Tulum

The Maya ruins of Tulum (pronounced, to-loom) are south of Cancun on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. It was built on the cliffs overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Explorers called the Maya city Tulum which means walls because it was a city of walls. Some suggest its Maya name is Zama which means to dawn.


It is hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the Mayas. So little is known, so much is speculated. Here was a civilization that disappeared without a trace except the abandoned cities now lying in ruin. There remains no historical explanation for their disappearance.


The Mayas ascended in mathematics and astronomy and yet descended to the depths of depravity in religious ceremonies that included a human heart extraction ritual (HER). This involved holding the arms and legs down of a live human sacrifice while the priest would open up the chest cavity and rip out the heart of the “willing” victim as an oblation to their gods.


In spite of the magnificent structures, the beautiful location of Tulum, the intellectual prowess of the ancients, I was prejudiced that the Mayas probably practiced human sacrifices. This influenced my thinking as I walked around the ruins. This was once a city that worshipped the sun but spiritually was shrouded by the obsidian darkness. Because of their spiritual blindness the Mayas did not worship the One and only true God known as Yahweh. They did not know Christ. There is sufficient archaeological evidence to support their polytheism.

Behind the false gods that the Mayas worshipped were demons who served the Destroyer or Apollyon, our adversary the Devil. The evil one had a death grip on the Mayas for centuries. Tulum or Zama may date back to as early as the sixth century A.D. and ended by the sixteenth century when the Spanish began their conquest of Mexico and Central America.


The Mayas have always been a source of fascination and sadness. I was thankful that I paid a visit to the ruins of Tulum. The ruins, the disappearance of its people, and the limited history we have concerning the Mayas show forth the Destroyer’s handiwork of a race of people ensnared in deep darkness.

As I meandered about the ancient city the prevailing thought was a greater appreciation of how clean Christianity is in stark contrast to the depravation of the religious culture of the Mayas.


The Psalmist declares that The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:9, NKJV).


The Mayas worshiped the sun; we worship the Son, the true Light. The Mayas offered human sacrifices to their gods; we offer ourselves as living sacrifices that live on for service unto the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.


I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom 12:1-2, NKJV).


Every civilization that turns its back on the LORD winds up in ruin. Every individual that turns his or her back on the LORD shares the same fate. There is a cleaner alternative, however.


And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb… and His servants shall serve Him… There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever (Rev 22:1, 3, 5). <><