still used in the first century. When Barnabas and Paul demonstrated the power of the true God before the people of Lystra, Barnabas was thought to be Jupiter in the flesh and was about to be worshipped by the people there (Acts 14:8-15).

However, Jupiter’s roots go much further back than the 1st century. The name “Jupiter” is actually a derivative of the name “Japheth”, who was one of Noah’s three sons (Genesis 10:1). Japheth’s grandson’s name was “Dodanim” (Genesis 10:2-4) from which Jupiter’s last name was derived – “Dodanim” became “Dodonaeus”. This connection makes even more sense when you realize that the name for Dodanim’s father, Javan, is actually the Hebrew word for Greece. The ancient Greeks were descendants of Javan and could follow their roots all the way back to Japheth, his son Javan, and his grandson Dodanim. So, “Jupiter Dodonaeus” (eventually called Zeus) was a composite name of two of their ancestors whose stories were passed down through generations, eventually embellished and fashioned into mythological tales, and in time worshipped as gods.

You may think that this trip down the lane of ancient history has little relevance for today. After all, who has a problem with ancestor worship today? Based on the explosion of interest in genealogical research, I might beg to differ with that assessment. With an annual revenue of $1 billion and over 3 million paying subscribers, ancestry.com is the flagship site for “finding your roots”. It seems everyone wants find out if they are related to Abraham Lincoln, the queen, or some rich or prominent figure of the past. For those who have found that connection, they are quick to trot out the information at appropriate times in order to elevate their own status in some way. We may not have crossed the line into ancestor worship (like some other cultures of our day), but we have certainly pocketed our mythological fish tales of who or what our ancestors were all about. Maybe there are times when we have placed people (dead or alive) in an elevated place which they don't deserve.

We must remember that “the best of men are only men at their very best. Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, – martyrs, fathers, reformers, puritans, – all are sinners, who need a Savior: holy, useful, honorable in their place – but sinners after all.” This quote from J.C. Ryle, a prominent English pastor of the 19th century, puts things in perspective. Now, we are certainly supposed to look to the faith of those who have gone before us, as the Bible tells us: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). However, these examples of faith in our past are to be kept in their rightful place. As the author of Hebrews continues in verse 2: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus is the one to be revered. He is the author and finisher of our faith. The men and women who were positive examples in the past are meant to be just that – examples. Each one has both good and bad in them (just look to the Scripture to find out all the bad things our “good” examples did!) Jesus Christ is only perfect example for us to follow.

So, let’s take a lesson from the ancient Greeks and not elevate people to the status of gods. People will always let us down, but Jesus Christ never will. Even Job, who God himself called “a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil” (Job 1:8), had this to say about himself: “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life” (Job 9:20-21). Don’t ever get to the place where you put your own achievements or those of others on the same level with God. He is perfect and He alone is worthy of our worship.