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The Tower of Babel: Abode of the Gods

The Tower of Babel: Abode of the Gods

 

Not all the holy mountains in the history of the world are natural, formed by the shifting of tectonic plates or the sudden, catastrophic opening of “the fountains of the great deep.” The Tower of Babel was one such artificial mountain. Babel was humanity’s attempt to force its way back into the divine council.

At Babel, mankind tried to storm the castle of God.

For generations, well-meaning Bible teachers have presented the story of Babel as an object lesson on the dangers of pride. Those foolish people were so arrogant they thought they could build a tower high enough to reach heaven!

With all due respect to those teachers, that’s an insult to the intelligence of our ancestors, if you think about it. And it’s a disservice to people in church who want to know why Yahweh was so offended by this project. Really? God is that insecure?

Look, if big egos were enough to bring God to Earth, He’d never leave.

Babel was not a matter of God taking down some people who’d gotten too big for their britches. The clue to the sin of Babel is in the name.

Remember, the Hebrew prophets loved to play with language. We often find words in the Bible that sound like the original but make a statement—for example, Beelzebub (“lord of the flies”) instead of Beelzebul (“Ba`al the prince”), or Ish-bosheth (“man of a shameful thing”) instead of Ishbaal (“man of Ba`al”). Likewise, the original Akkadian words bāb ilu, which means “gate of god” or “gate of the gods,” is replaced in the Bible with Babel, which is based on the Hebrew word meaning “confusion.”

Now, there’s a bit of misinformation that must be corrected about the Tower of Babel: Babel was not in Babylon.

It’s an easy mistake to make. The names sound alike, and Babylon is easily the most famous city of the ancient world. It’s also got a bad reputation, especially to Jews and Christians. Babylon, under the megalomaniacal king Nebuchadnezzar, sacked the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off the hardware for temple service. It makes sense to assume that a building project so offensive that God personally intervened must have been built at Babylon.

But there’s a problem with linking Babylon to the Tower of Babel: Babylon didn’t exist when the tower was built. It didn’t even become a city until about a thousand years after the tower incident, and even then it was an unimportant village for about another 500 years.

Traditions and sources outside the Bible identify the builder of the tower as the shadowy figure named Nimrod. Our best guess is he lived sometime between 3500 and 3100 B.C., a period of history called the Uruk Expansion. This tracks with what little the Bible tells us about Nimrod. In Genesis 10:10, we read “the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”

The land of Shinar is Sumer and Erech is Uruk. Uruk was so important to human history that Nimrod’s homeland is still called Uruk, five thousand years later! We just spell it differently—Iraq.

Accad was the capital city of the Akkadians, which still hasn’t been found, but was somewhere between Babylon and ancient Assyria. Babylon itself was northwest of Uruk, roughly three hundred miles from the Persian Gulf in what is today central Iraq. But it wasn’t founded until around 2300 B.C., at least 700 years after Nimrod, and it wasn’t Babylon as we think about it until the old Babylonian empire emerged in the early part of the 2ndmillennium B.C.

So where should we look for the Tower of Babel?

The oldest and largest ziggurat in Mesopotamia was at Eridu, the first city built in Mesopotamia. Scholars put its founding at around 5400 B.C. In recent years, scholars have learned that the name Babylon was interchangeable with other city names, including Eridu. So “Babylon” didn’t always refer to the city of Babylon in ancient texts.

Artist’s conception of how the never-completed ziggurat at Eridu might have looked

 

 

 

Eridu never dominated the political situation in Sumer after the reigns of its first two kings, Alulim and Alalgar. But as the home city of Enki, god of fresh water, wisdom, and magic, Eridu was so important to Mesopotamian culture that more than three thousand years after Alalgar, Hammurabi the Great was crowned not in Babylon, but in Eridu—even though it had ceased to be a city about three hundred years earlier.

Even as late as the time of Nebuchadnezzar, 1,100 years after Hammurabi, the kings of Babylon still sometimes called themselves LUGAL.NUNki—King of Eridu.

Why? What was the deal with Eridu?

Archaeologists have uncovered eighteen levels of the temple to Enki at Eridu. The oldest levels of the E-abzu, a small structure less than ten feet square, date to the founding of the city. And consider that the spot remained sacred to Enki long after the city was deserted around 2000 B.C. The temple remained in use until the 5th century B.C., nearly five thousand years after the first crude altar was built to accept offerings of fish to Enki, the god of the subterranean aquifer, the abzu.

Now, this is where we tell you that abzu (ab = water + zu = deep) is very likely where we get our English word “abyss.” And the name Enki is a compound word. En is Sumerian for “lord,” and ki is the word for “earth.” Thus, Enki, god of the abzu, was “lord of the earth.”

Do you remember Jesus calling someone “the ruler of this world”?  Or Paul referring to “the god of this world”?  Who were they talking about?

Yeah. Satan.

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Here’s another piece to our puzzle:  Nimrod was of the second generation after the flood. His father was Cush, son of Ham, son of Noah. In Sumerian history, the second king of Uruk after the flood was named Enmerkar, son of Mesh-ki-ang-gasher.

Now, get this:  An epic poem from about 2000 B.C. called Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta preserves the basic details of the Tower of Babel story, including the confusion of language among the people of Sumer.

We don’t know exactly where Aratta was, but guesses range from northern Iran to Armenia. (Which would be interesting. Not only is Armenia located near the center of an ancient kingdom called Urartu, which may be a cognate for Aratta, it’s where Noah landed his boat—the mountains of Ararat. So it’s possible Nimrod/Enmerkar was trying to intimidate the people—his cousins, basically—who settled near where his great-grandfather landed the ark. But we just don’t know.)  Wherever it was, Enmerkar muscled this neighboring kingdom to compel them to send building materials for a couple of projects near and dear to his heart.

Besides building a fabulous temple for Inanna, the goddess of, well, prostitutes, Enmerkar/Nimrod also wanted to expand and upgrade Enki’s abzu—the abyss.

“Let the people of Aratta bring down for me the mountain stones from their mountain, build the great shrine for me, erect the great abode for me, make the great abode, the abode of the gods, famous for me, make my me prosper in Kulaba, make the abzu grow for me like a holy mountain, make Eridug (Eridu) gleam for me like the mountain range, cause the abzu shrine to shine forth for me like the silver in the lode. When in the abzu I utter praise, when I bring the me from Eridug, when, in lordship, I am adorned with the crown like a purified shrine, when I place on my head the holy crown in Unug Kulaba, then may the …… of the great shrine bring me into the jipar, and may the …… of the jipar bring me into the great shrine. May the people marvel admiringly, and may Utu (the sun god) witness it in joy.”1 (Emphasis added)

 

That’s the issue Yahweh had with it right there. This tower project wasn’t about hubris or pride; it was to build the “abode of the gods” right on top of the abzu.

Could Nimrod have succeeded? Ask yourself: Why did Yahweh find it necessary to personally put a stop to it? A lot of magnificent pagan temples were built in the ancient world, many of them copying the pyramid-like shape of the ziggurats, from Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica. Why did God stop this one?

We can only speculate, of course, but God had a good reason or we wouldn’t have a record of it in the Bible. Calling Babel a sin of pride is easy, but it drains the story of its spiritual and supernatural context.

In the view of this author, the evidence is compelling. It’s time to correct the history we’ve been taught since Sunday School:  Babel was not at Babylon, it was at Eridu. The tower was the temple of the god Enki, Lord of the Earth, the god of the abyss. Its purpose was to create an artificial mount of assembly, the abode of the gods, to which humans had access.

That was something that Yahweh could not allow.

1 Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Fluckiger-Hawker, E, Robson, E., and Zólyomi, G. Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.2.3#), retrieved 12/17/16.

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Christ Celebrated Chanukah

Christ celebrated Chanukah so you can too!

(John 10:22-23 NIV) Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.

The word “dedication” in Hebrew is Chanukah so Yeshua was at the Temple during the Festival of Chanukah. Every year during this festival we celebrate the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple. In 2 Corinthians 6:16 Paul tells us we are the temples of God since God’s Spirit lives in people who belong to Yeshua. Because of this, it will spiritually benefit us to celebrate the Festival of Dedication (or Chanukah) and rededicate our temples to God.

חֲנֻכָּה (SEC # 2598) – Chanukah

It comes from (חָנַך) chanak: to train up, dedicate (SEC # 2596)

make experienced, submissive, etc. (as one does a horse by a rope in its mouth)

Dedication involves submission. When people want to keep a horse under their control, so it does what they want it to do, a rope is used to control it. Being under the control of its rider, the horse can be dedicated to doing exactly what its owner wants.

For people to be dedicated to God we need to live the same way as the horse. We need to be directed and under the control of Yeshua our Lord, Owner and Master.

The Hebrew word חָנַך is the Hebrew word Solomon used in Proverbs 22.

(Proverbs 22:6) Train up (חֲנֹךְ) a child in the way he should go

(Proverbs 22:6 GNT) Teach children how they should live

(Proverbs 22:6 TLB) Teach a child to choose the right path

(Proverbs 22:6 MSG) Point your kids in the right direction

To dedicate our temples to God we need to be pointed in the right direction so we can choose the right path and live as our Lord calls us to live.

I trust you are beginning to see how celebrating Chanukah can be a spiritual blessing to you. Chanukah begins December 12 at sunset, and ends December 20 at sunset. I encourage to learn more about Chanukah and if you desire I am available to visit your congregation, Bible study, or group of friends to lead a Chanukah celebration.

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After Eden, Before the Flood: Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

The big question we didn’t address in last month’s article is why cranial deformation—headshaping—was even a thing. Please understand that I’m not suggesting that these 6,000 year-old coneheads were genetic mutations or Nephilim, the angel-human hybrids mentioned in Genesis 6 (although the Nephilim would have been around during at least part of the time that headshaping was common in the ancient Near East). But who wakes up one morning in 7000 B.C. and decides to wrap something around baby’s skull to see if it makes his head pointy?

What inspires that? And why was Eridu, the first city in ancient Sumer (and thus possibly the oldest city in the world), the starting point for this?

A study published in the academic journal Paléorient in 1992 concluded that the practice of head-shaping, which is found around the world, originated in the Near East because it was so widespread there. However, the researchers believed the deformation was not necessarily intentional, but probably “incidental to patterns of head-gear.”⁠3

Really? For more than six thousand years our ancestors accidentally forced their babies to wear head-gear so tight it deformed their skulls?

Here’s another bit of data to chew on. At Eridu and nearby sites in ancient pre-flood southern Sumer, and only there, archaeologists have found about 120 terracotta figurines they call “ophidian.” That’s fancy talk for snake-like. They’re slender bipeds, adorned with button-like protuberances, more often female than male, and often in poses that are exclusively mammalian—for example, a female lizard-like figure suckling an infant.

Ophidian figurines made from terracotta and bitumen. Female found at Ur in 1931, male at Eridu in 1948-49. Drawing of female based on object #31-16-733 at Penn Museum; male figurine was on display at the National Museum of Iraq.

The aforementioned scholars pointed out in their paper that there had been no serious study of those figurines and what they meant to the ancients, and no scholarly literature on the origins of human cranial deformation (at least as of their writing in 1992).

Why might that be?

While there hasn’t been much scholarly attention paid to the snake-like figurines, there have been several papers published within the last ten years on head-shaping in the ancient Near East. Still no conclusions on why or how it got started, but it’s clear that the people who lived in the region—descendants of the refugees from Eden—made a habit of this odd practice.

We’ll never know for sure, but we can speculate: The people who formed the earliest human civilizations copied a look that someone, somewhere had seen and decided was a physical ideal. What motivates modern-day teens to wear the clothes and hairstyles they do? Except that this particular fashion statement didn’t change with the seasons—it appears to have been worn by nearly everybody for more than 6,000 years!

It’s not likely that this was a simple fashion statement. However it started, this was apparently a practice that was believed to convey some advantage.

Think back to what we discussed about the serpentine nachash and seraphim, and remember that at least one of them rebelled against Yahweh. Is it possible that the citizens of the prehistoric Near East were trying to curry favor with what they believed was a god?

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Now, if we haven’t already, here is where we may run off the rails.  But let’s run through one more theory, look at the evidence, and see if it makes sense.

As mentioned earlier, Eridu is considered by archaeologists to be the center of the Ubaid culture. The Ubaid period is defined as the civilization in the ancient Near East just before the time of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, roughly between 6500 B.C. and 3800 B.C.  It would have begun not long after Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden.

Now, God wanted humanity to “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).  It was not for His people to take dominion over each other.  As Jesus told his disciples thousands of years later, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you” (Matthew 20:25-26a).

Just as Adam and Eve were created to work the land, God’s design for humans was to be more or less self-sufficient—growing our own food, tending our own flocks, and helping each other whenever and however we’re needed.  When you live that kind of life, you’re too busy to lord it over your neighbors.  And, frankly, since you’re not depending on handouts for your family’s daily bread, it’s harder for government to lord it over you.  It makes sense that Israel was led by judges in times of trouble during its early years, but a king wasn’t part of the original plan—even though God, who knows the end from the beginning, surely saw what was coming and let the Hebrews make Saul king anyway.

Earlier, we described the main features of the Ubaid civilization.  Archaeologists and sociologists have noticed two other things that emerged during the Ubaid period—first, it was a transition from a rural to an urban society, and second, society became increasingly stratified.

In other words, the evidence—things people were buried with, mainly—shows that as people moved from the country to the city, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

This period also saw the construction of the first temples in Mesopotamia.  Each city apparently had a temple for its own local god.  And each temple had a granary for collecting the offerings of the commoners.  Of course, this means somebody oversaw who gave how much, and—more importantly—who received how much.  Archaeologists and sociologists believe this led to an elite class of hereditary leaders, who may have been the ones doling out the grain from temple granaries.

Substitute income tax and social security control over the grain harvest and rationing, and it’s clear that things haven’t changed all that much in the last 8,000 years.  But I digress.

It’s fair to ask how this situation came about.  We can only speculate since we don’t have any written records to study.  Logically, though, it’s a pretty good guess that entities who’d rebelled against Yahweh at this early stage had set themselves up as gods.  It’s conceivable, based on what we know about angels from the Bible, that one or more of them appeared to the pre-Sumerians and encouraged certain candidates who were receptive to the idea that 1) the gods needed temples, and 2) the temples required priest-kings to oversee offerings and ensure that the gods were pleased.  The result was a civilization where freedom was restricted to the upper class while the peasants worked the land to support them.

We’re speculating, of course, but from the standpoint of the Fallen, breaking civilization into classes was a brilliant PSYOP.  Destroying the world is much easier when you only have to manipulate a handful of useful idiots who can convince the rest to do things your way.

Scholars who study the Ubaid period have concluded that it was a time of increasing disparity between the classes, but they don’t look at the situation through a spiritual lens.  It happened, but why? They analyze factors like climate and technology, but they ignore the possibility that the unseen realm may have guided those changes.

God’s original design was for people to work the land and live free.  As Christians, who should accept the existence of the spirit realm by default, it should be natural for us to ask whether the lesser elohim might have rebelled against Yahweh’s plan for creation, and if so, how that would play out.  If we don’t, you can bet secular historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists won’t bother.

Since the trend during the Ubaid period was toward ever-larger villages with temples of the gods at the center of everyday life, contrary to God’s command to “multiply and fill the earth,” it’s a fair guess that this change was the work of entities who were disloyal to their Creator—and who wanted to destroy the work that He’d called very good.

3 Solecki, Rose; Akkermans, Peter M. M. G.; Agelarakis. Anagnostis; Meiklejohn, Christopher; Smith, Philip E.L. “Artificial cranial deformation in the Proto-neolithic and Neolithic Near East and its possible origin: Evidence from four sites,” Paléorient, 1992, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 83-97.

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The Days of Noah “Part I”

If you haven’t read our first two articles, I do recommend reading them before you push through with this one.  For this entire series, we are using the cipher that Jesus gave us for the “end times” in Luke 21.   “When you see these things happen, then stand up, and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near.”  We are called to know our Bibles and we are called to know what is happening in the world. When these two things converge, then we know that the return of Jesus is near.  Thus far we have shown that we are living in the days where:

  • Gentiles no longer tread down Jerusalem.  Luke 21
  • Jerusalem has become a “burdensome stone” for the whole world.  Zechariah 12:3
  • Persecution of Christians is at unprecedented levels in modern times and they are being beheaded just as Revelations describes. Revelations 20:4
  • There is a dramatic increase in pagan and occultic activity just like Jannes and Jambres. 2 Timothy 3:1-9.
  • There are more false Christ’s, false religions, false gospels and false prophets than ever before. Matt 7:15, Matt 24:24, Ezekiel 13:9, Jeremiah 23:16, Luke 6:26, Matthew 16:11-12, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Acts 20:28-30, 2 Peter 3:14-18, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Titus 1:6-16, 2 Peter 2 & Matthew 23:1-29
  • There is a great falling away happening in the church.  Specifically the church has become politically correct rather than Biblically correct. When it comes to sin, Christians are no different than the rest of the world. See the last article and Revelations 3.
  • The Days of Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah are once again in full swing. Luke 17:28

The Days of Noah

The “Days of Noah” are clearly linked by Jesus to His ultimate return. In Matt 24:37-39 it says, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.”  NKJV

To start with, this article is going to be controversial because we will be talking about an era of human history that we know very little about because the Bible does not actually say that much about it. Not only that, but we are going to be bringing up one of the most controversial chapters in the Bible, which is Genesis the 6th chapter. Before I begin, I want to say that whatever you believe about Genesis the 6th chapter, it probably doesn’t matter unless it was actually happening again. If Genesis 6 is happening again, then the proof is in the pudding.  So for this study we are going to work backward. We are going to focus on what is happening in the world right now and you are going to find that there are some strange new creatures that are being created. Then we will reference the Bible to see if something similar can be found in its pages.

Trans-humanism

Trans-humanism is the technology of changing and blending human DNA to create a bigger, better, stronger and a longer living human being.  What most people do not know is that modern technology has just ripped a hole in the fabric of humanity! Genetic engineering is currently used even within our food supply chain. They think that what they are now able to accomplish is something that has have never achieved before, which is to conquer death and our frail, human limitations. In no uncertain terms, the development of Trans-humanism changes everything. In order to accomplish this feat, they are changing DNA by blending human, animal and plant DNA together.  They also have the technology to write completely new DNA and to create completely new life forms and in a speedy fashion.  Let me be clear, if God does not intervene soon, none of His creations will be left.  When I first heard of Trans-humanism, I didn’t believe it was even remotely possible, but unfortunately I was wrong.  That we, as children of God, would knowingly proceed forward with irreparably changing humanity it is beyond my comprehension, but that is exactly what this new field of science is doing.   They are able to write, rewrite, copy and paste DNA at high speeds with profound affects.  To understand just how this is possible, we need to learn a little more about DNA.  In it’s simplest form, DNA is just like the letters of the alphabet because it can be used as a language or a code to store sophisticated information. DNA is a storage system that literally forms the “book of life.” (Psalms 139:16) Unfortunately, like any storage system, the information can become corrupted and when this happens the image of God and His temple are corrupted.

There are many debates about the Bible and it’s meanings, but there is no doubt that God himself wrote the message of DNA.  This message, though in a fallen state, still bears the resemblance of God Himself.  The goal of Trans-humanism is no less than to change the image and the reality of what mankind is, because they view mankind as weak and fatally flawed. If you think mankind’s ultimate problem in the world today is death, then scientists think they are on the verge of solving that problem as well. In 2015, one of the front covers of Time magazine stated “2045 – The Year Man Becomes Immortal.”  In the article, they believe the secret to life everlasting is simply replacing parts that they can grow themselves. Scientists in the field have already coined the term for this new version of man and they call them humans 2.0. The problem is humans 3.0 and 4.0 will be coming out very shortly. The idea of blending humans, animals and plants together, as well as writing their own code for brand new life forms, clearly threatens to destroy the world, as we know it. To go along with this new breed of men, they are already talking about a new level of racism that will come with it. This new form of racism will be between those who are modified versus those who are not.

In an effort to try and catch you up on what is really possible, just look at some of the following headlines.

    • 12 bizarre examples of genetic engineering – Web-spinning goats – Glow-in-the-dark cats – Venomous cabbage, Fast-growing salmon, Banana vaccines, Less-flatulent cows, Genetically modified trees, Medicinal eggs – Strange new Creatures and Chimeras
    • The $100 Genome: Implications for the DOD – 2010 – The first draft sequences of the human genome were published a decade ago at a cost of $300M, now you can accomplish this for less than $100. Recommendation:  The DOD should immediately plunge into genetic engineering (create super soldiers). Waiting even two years to initiate this process may place them unrecoverable behind in the race for personal genomics information and applications.  Translation? Enhanced human beings or super soldiers are the new arms race!
    • The Hybrid Age – Tom Horn & Chuck Missler – Trans-humanism promises to redefine what it means to be human. Tran-humanism supports this vision, as does a flourishing list of U.S. military advisors, bioethicists, law professors, and academics, which intend the use of genetics, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and synthetic biology (Grins technologies) as tools that will radically redesign our minds, our memories, our physiology, our offspring, and even perhaps as Joel Garreau, in his bestselling book Radical Evolution, claims—our very souls.
    • COMES THE ÜBERMENSCHEN – Hitler’s vision of the superior race is coming true. The former chairman of the President’s Council on Bioethics, Dr. Leon Kass warned:  Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for alteration, for eugenic and psychic “enhancement,” for wholesale redesign. In leading laboratories, academic and industrial, new creators are confidently amassing their powers and quietly honing their skills, while on the street their evangelists [Tran humanists] are zealously prophesying a post human future. For anyone who cares about preserving our humanity, the time has come for paying attention.
    • INTACT GENETIC MATERIAL EXTRACTED FROM AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMY – By HAROLD M. SCHMECK Jr. – Published: April 16, 1985
    • SCIENTISTS RESURRECT EXTINCT FROG That Gives Birth Through Its Mouth – March 19th, 2013
    • First human head transplant could happen in two years – 25 February 2015 by Helen Thomson.
    • Citizen Cyborg:  Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future
    • The end of extinction? – Mail Online Magazine – By SARAH GRIFFITHS – 9/3/2013

 

 

    • DARPA’s Next Generation Of Super Zombie Soldiers – Published by Sam Hason on 8/31/ 2015

 

  • In 30 Years People Won’t Have Sex to Make Babies, Stanford Professor Says
  • National Geographic – The Next Human.

 

    • Trans-humanist Seeks Eternal Life With Blood of Youth Rather Than Blood of Christ.

 

  • Brave New World: Scientists Bring About ‘Baby Farming’ and The Recreation of The Nephilim.
  • Human beings can now be edited … but we may not like the results.
  • Babies by Design: The Ethics of Genetic Choice.
  • Government to lift moratorium on cross-species, ‘chimera’ research
  • Resurrection Technology Is Here
  • British scientists granted permission to genetically modify human embryos

 

Well, you might be saying that it will take years for this to happen, but the truth is that if a controversial military or scientific report is made public, especially when it has measures of national security involved, then the report is probably 10-20 years behind what is actually happening. Once a genetically modified human is released, it only takes 3-4 generations for this change to affect all of humanity. This is why we are told in Leviticus 19:19 that we are not to mix species and this is why Trans-humanism changes everything. What do you mean?  When they inserted quail DNA into a chicken, the chicken moved its head like a quail and made sounds like a quail.  These are complex memory and behavior patterns. The chicken literally isn’t a chicken anymore! If we do this to humans, we won’t be human anymore either, at least the humans that God created.  The ramification of taking the technologies of Trans-humanism any farther is that they could literally destroy the world, as we know it.  Not only that, but we are playing God.  Think about all of the new creatures they will be creating.  Think about how many failures they will have killed before they get one that is adaptively significant. Experimenting on beings that are partly human and killing them as we see fit sounds more like the Devil than any god I have heard. But the genie cannot be put back in the bottle because $100 is all it takes to sequence someone’s DNA.  Sure science is doing all of this in the name of curing disease, but really it is to change who and what we are as a species.  Mankind sees themselves as imperfect and fragile and in need of a fix and science is now in a position to give it them.  They see this as just the next phase of their evolution, but this may be the same forbidden fruit that was in the Garden of Eden.

If the Bible says that we are not to change the words of the Bible (Rev 22:18&19, Deut 4:2 & 12:32) because this is blasphemy, then how can we consider changing the words that God Himself wrote in the “book of life.” DNA is “the instruction book for life” and the literal “words that define His image,” but like any information system, DNA can contain the truth or it can contain lies.  The Bible says that the truth will set us free and that lies will enslave us.  The most troubling aspects of Trans-Humanism are that we are changing the image that God created. Furthermore, we are changing our DNA to where it is different than Adam and even more importantly, different than Jesus. If our bodies really are the “temple of the Holy Spirit,” then changing one jot or tittle of the temple plan defiles God’s temple. A perfect God cannot inhabit an imperfect temple.  If mankind were created in the image of God, then changing our DNA would change that image.  If Satan is the god of this world and everywhere he looks all he sees are little images of his arch enemy, then don’t you think it might be his #1 goal to change that?  Clearly, Satan would want to change mankind to be in his own image instead. If demonic possession is real, then a demonic spirit can inhabit a human body. This parallels the Holy Spirit, which can also inhabit a human body making it God’s temple. Is it possible that changing the human body could also cause it to become the temple of Satan? These are scary implications and honestly, just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ramifications of what this new technology of Trans-humanism is doing to our faith.

So the question becomes, does the Bible talk about Trans humanism or genetic manipulation?  Well the Bible says, “what has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)  I believe that this is the case here because Trans-humanism is eerily similar to several passages talked about in the Bible.  Remember, if species are left alone, then everything reproduces after its own kind.  So we are looking for something that did not follow this pattern. The first clue to this mystery happens to be in the very first prophecy in the Bible, which is found in Genesis the 3rd chapter. I call this chapter “The War of the Seeds”, but you could also call this “The DNA Wars.” Why would I say that? Consider this statement because it was the first thing that God said to Satan and Adam after the fall of mankind. “And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head (referring to the Messiah), and you will strike his heel.” What is exciting about this chapter is that it is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus and how He would free us by destroying Satan.  But there are some curious things in this passage as well like, what does the Bible mean by seed?  As we know today, the most important of seed is the genetic component, which is DNA.  If there is a war of the seeds then this could be a DNA war. When did this DNA war happen?  Is it happening right now?  How can Satan have seed or offspring and when did he have this seed the Bible refers to or is this just figurative?  Is seed or DNA one of the actual chess pieces that will be used as this cosmic war comes to an end?  Why is the seed or DNA so important?  While we may not know all the answers to all of these questions, I do believe that we will be able to answer most of these questions during this study.

If we look for the seed of Satan, there is really only one candidate found in the entire Bible.  There is really only one new creature that did not come after its kind. Moreover, this creature was similar to humans, but they were created outside of the 6 days of creation, which means God did not create them. This sole candidate is the Nephilim described in Genesis the 6th chapter and elsewhere.  Does the idea of the Nephilim fulfill this verse? How can Satan have seed unless the Biblical account of Gen 6 is true?

Mingling Seed and Tampering with DNA.

In Daniels vision of the statue with the “head of gold,” which is found in chapter 2 verses 43, he mentions that the Final Kingdom before the return of the Messiah would also be the only kingdom that was divided. It was partly iron and partly clay “in that they mingled themselves with the seed of men and the two would not cleave together.”  The only other time that the Bible really mentions the idea of mingled seed is in Genesis the 6th chapter, which also happens to be the days of Noah.  I believe that what this verse is telling us is that in the last kingdom it will be divided because there will be two types of people in this kingdom. Some will have un-mingled seed and some will have mingled seed and been genetically modified. This last kingdom that will rule the earth before Christ’s return perfectly parallels the last kingdom of Revelations that is described as a “Beast.” Just like the Divided Kingdom, the Beast Kingdom will have two types of people.  There are those who have received the mark of the Beast and those who refuse this mark.  Maybe this is not a coincidence.  Maybe the people who take the mark of the Beast are the very one’s who have tampered with their DNA. Can it also be a coincidence that this technology exists today?  How about the fact that Trans-humanism is literally blending mankind with the beasts of the earth? Is this also a coincidence? Maybe this mark is not just a mark, but also a genetic marker that has components of a “beast.”

The Last Divided Kingdom of Daniel and the Beast of Revelations Connection

Last Kingdom Revelations Daniel 2
Saved Unmarked Non-mingled seed
Unsaved Marked Mingled Seed

Class Warfare & Racism Like Never Before!

One of the major ramifications of Trans-humanism is that it would create a new form of racism. This will happen because there is a huge divide between those who are enhanced and those who are not enhanced. This divide will not just be ethnic and racial, but also in abilities and longevity.  Humans 1.0 will simply not be able to compete with humans 2.0. To deal with this issue, the US Government has already paid Case Law School millions of dollars to modify our constitution to include rights for these new modified human beings.

Genesis 6 – Fallen Angels – Why Did God Really Destroy The Earth With A Flood?

If we are living in an age where humanity is being re-written through DNA tampering, then this meets the Bible’s description of the idea of mingled seed described in Daniels divided kingdom.  The question is, does the Bible talk about mingling of seed anywhere else.  Has there ever been some type of DNA tampering that has happened before?  If so, that would clearly explain why & how Satan could have seed or offspring. Searching for these two ideas leads us to what the Bible calls, The Days of Noah.” There is only one thing that happened in the Days of Noah that seems to be completely unique, and that is the strange story found in Genesis the 6th chapter.

  • Genesis 6:2 – “The sons of God (benei/1121 & Elohim/430) saw the daughters of Adam, that they were good in the broadest sense (for what?). And they took women (802/not wives) from all those that they chose…   4- The Nephilim (a new creature – 5303) were in the earth in those days, and even afterwards when the benei Elohim (Sons of God) came in to the daughters of Adam, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men (1368 – Powerful Ones) of old (5769 – existed from ancient times), the men of name/renown/legend (OT:8034 – a definite and conspicuous position).

There are many issues that we need to address here, so let’s look at some of the key words and see who we are talking about and what they did?  The Strongs’s word definitions are as follows:

  • OT: 1121 ben (bane); from OT:1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., [like OT:1, OT:251, etc.]):
  • OT:430 ‘elohiym (el-o-heem’); plural of OT:433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used of the supreme God (in the plural thus, especially with the article); occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:
  • OT:802 ‘ishshah (ish-shaw’); feminine of OT:376 or OT:582; irregular plural, nashiym (naw-sheem’); a woman (used in the same wide sense as OT:582):

Before we break down exactly whom the perpetrator of this event was and what resulted from it, I want to address one of the first questions that most everyone has.  Typically this is some version of what I might hear. “You mean to tell me that you believe that fallen angels married human women that resulted in children that were giants.”  “How can angels have sex with human women?” The first thing I like to point out to people is that the text doesn’t actually say that this is what happened.  What the text says is that the “Sons of God” took women in the general sense. They did not marry them as suggested in several translations.  The text does not say that they had sex with them either.  They certainly did not have a wedding and a honeymoon either.  It just says that they took them. Obviously, the idea of being abducted is actually a more accurate description of what happened.  However, this introduces an entirely new connotation that I am not ready to make yet.  What I am saying is that women were taken and when they were returned they were pregnant.  If you look at the technology that is available today, it is easy to do the same thing.  All you have to do is take a DNA swab from someone and you can have a baby with him or her.  We are also implanting foreign fetuses into wombs around the world and delivering babies that have no common DNA with their mother.  I hope this reality pops a bubble inside your brain revealing to us that what God can do through the power of His word, Satan may seek to accomplish through technology.  Without the knowledge that this could be accomplished through technology, we too may have translated this passage just the way that it was.  The obvious truth here is that how can Satan or his fallen angels are less advanced with regard to technology than we are?  If the unseen world really is on a higher level than we are, than how could they not be capable of this?  Once we rid ourselves of our connotations of what this passage does not say, then I believe we can move forward and take an honest look at what is being communicated here. So just who are the perpetrators here?

Who Are The “Sons of God”? The 3 Views

  • Some in Orthodox Judaism say they were the religious nobles.
  • Some say this is when the Godly sons of Seth married the evil daughters of Cain.
  • Fallen Angels?

Religious Nobles?

There is nothing that hints in scripture that would lead us to believe these are nobles or magistrates. How does religious nobles marrying the bad daughters of men get YHVH mad enough to destroy the world? How do giants come from such a marriage?

Sons of Seth Theory

The problem is that YHVH said that only Noah and his sons were righteous and they were the only ones on the ark. Seth didn’t make it, so how did the Nephilim occur after the flood? How can Seth’s sons be godly and marry the bad daughters of Cain at the same time? If the issue was mixed marriages, then the problem should have been confined between Seth’s sons and their wives. How do superhuman giants come from such a marriage?  Historically, Seth’s sons aren’t good. Josephus says about Seth’s sons, “but in the process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers; and did neither pay those honor to God which were appointed them, nor had they any concern to do justice towards men.”

The “Sons of God” (Benei Elohim) Is Used Five Other Times In The Old Testament

  • Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.  (The heavenly hosts we gathered)
  • Job2: 1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord,
  • Job 38:6 whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof; 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
  • “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons/children of the living God.‘ (Hosea 1:10)  Refers to the future of God’s people.

In the Old Testament all of these instances where the term “Sons of God” has been used, it always refers to angels except for one of them. The one reference that doesn’t exactly match the idea of referring to an angel actually refers to what the future of those humans who trust in God shall be, which is a “Child of God.”  I will explore this connection between the similarities of humans and angels in just a minute, but for now let’s move on.  

“Sons of God” In The New Testament

  • Believers are called “sons of God” in a spiritual sense because they are “born again” of YHVH.
  • Adam is also called a “Son of God” because his origination was from God, but his descendants were called sons of Adam.

In the entire Bible, only angels, the messiah, Adam and in the future “born again” or resurrected believers are called the “Sons of God”. This is also how these verses have been interpreted historically.  Historian Philo of Alexandria, who was a deeply religious man in the first century, wrote a brief treatise about this subject, called “Concerning the Giants.” Based on the Greek version of the Bible, he renders it as “Angels of God.” Josephus also records, “For the tradition is that these men did what resembled the acts of those men the Grecians called giants – aka Titans.” Josephus also added that Noah remonstrated with these offspring of the angels for their villainy.

What Is The Biggest Issue Here?  

The issue is what was created by fallen angels was so drastically different than the rest of mankind! These differences clearly produced something that was not after it’s own kind and so the question of genetic modification clearly comes into play. Not only does the size, strength and, longevity come into question, but how can someone have six fingers and toes and not be genetically modified?

  • Genesis 6:4- The Nephilim (5303) were in the earth in those days, and even afterwards when the benei Elohim came in to the daughters of Adam, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men (1368 – they were Powerful Ones) of old (5769 – which existed from ancient times), the men of name/renown (OT:8034 – definite and conspicuous position).

Looking at the key words in this passage here is what comes out:

  • OT:5303 –  nephiyl (nef-eel’); or nephil (nef-eel’); from OT:5307; properly, “fallen ones”, a feller, i.e. a bully or tyrant:  Greek Septuagint = Giants, Titans
  • OT:5307 naphal (naw-fal’); a primitive root; to fall away, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative): desert, be cast down.
  • OT:1368 gibbowr (ghib-bore’); intensive from the same as OT:1397; powerful; by implication, warrior, tyrant: KJV – champion, chief, excel, giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man.
  • OT:5769 `owlam (o-lawm’) from OT:5956; properly, concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practically) eternity;  repeated or recurrent action or state, adverbial (especially with prepositional prefix) always: KJV – always, ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, [n-]) ever (-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+without end). Compare OT:5331, OT:5703.

Historically, the Septuagint, which is older than the Masoretic text, translates the word “mighty men” or “gibbowr” as giants.  The Septuagint provides a clear historical context for how giants and the Nephilim have been interpreted in antiquity.  More importantly, the Greek word that they use to translate this is the word “Titans.” The Greek mythology surrounding the Titans also parallels the Genesis 6 account. The “Titans” were the half-breed offspring of the gods. They were created when the gods came down and had sexual relations with human women.  This scenario is what created the offspring that are still legendary for their abilities to this day.  These Titans rebelled against the gods and were put into Tartarus, which is an underground prison that is actually mentioned by the apostle Peter. Looking to find the Nephilim throughout the rest of the Bible is a bit of a goose chase.  Some of this is because, while the stories remain the same for future generations, the names change quite frequently because of the confounding of language that occured at the “Tower of Babel.” These are a list of some other possible names that seem to trace back to the lineage of the Nephilim.

Nephilim Are Also Called:

  • Rephaim – is used to comprehend all the gigantic races of the Canaanite
  • Anakim – race of Giants – Num 13:33 – descendants of the Nephilim
  • Emim – the proud deserters, terrors, race of giants Gen 14:5
  • Zuzim – the evil ones. Gen 14:5
  • Zamzummims – evil plotters, Deut 2:20
  • Zophim – watchers, descended angels Num 23

Just like it says in Genesis 6, there would be Nephilim in those days and also after the flood.  The most famous giant after the flood is Goliath who was killed by King David.  The other major place where giants dominate the story line is when the children of Israel refused to enter into the Promised Land. Clearly, the Bible gives many examples of how the people that lived there were called giants.  How big were they?  They were big enough that even after all the miracles that God performed getting them out of Egypt and through the desert, Israel was still too scared to enter the Promised Land because of these giants.  Maybe this wasn’t just because they were just a bunch of weak-minded people. Maybe it was because giants were real and they were “powerful ones.” To conquer a giant you need to be a spiritual giant.  If you consider that Genesis 3 speaks of a literal war between two genetically different kinds of people, then this would explain why the children of Israel were commanded to wipe out every man, woman and child when they encountered one of these groups. This genocide is also why many atheists have abandoned the God of the Bible as un-loving and evil God.  This also explains why Israel was not allowed to mix or marry the other people groups in Canaan for the same reason. Scoffing at the giants or simply misunderstanding the true reasons for these commands may still be the basis for how racism has crept into church even to this day.

Genesis 6 Explains The Flood

Whatever happened in Genesis the 6th chapter, it was probably the biggest reason that YHVH destroyed the world with a flood. It is also difficult to believe that “eating and drinking” was the real reason why God destroyed the earth with a flood.  Certainly a genetic perversion of the messianic line could have thwarted the plan of salvation for all of humanity. So, a flood makes perfect sense because you cannot rewrite DNA once the seed has been mingled. Just like any amount of leaven added to a loaf of bread, it leavens the whole lump.  Partially corrupt DNA corrupts the whole organism.  So why did God choose Noah?  The Bible says, “He was perfect in his generations.” Generations could literally be translated as genes.  Noah had a perfect genetic connection to the first Adam. Why did God destroy the earth? “All flesh had become corrupt.”  

  • Genesis 6:9-12  – This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations (genes). Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.  NKJV

In order for someone to be perfect in his generations, they would have to have some form of pure genetic connection to what God intended mankind to be. Noah’s DNA can also be traced directly back to Adam, who was perfect prior to the fall of mankind.  The idea that the flesh could literally become corrupt is difficult to imagine unless the DNA had also become corrupt or tampered with.  The fact that this applied to all flesh may mean that the same thing was being done to the animals. I do find it interesting that God specifically called certain animals to the ark.  Tampering with animal DNA creating many forms of hybrid or mixed of species is also recorded in the Apocryphal book of Jasher, chapter 4. The Bible even speaks of some of these hybrid animals such as a satyr as if they were real.

Before we move on, there is an obvious parallel between the modern notion of Atlantis and the Days of Noah. The ancient city of Atlantis, which was supposedly advanced beyond what man has accomplished today, was also destroyed in a flood. This also parallels the story of the Titans and how they were punished and imprisoned around this time.  Is there really a group of people that are looking to go back to the “Days of Noah and Atlantis?  The esoteric and occult bodies that helped found America commonly referred to America as the “New Atlantis.” The complete lack of our ability to construct these ancient megalithic structures even to this day, with the Great Pyramid being the best example, can only lead someone to one conclusion. There must have been an ancient society that was more technologically advanced than we are.  No, you heard me right! Not only can we not build the pyramid today, but also the idea that someone built the pyramid with copper tools is ludicrous. This also destroys the gist of evolution theories as well, because just after the cave man emerges from the caves, he builds a brand new Mercedes, only to go back to the Stone Age.

Nephilim After The Flood

  • Num 13:33 – And there we saw the giants (Nephilim), the sons of Anak, which come from the giants (Nephilim); and we were in or own sight as grass hoppers, and so we were in their sight.
  • Goliath – Goliath had 4 other brothers: 2 Sam 21:16-22 and 1 Chron 20:4-8.
  • Goliath’s brother had a spearhead that weighed 7 pounds and one had 6 fingers and 6 toes.
  • Deut 3:11 – The Giant King  – “For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit. NKJV This means Og’s bed was 15-17 feet long.

Rephaim

In the Bible two uses of this term are discernible. The first is as a tribe or nation  (e.g., Gen. 14:5; 15:20; Deut. 2:11) or referring to a people distinguished by their enormous stature. Especially singled out are Og king of Bashan (Deut. 3:11) and the powerful adversaries of David’s heroes (II Sam. 21:16, 18, 20). The biblical authors trace their designation to an apparently human eponym/name giver Rapha (h) (e.g., II Sam. 21:16, 18, 20;I Chron. 20:8). The Bible’s emphasis on the size and might of the Rephaim is responsible for the Septuagint’s renderings gig antes and titans (titans). The fact that they were called Rephaim also seems to indicate that they had an ability to heal that was extra-ordinary.

rapha’ – OT:7497 (raw-faw’); or raphah (raw-faw’); from OT:7495 in the sense of invigorating; a giant:  KJV – giant, Rapha, Rephaim (-s). See also OT:1051.

rapha’ – OT:7495 rapha’ (raw-faw’); or raphah (raw-faw’); a primitive root; properly, to mend (by stitching), i.e. (figuratively) to cure: KJV – cure, (cause to) heal, physician, repair, thoroughly, make whole. See OT:7503.  

Ancient Jewish Writings

“The wicked emperor Hadrian, who conquered Jerusalem, boasted, ‘I have conquered Jerusalem with great power.’ Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai said to him, ‘Do not boast. Had it not been the will of heaven, you would not have conquered it.’  Rabbi Johanan then took Hadrian into a cave and showed him the bodies of the Amorites, whose bodies were buried there. One of them measured eighteen cubits (approx. 30 feet) in height.  He said, ‘When we were deserving, such men were defeated by us, but now, because of our sins, you have defeated us.’”  Quoted Judaism p155-156, N.Y. 1962.

Occult Tradition

The occult tradition holds that both now and then that a Nephalim spirit can incarnate in human form.

Angels In General

  • Appear in human form:  Sodom & Gomorrah, resurrection & ascension, spoke, took men by the hand and ate meals with them.
  • Capable of Direct physical contact:  i.e. – Passover in Egypt, killed 185,000 Syrians
  • According to Jesus, Angels don’t marry in heaven.  However, Gen 6 does not say that they did marry the women or that Fallen Angles obey this Godly mandate not to have relations with human women.
  • Fallen Angels can be worshipped:  Acts 7:41-42     And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven (i.e.- fallen ones), NKJV

Fallen Angels

  • Jude 1:5-7 – But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain/first estate, but left their own abode/habitation/Oiketerion, (i.e.- fallen angels) He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness (the Abyss a prison of darkness) for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. NKJV

This passage gives us several direct connections that we need to make.  The first is that there is a direct comparison of what the disobedient angels did and what Sodom did in that they both ‘”went after strange flesh.”  This seems to be a clear reference to something that happened after the disobedient angels were kicked out of heaven because there is no strange flesh in heaven.  This verse is also a reason that many believe that what was happening in Sodom may have been similar to Genesis 6. Still, Sodom does have a clear reputation for sexual immorality and this is certainly similar to the Genesis 6 account as well.  Furthermore, as we will see in a minute, there was an additional punishment that was given to these disobedient angels because of the magnitude of their sin. These fallen angels were put in a prison of darkness that the Bible later refers to as the Abyss and Peter refers to in the Greek as Tartarus, which we will look at shortly. (2 Peter 2:4)

The other connection that I want us to make is that what these disobedient angels in heaven left is exactly the same thing that we as Christians hope to one day be blessed with.  Why do we say that? The issue is the word translated “habitation or clothing” because it is the same word found in 2 Corinthians 5:1-8.

  • For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation (Oiketerion), which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality might be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.  
  • Oiketerion – NT:3613 (oy-kay-tay’-ree-on); neuter of a presumed derivative of NT:3611 (equivalent to NT:3612); a residence (literally or figuratively):

The take away here is that the same heavenly body / Oiketerion that some of the fallen angels gave up is the same heavenly body we will receive from God when we are resurrected.  This explains the idea of a ghost or demonic spirit.  It is likely that there are disembodied fallen angels, who are also called demons, running around looking for those whom they can communicate with and or later inhabit or possess? Once you understand that these disobedient angels lost their heavenly bodies, and then you can understand how there may be a great many evil spirits (AKA- fallen disembodied angels) seeking to find something or someone to inhabit or devour.  Maybe it is very uncomfortable to be disembodied.  More importantly, without a body there may be no way for them to express themselves or interact with the world that they find themselves trapped in.

Just as a side note, the term inaugurate, which is the name of the ceremony performed in order to make them our president, is in keeping with the occultic tradition of a human being becoming inhabited by a spirit or god in order to rule over a kingdom.  For example, Egyptians did not believe that their Pharaohs were God, they believed that they were simply the vessel that was inhabited by their god.  Interestingly enough inaugurate literally means to bore into or install or possess, which links this ancient idea to what we do here in America.  What is even more interesting it that the same alchemical arrangement where this ancient ceremony was held in Egypt is exactly the same alchemical arrangement found in Washington, D.C? For more information on this idea see our study on “Mystery Babylon” or read Tom Horns’ book “Zenith 2016.”

Tartarus & The Abyss

  • 2 Peter 2: 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell (Tartarus), putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 If he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 

So as I promised, here is a passage that ties many of our subject matters together.  Again, we have a situation where the angels have sinned and because of the uniqueness of what they did, they were punished severely and completely imprisoned. The timing of this event happened in the “Days of Noah.” Peter uses the Greek term Tartarus, which is a term used for a dark place of woe, a pit or an underground prison of darkness in the unseen world.  Tartarus is clearly linked to the mythology surrounding the Titans as we have already covered.  The Titans were part heavenly and part earthly because they were the offspring of the god’s breeding with mortal women.  Does any of this sound familiar? The word Titan also equals 666. In Greek, Titans means ‘gray, whitish, or chalky gray.  In fact, the story of giants appearing on earth as a result of “gods” (fallen angels) intermingling with humans and animals is retold in the history of every major civilization of the ancient world. At one time in American theaters, I counted 4 movies that had the son of some other god saving mankind.  Don’t you think that this is exactly what Satan would want? Could these “myths” from cultures such as Egypt and Greece been a crude reference to their knowledge of an earlier time when so-called gods, demigods & “heroes” actually walked the earth, giving birth to giants and men of legend and renown?

Quotes from Josephus Concerning Giants 

  • “This notion, that the fallen angels were, in some sense, the fathers of the old giants, was the constant opinion of antiquity. The Sons of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants (titans).”
  • “These kings had laid waste all Syria, and overthrown the offspring of the giants. And when they were come over against Sodom . . .”  “They told them also, that they found at Hebron the posterity of the giants. Accordingly these spies, who had seen the land of Canaan, when they perceived that all these difficulties were greater there than they had met with since they came out of Egypt, they were affrighted at them themselves, and endeavored to affright the multitude also.”
  • “For which reason they removed their camp to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they slew all the inhabitants. There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to any credible relations of other men. Now they gave this city to the Levites as an extraordinary reward. . “

Giants In America

The truth is that there is a lot of proof for giants right here in America.  There are many accounts of them even in Native American culture. One of the most famous ones is by the Native American Pawnee tribe in the autobiography of the famous Buffalo Bill.

  • The North American Native Americans believed that the first race of human beings were giants. In the autobiography of William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Cody writes that while camping on the South Platte, a member of the Pawnee came into the camp with what the army surgeon pronounced to be a giant thigh bone of a human being. When Cody asked about where such a bone might have come from, the Pawnee replied …that long ago a race of giants had lived in the area. This race of men had been three times larger than normal men and able to out-run a buffalo and even carry it in one hand.

Another definitive resource about giants in America is the book by Fritz Zimmerman called “The Encyclopedia of Ancient Giants In North America.” I also like the book, “Ancient Giants In America” by Richard Dewhurst.

The Big Cover Up

There is no doubt that when we think about Giants being on the earth, we have to ask ourselves where are they?  How could someone cover this up if they really were out there?  The books I have mentioned will help you to understand this, but there is also a documentary movie called, “A Race Of Giants” that covers this exact question.  Yes, legends speak of Giants that once walked the earth. In America alone there have been over 1,500 newspaper articles that specifically address the existence of 3,781 skeletons of a race of giants who were somewhere between 7-12 feet tall. Tape measures just haven’t changed that much in the past few hundred years, so where did the evidence go? Did the Smithsonian Institution cover it up? Obviously, they aren’t going to tell us.

We Can’t Excavate These Sites

Why can’t we find some new ones? It turns out that between the government, the universities and the Smithsonian, they control all of the information and access to the dig sites where these skeletons were found. Only their archaeologists are allowed to go to the different sites, much less excavate to see what is there. L.A. Marzulli documents this in his book, “On The Trail of the Nephalim 1 & 2.” There are pictures that show giants with six fingers, just like the Bible records that Goliath’s brothers had.  L.A. has also documented that the elongated skulls of South America are not human because the do not have human DNA.  See some of the later parts of the “Watcher” series movies after video 9.

Noah Preached, But No One Repented

As we move on from talking about giants and the “Days of Noah,” one more thing occurred to me.  Have you ever asked yourself how Noah preached for 120 years to humanity before the flood and yet no one ever repented or got onboard?  This is an interesting idea because Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and follow Him.  How could Noah preach for 120 years and yet no one heard the call of God to repent?  This would make him the world’s most un-successful preacher. Maybe the reason that no one got saved from the flood except those who were born to Noah was because there was something that was only present in the genes of Noah’s family that made them part of God’s family and God’s sheep.  Maybe the reason for why those who take the “Mark of the Beast” cannot be saved is for the same reason. These are legitimate questions, but here is where I want to go from here.  

How Can Fallen Angles Have Offspring?

Once you get past your own preconceived ideas about Genesis 6, the obvious truth here is that with the technology of today, I could have a baby with you and never touch you with anything but a swab. All I need is a little bit of your DNA and we can blend you with anything. If we have this technology today, how can we assume that we are more advanced than Satan?  Most people aren’t willing to say that they are smarter than Satan, but that is what you are doing if you don’t think that Satan is not more technologically advanced than we are. Of course, God doesn’t need technology, but Satan does in order to pull off many key parts of what will happen in the “last days.”  Many of these “Beast” technologies we are going to uncover in one of our future articles.  I believe that after we cover these emerging technologies and how they will help Satan accomplish his goals, one must consider the real possibility that Satan is actually the one behind their development.  Satanically inspired technology will be necessary in order to pull off not just the world’s greatest deception, but also to control all the people of the world.

Question: How Were There Nephilim After The Flood?

There are several possibilities.

  • The same way they happened the first time in Genesis 6.
  • Maybe, the wives of Noah’s sons were not pure.
  • Nimrod was born one thing and he began to be something else – a giborum, a giant, Nephilim? Genesis 10:8

Recombinant DNA & Viruses?

While changing the human race through breeding is an obvious choice for Satan, the real question is how can someone be born one thing and still become another?  The story of Nimrod in the Bible gives an example that somehow this actually appears to happen.  This along with repeating what happened in Genesis 6 is probably the most likely explanation as to how there were Nephilim after the flood. Today we would most likely say that this kind of change could take place through what is called recombinant DNA. Recombinant DNA is formed in the laboratory by bringing together genetic material from multiple sources to create something new.  This is possible because DNA molecules all share the same chemical structure in all of God’s creatures. They only differ in their sequence. CRISPR is another tool that edits DNA and is already being used to wipe out undesirable traits in humans, but can easily be used to produce designer humans.  A virus may be what scientists actually use to deliver this payload of foreign DNA to every cell in someone’s body.  Without going into detail, I have heard it said that evolution can be debunked based on the existence of viruses alone because there is no evolutionary method that can explain their development. I am not the first one to ask ponder exactly why viruses were created and for what purpose.

The Race of Giants Explain

  • The real reason the Flood was necessary.
  • The Existence of the Nephilim.
  • Many of the Extreme Judgments of God.
  • Why the children of Israel were so scared to go into the Promised Land.
  • Why Israel in some instances was ordered to kill every last man woman and child of certain races.
  • The Nephilim was also why they were not supposed to marry from people from any of the other tribes in the Promised Land.
  • How and why racism can be wrongly interpreted in the Bible.

The Trail Doesn’t End There

While I believe that I have made a strong case that Trans-humanism has happened back in the “Days of Noah”, I do not believe that the trail of evidence ends there.  What if I scrap the analogies of the mingling of seed described in Genesis 3 & 6, and the “Divided Kingdom” of Daniel 2 or the presence of giants throughout much of the Bible? What if we just look at what the religion of Trans-humanism is saying and see how it’s message compares to what the Bible says? The following are some of the direct contradictions of Trans-humanism with the message of the Bible.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!

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“The Paradigm” Book of the Month

Is it possible that this ancient paradigm has determined and is determining not only the American presidency but also the timing of current events, in some cases even down to the exact dates?

Could a mystery from the ancient Middle East have foretold the course of current events more accurately than any poll or pundit?

Could the ancient paradigm have pinpointed the exact date of the 9/11 attacks before anyone had any idea? Could the paradigm have determined the exact years of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump, and others?

And what does the ancient paradigm say about what is yet to come—our future? Could the paradigm even contain a warning critical for this hour and crucial for all to hear?

Be prepared to never see the world in the same way again. The Paradigm  contains a revelation that will challenge your very understanding of the issues we face today.

Click here for FREE sample chapter

 

Dr. Larry Bennett

This book is a must read for every pastor and should be read by every Christian. The writer, Jonathan Cahn, is giving prophetic insight into the ends times and he shows a parallel between the Old Testament story of Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 16-18). The conclusions he makes parallels the story in the Old Testament to how things are shaping up on the world scene today.

 

 

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Cain, the First City, and the Mystery of Head Shaping

Life after Eden must have been a crushing disappointment for early humans, especially the First Couple. Forget about the burden of living under the curse—toiling to coax enough food from the ground to survive, the pain of bringing new life into the world, and all the rest. The realization that they had disappointed their Creator and condemned their children and their children’s children until the end of time to lives apart from Yahweh must have been nearly unbearable.

The Bible gives us very little on the rest of their lives. We only know the names of three of their children: Cain, Abel, and Seth. There must have been others and at least two of them were girls, because Cain and Seth both married and had children of their own. (See? The old question, “Where did Cain find his wife?” isn’t that hard to answer.)

It’s understood that secular archaeologists and historians won’t agree with much of what we believe about human history. That’s okay. We Bible-believing Christians don’t reject science when we interpret data through a biblical lens. Science is the process by which we collect and record information to test theories about the way things are. Analysis is what we do with that information after it’s collected. It’s not the science we often question, it’s the analysis.

Scholars do agree, however, that civilization emerged in the Fertile Crescent around 10,000 B.C. (Note: We’re using dates that are generally accepted by a consensus of scholars so we don’t get bogged down arguing about the timeline. That’s outside the scope of what we’re trying to do here.)  Agriculture, cities, writing, trade, science, and organized religion all developed in a broad arc that stretched from Egypt through the Levant and down into Mesopotamia.

This civilization is called the Ubaid culture by scholars. That’s not what the people who lived in it called it, of course; we don’t know what they called themselves because they never invented writing. The Ubaid civilization got its name from Tell al-`Ubaid, a small settlement mound in southeast Iraq where famous archaeologists Henry Hall and Sir Leonard Woolley dug up the first bits of pottery from those people between 1919 and 1924.

Map of Ubaid civilization sites in Sumer. The first city, Eridu, is on what used to be the shore of the Persian Gulf. (credit John D. Croft / CC-BY-SA-3.0).

This happens a lot with prehistoric cultures. The names of their entire civilizations are accidents of discovery, coming from wherever the first archaeologist, bored shepherd, or greedy tomb raider found the first bit of evidence from people we’d never heard of before. Let’s just hope when archaeologists 8,000 years from now discover the remains of our civilization, it’s not by stumbling across the shell of a Wawa or a Piggly Wiggly.

Archaeologists who study the Ubaid culture agree that it spread from Eridu in southeast Iraq, eventually going as far as what is today northwest Iran, northern Syria, southern Turkey, and the Levant (Syria/Lebanon/Jordan/Israel). The Ubaid civilization was typified by large unwalled villages, rectangular multi-room mud-brick houses, high quality pottery, and the first public temples. Crop irrigation developed by about 5000 B.C., so cereals and grains could grow in the dry climate that again dominated the region. The first city in Mesopotamia, and therefore the oldest city in the world, appeared around 5400 B.C. Although agricultural settlements like Jericho (c. 9000 B.C.) and Jarmo, east of modern-day Kirkuk in Iraq (c. 7100 B.C.) are older, Eridu, located in what is today southeastern Iraq, was remembered by later Sumerians as the first city, with a degree of specialization among its citizens not seen before in other settlements.

The Sumerian King List, dated to about 2100 B.C., records it this way:

After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridu. In Eridu, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28,800 years.⁠1

Interestingly, the Bible may support this account.

Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

Genesis 4:16-18 (ESV), emphasis added

Some scholars, such as Egyptologist David Rohl, believe it’s possible that the “he” in the second sentence refers to Enoch, not Cain. The last word, Enoch, might be a later addition. In that case the builder of the city was Enoch, and the city was named for his son, Irad—hence, Eridu.

To speculate a little further, we can apply a rudimentary translation to the name Alulim and come up with “fourth man” (A = prefix + lu = “man” + lim, a contraction of limmu = “four”). Again, this is speculative and it may be way off base so don’t take it as gospel. But if it’s correct, then Alulim might have been Irad, the “fourth man,” or fourth generation, after creation—Adam, Cain, Enoch, Irad—and the first king of the first city on Earth, Eridu—the city which bore his name.

Regardless of its origins, what is most interesting about Eridu is that besides being the oldest city in Mesopotamia, and possibly the world, is that was also the home of the oldest and largest ziggurat in Mesopotamia. This was the temple of one of the most important gods of the ancient Near East. He was known as Enki to the Sumerians and Ea to the later Akkadians and Babylonians. Enki was the god of the sweet waters needed for life. He was depicted with two streams of water flowing from his shoulders that represented the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the main sources of fresh water in Mesopotamia.

Along with An (or Anu) the sky god and Enlil, the god of the air, Enki was one of the three most important gods in Sumer. He arrived very early in Sumer from Dilmun, probably the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. In fact, the Sumerians believed Enki personally created Eridu, elevating it from the marshy ground on what was then the shore of the gulf.

Enki was the god of magic, craftsmanship, and wisdom. Although Enlil was the king of the gods, Enki was the keeper of the mes (sounds like “mezz”), decrees of the gods that formed the fundamental concepts and gifts of civilization—everything from religious practices to social interaction to music.

The Babylonian creation myth, the Enuma Elish, describes how everything on Earth came into being through the defeat of the chaos goddess Tiamat by Marduk, son of Enki/Ea, the chief god of Babylon. However, the older Sumerian story credits Enki with giving life to all things, including mankind, and names Enlil the slayer of Tiamat.

The differences in the story are at least partly due to the ebb and flow of power over the centuries. Each city in Mesopotamia had a patron god or goddess. The importance of a deity was, as you’d guess, tied to the fortunes of its city. Just as Eridu was the home of Enki, Enlil was chief deity at Nippur, Inanna (Ishtar) was supreme at Uruk, the sun god Utu was the patron deity of Sippar, and so on. To give you an idea of the incredible amount of time we’re dealing with, Enki ruled in Eridu for about 3,500 years before Marduk replaced Enlil at the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon, an event linked to Babylon’s emergence as the region’s dominant power in the 18th century B.C.

That’s about the same amount of time that’s passed between Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and you reading this sentence.

This essay is not in any way a thorough review of life, culture, or religion in ancient Mesopotamia, but there is one more aspect of life in the ancient Near East to call to your attention. It’s something we usually only hear about from fringe pseudo-scholars who blame the phenomenon on extraterrestrials. Scholars—archaeologists and sociologists—have known at least since the late 1940s that people throughout Mesopotamia, before they learned how to write, figured out how to turn their children into coneheads.

It appears, based on human remains dated to between about 10,000 B.C. and 3500 B.C., that cranial deformation was widespread in the Ubaid culture, and Eridu—the world’s first city, possibly built by Cain or his son—was Ground Zero for head shaping. An archaeological dig at Eridu just after World War II discovered about a thousand bodies that were buried during the Ubaid. Of the 206 sets of remains the archaeologists exhumed, “all of the crania had been deformed in one fashion or another.”⁠2

Got that? 206 out of 206. Not a few, and not just the elites. It appears that everybody from every strata of the Eridu culture had a deformed skull.

Deformed crania from the Ubaid culture site at Seyh Höyük in Turkey (photo by Kirsi O. Lorentz).

Now, instead of asking why, the lead archaeologist decided “earth pressure” after burial was the cause2—even though none of the skulls were cracked or broken, which would be expected if the deformations had occurred after death.

Evidence of head shaping has been found at sites all over Iraq, southwestern Iran, eastern Turkey, the valleys of the Zagros mountains, and the western shores of the Persian Gulf, dated from 7500 B.C. to about 4000 B.C. After that, the practice seems to disappear.

Hmm. If we place a global flood sometime between 4000 and 3500 B.C….

 

1 Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Fluckiger-Hawker, E, Robson, E., and Zólyomi, G. “The Sumerian King List: Translation,” The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr211.htm), retrieved 12/24/16.

2 Coon, C.S. “The Eridu Crania: A Preliminary Report,” Sumer 5, 1949, p 103.

To go much deeper with author and Biblical History Researcher Derek Gilbert read his recent book “The Great Inception”

 

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Mount Hermon: Secret Abode of the Gods

It is significant that the phrase translated “cast them into hell” in 2 Peter 2:4 is the Greek word tartaroo, a verb meaning “thrust down to Tartarus.” This is the only time in the New Testament that the word is used, meaning it requires special attention.

Tartarus was separate from Hades, a place of torture and torment even lower than Hades in Greek cosmology. It was believed to be as far below Hades as Earth is below Heaven. And Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, chose that word to describe the punishment reserved for the angels who had engaged in illicit sexual relations with human women. Stick a mental bookmark there because we’ll have to come back to this.

The extra-biblical books of Enoch and Jubilees expand on the story, adding detail and context that’s not in the Bible. Mount Hermon is where two hundred Watchers, a class of angelic being mentioned in chapter 4 of the book of Daniel, descended and began cavorting with human women. From these unions came the Nephilim, the giants of Genesis 6.

The Watchers, according to Enoch, were led by Semjâzâ, who was apparently worried that he’d take the fall for what they were about to do:

And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’  And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’  Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended ⌈in the days⌉ of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon…

The Book of Enoch 6:3-6a (R.H. Charles translation)

The trade offered by the Watchers was knowledge, just as it was in Eden. In exchange for the pleasures of the flesh, Semjâzâ and his minions offered charms and enchantments, astrology, the art of making weapons, cosmetics, and writing, among other things—presumably arts humans would have developed or discovered over time rather than downloaded on society all at once.

However, the giant offspring of these unholy unions, the Nephilim, pillaged the Earth and endangered humanity. They consumed everything men had. When that wasn’t enough, they began eating people and even each other. Enoch describes the giants as creatures of insatiable desire who threatened to terminate the bloodline of the future Messiah by violence—and, apparently, by corrupting the human genome.

The Book of Jasher suggests that the transgression of the Watchers and the Nephilim went beyond corrupting humankind, including “the mixture of animals of one species with the other” (Jasher 4:18).

We can only speculate as to what that was about. Was this where the legends of chimeric beings like centaurs and satyrs began?  Or were they legends at all?  But we do know that Yahweh sent a flood that rid the earth of all flesh except for the eight people and the animals aboard the ark. The Watchers who started it all, according to Peter and Jude, are chained in Tartarus, and they’ll stay there until “the judgment of the great day.”

But Mount Hermon’s role in history didn’t end with the flood of Noah. Another group of fallen bene elohim set up shop on the mountain after the showdown at Babel.

According to Belgian scholar Edward Lipinski, Hermon was known to the ancient world not only as the secret dwelling place of the Anunnaki, it was the mountain of the divine assembly of the northwest Semitic god El, the creator god of their pantheon. [iii]Mount Hermon is where El held court with his consort Asherah and the “seventy sons of El.”

Remember that number. We will see it again.

El was a name that came to be used in Hebrew as a generic term for “god”—El, Elohim, El Elyon, etc. It’s possible that the epithet El Shaddai, possibly meaning “god of the mountain,” was applied first to El. Another Mesopotamian god, Amurru, was called “Bel Šade,” or “lord of the mountain.” (The š sounds like “sh.”) This was another PSYOP by the Fallen—appropriating a name by which Yahweh identified Himself to confuse things. In Exodus, Yahweh told Moses that it was by the name El Shaddai, usually rendered “God Almighty” in our English Bibles, that He introduced Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 6:3). That’s why Jacob became Isra-el, not Isra-yahu.

Of course, skeptics take this to mean that Jews and Christians are confused about who we worship. It’s El, they claim, and the followers of Yahweh are so dense we’ve gotten it wrong for the last 3,500 years. In point of fact, however, it’s the skeptics who have fallen for another PSYOP by the Enemy, who don’t care what we believe as long as it’s not the one thing that’s true.

But make no mistake: El of the Canaanites was not Yahweh of Israel, and Yahweh was not El. In the Canaanite pantheon, El was a figurehead. Real power was wielded by Ba`al, the king of the gods. In the Canaanite myths, there was a power struggle between the gods over who would hold that title, and El didn’t seem to have the power or the will to just pick a winner. Neither did he seem all that interested in ruling himself. If you had to pick a word to describe El, it would be “semi-retired.”

That is definitely not the God of the Bible.

#

One of the fascinating aspects of the story of Gilgamesh is that archaeologists generally consider him a real, historic character. In 2003, a team digging at the site of ancient Uruk believed they’d found the tomb of Gilgamesh beneath what was the former course of the Euphrates River—but their discovery came a month after the United States military invaded Iraq in 2003, which put a stop to the dig.

Scholars have known for years that there are parallels in Mesopotamian legend and the biblical accounts of the patriarchs. Enoch is similar to an antediluvian king named Enmeduranki, and Noah is variously called Utnapishtim (Babylon), Ziusudra (Sumer), and Atra-Hasis (Akkad), depending on which culture wrote the story. But even those accounts are part of a supernatural PSYOP. For example:  The accounts from Mesopotamia portray Gilgamesh as a mighty warrior, a hero, two-thirds god and one-third man. He has adventures and slays monsters, notably Humbaba, or Huwawa, the defender of the faraway cedar forest who’d been assigned to terrorize humans by the god Enlil.

Scholars believe Humbaba might also have been pronounced “huwawa.” Dr. David Livingston, founder of Associates for Biblical Research, points out that Huwawa sounds a lot like Yahweh. If he’s right, then it’s possible we’ve discovered another Enemy PSYOP:  The real mission of Gilgamesh, as the Fallen wanted Mesopotamians to understand it, was to kill the monstrous guardian of the secret home of the gods—Yahweh.

In our first article, we showed how the anointed guardian cherub of Eden, the nachash who lured Adam and Eve into sin, was cast down from God’s holy mountain to become lord of the dead. We will show in a future article in this series why Jesus chose Mount Hermon for several very specific incidents—strategic events aimed at the rebellious bene elohim. So to avoid repeating ourselves, we’ll hold some information back until later in this series. But we’ll share this: The people who lived in the Levant in the ancient world knew that Bashan, the kingdom of Og at the base of Mount Hermon, was known as the literal entrance of the netherworld.

Consider this: Is it possible that the foul reputation of Mount Hermon and the region of Bashan grew out of an historic event—the literal fall from Eden, God’s holy mountain, by the rebel who was cast down by God?

Many scholars have noted the similarities between Eden and the garden of the gods sought by Gilgamesh, the secret dwelling place of the Anunnaki. If Hermon was Eden, it could explain why the rebellious gods who want to establish their own mount of assembly have been drawn to it—to defile it—since the beginning of time.

[i] Lipinski, Edward. “El’s Abode: Mythological Traditions Related to Mount Hermon and to the Mountains of Armenia,” Orientalia Lovaniensa Periodica 2, 1971, p. 19.

[ii] Heiser, Dr. Michael S. “The Nephilim,” Sitchin is Wrong.com (http://www.sitchiniswrong.com/nephilim/nephilim.htm), retrieved 12/16/16.

[iii] Lipinski, op. cit., p. 69.

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Sons of God, Fathers of Giants

While the early Sumerians were figuring out how to grow crops without rain, interesting things—historic things—were happening far to the northwest. The second peak in our chronological list of spiritually strategic holy mountains is Mount Hermon.

Hermon is the highest, most majestic peak in the Levant. At 9,200 feet above sea level, it dominates the Golan Heights on the border between Israel and Syria, anchoring the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. It has been considered sacred for most of human history.

Mount Hermon was a holy site as far back as the old Babylonian period, nearly two millennia before Christ, and probably even earlier. In the Old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh epic, which dates to the 18th century B.C. (roughly the time of Jacob), “Hermon and Lebanon” were called “the secret dwelling of the Anunnaki.” The Ninevite version of the poem, written about 600 years later, describes the monster slain by Gilgamesh, Humbaba (or Huwawa), as the guardian of “the abode of the gods.”[i]

The Anunnaki were the seven chief gods of the Sumerian pantheon: Anu, the sky god; Enlil, god of the air; Enki, god of the earth; Ninhursag, mother goddess of the mountains; Inanna (the Babylonian Ishtar), goddess of sex and war; Sîn, the moon god; and Utu, the sun god. They are mentioned in texts found in what is today southeastern Iraq that date back to the 27th century B.C. So the more recent versions of the Gilgamesh story from Babylon and Nineveh may remember more ancient traditions.

The name Hermon appears to be based on a root word that means “taboo,” similar to the Hebrew word kherem, or “devoted to destruction.” The word is often translated into English as “under the ban.”

The first appearance of the word in the Bible is Exodus 22:20: “Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction (kherem).” But the ban wasn’t just invoked against disobedient Israelites. Some of the inhabitants of Canaan were also declared kherem by Yahweh—specifically those that were known to be giants, or at least descended from giants.

That begs the question:  Where did the giants come from?  A curious episode is recorded in the first four verses of Genesis chapter 6:

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

Genesis 6:1-4 (ESV)

Scholars have debated the meaning of the term “Nephilim” for millennia. Most believe it comes from a Hebrew root, napal, meaning “to fall” or “cast down”—literally, “fallen ones.”

However, Bible and ancient language scholar Dr. Michael S. Heiser, author of the excellent book The Unseen Realm (highly recommended) and the new book Reversing Hermon (ditto), contends that this cannot be correct:

The form nephilim cannot mean “fallen ones” (the spelling would then be nephulim). Likewise nephilim does not mean “those who fall” or “those who fall away” (that would be nophelim). The only way in Hebrew to get nephilim from naphal by the rules of Hebrew morphology (word formation) would be to presume a noun spelled naphil and then pluralize it. I say “presume” since this noun does not exist in biblical Hebrew — unless one counts Genesis 6:4 and Numbers 13:33, the two occurrences of nephilim — but that would then be assuming what one is trying to prove! However, in Aramaic the noun naphil(a) does exist. It means “giant,” making it easy to see why the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) translated nephilim as gigantes (“giant”).[ii]

In short, the Jewish scholars who translated the Old Testament into Greek about two hundred years before the birth of Jesus clearly understood that the Nephilim were giants, not just men who “fell away” from God.

Likewise, the Hebrew words translated “sons of God” in the passage, bene elohim, refer to divine beings, not mortal men. Now, that hasn’t been the consensus among Christian scholars since about the 5th century, thanks to the great theologian Augustine. He popularized the “sons of Seth” theory to explain away the weird supernatural element of the passages above. In short, the Sethite view is that the sons of God were men from the godly, righteous line of Seth who began intermarrying with women from the corrupt, wicked line of Cain.

Frankly, this defies logic on several points:

  1. How likely is it that all the Sethite men were good while all the Cainite women were bad?
  2. We’re supposed to believe Cainite men never married Sethite women?
  3. Why would these unions produce Nephilim, understood to be giants by Jewish rabbis and early Christians alike?
  4. Why would these unions lead to wickedness so great that God had to wipe out everything that walked the earth except Noah, his family, and the creatures in the ark?
  5. Every other use of bene elohim in the Hebrew scriptures refers to divine beings.

Problems with the supernatural understanding of the text usually focus on whether angels and humans could successfully produce children.  Proponents of the Sethite view often point to Jesus’ teaching on the resurrection of the dead:

For in the resurrection [people] neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Matthew 22:30 (ESV)

The key words are “in the resurrection” and “in heaven.” Noah’s neighbors were flesh and blood, not resurrected, and the angels who “came in to the daughters of man” were most definitely not in heaven.

There are several examples in the Bible of divine beings interacting with humans in physical ways—eating, drinking, and even engaging in a dustup in front of the house of Lot (Genesis 19:5-11). Why couldn’t they procreate as well?

The final nails in the coffin of the Sethite view are the references to this event in the New Testament. Both Peter and Jude refer to the only example in scripture where angels transgressed:

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

2 Peter 2:4 (ESV), emphasis added

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 6-7 (ESV), emphasis added

If there was any doubt about what the angels did that deserved punishment, Peter and Jude clarified things. They specifically identified the sin of the angels as sexual by linking it to the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Crossing the species barrier between angel and human is just as taboo as the barrier between human and animal.

 

[i] Lipinski, Edward. “El’s Abode: Mythological Traditions Related to Mount Hermon and to the Mountains of Armenia,” Orientalia Lovaniensa Periodica 2, 1971, p. 19.

[ii] Heiser, Dr. Michael S. “The Nephilim,” Sitchin is Wrong.com (http://www.sitchiniswrong.com/nephilim/nephilim.htm), retrieved 12/16/16.

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Bagel and Lox Judaism

A rare opportunity to share with Jewish people

A majority of Jewish people are secular. One rabbi defines secular Judaism as a “Bagel and Lox Judaism.” Many Jewish people eat bagels and lox, except for those of us who don’t like fish; we eat bagels and cream cheese instead. And many Jewish people watch “Fiddler on the Roof” and Charlton Heston play Moses in the movie “The Ten Commandments.”

Many Jewish people identify with other Jews by the things they do and share in common, which too often does not include a pursuit of God and the Hebrew Scriptures. But there is a time of the year when the door cracks open and Jewish people think about spiritual things.

Every year in September, many Jewish people celebrate the High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). More often then not, these are the only days they attend religious services. These days are very serious and offer us a rare opportunity to engage Jewish people in spiritual conversations.

In the next two articles, I will give you different questions you can ask your Jewish friends. These are questions that can provide you with an opportunity to share the Good News that Yeshua has provided atonement for our sins.

I can list the questions, and share a little about them, but these articles will only wet your appetite for more. I want to encourage you to invite me to speak at your congregation to share these questions, and to teach people how to answer them from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).

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The Great Falling Away and The Days of Lot

In our last article, I addressed the most common question that I am asked by people who are curious about Bible prophecy, “why prophecy?  Why now?” How do we really know that we are living in the “last days?” For myself, the answers can be found in the words of Jesus in Luke 21. In this passage Jesus gave us two very specific events that we know have happened in human history.  The first was that there would come a day when Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed and all the Jews would be dispersed throughout the world. This was primarily fulfilled in 70 A.D. when Rome did just as Jesus predicted.  The second part of what Jesus said, “Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled.”  In other words, there would come a day when Jerusalem would no longer be controlled by Gentiles.  

Israel became a nation again in 1948, but it wasn’t until 1967 that Jerusalem came back under Jewish control.  This recent event is the direct fulfillment of the words Jesus spoke almost 1900 years ago.  Let’s be honest, after 1900 years we just might need a little help in making a case that Jesus could actually be coming soon.  Then in the same passage Jesus says, “When you see these things happen, then stand up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near.”  As Christians we are called to know our Bibles and to know what is happening in the world today.  When we see these two things converge, then we must begin to try and wake up the world to the impending return of Jesus. I believe that the church today as a whole is either not aware of the prophetic parts of the Bible or they are not aware of what is happening in the world today.  To this end we will use this series of articles, along with the clear cipher given to us by Jesus, to show that the Bible and our newspapers are converging like never before.

As we begin searching for the convergence, I want to bring the following passage to your attention:  

  • 2 Thes 2:1-4 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first (rebellion / apostasy / departure / revolt), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition/Apollyon; 4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. KJV

While we are not going to take on all of this passage on right now, I do want to make it plain that before Jesus comes, there is going to be a great falling away.  Other translations use rebellion, apostasy, departure and revolt. While there are certainly other theories about the full extent of what this word means, I am going to cover this from the more traditional perspective.  Just for another perspective, there was an interesting article in “Prophecy Watchers” on 05/2017 by Dr. Andy Woods where he outlines that historically “falling away” could also be translated departure. Dr. Woods believes that this departure is likely to refer to the rapture. While the article represents an interesting possibility, the problem for me is that the entire passage is emphatically trying to show that there are going to be some pre-requisites to the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.”  Dr. Woods does not include the first two verses, but they are unique in that they directly address two separate events. Whether they happen on the same day is up for debate, but neither of them can happen until the man of sin is revealed, sitting in the temple of God and showing himself to be God.  Since this “Abomination of Desolation” happens in the middle of the tribulation, many have used this passage to justify their belief in mid-tribulation rapture.  For most of us, the idea of the church being gathered to Jesus is typically thought of as the Rapture of the church. So if the rapture cannot happen until the departure — which is the rapture — then this passage just doesn’t make any sense.  Why can “the rapture” never happen until the rapture happens? Unless the gathering, like the one mentioned in Mark 14:27, is not the rapture or there is more than one rapture. Stay with me on this as this next point as it gets a little tricky. Some have asked the question just how the first rapture, which resurrects the dead and provides an escape for the church, wouldn’t also be necessary for those who are killed or survive the tribulation. Nonetheless, this is a can of worms that I am not willing to open up right now. If you are interested in examining the rapture further, then I recommend the series “Introduction to Prophecy,” which you can find on my website at prophecydays.com. When it comes to the rapture, I believe God has simply left us to debate these things and I would never break fellowship over something like the rapture.  Gary Stearman of “Prophecy Watchers” seems to agree that even though there is a great deal of disagreement over the rapture, that we shouldn’t separate further based on this issue.  See the article by Gary titled, “Things Hard To Be Understood, Peter, Paul And The Church.” For myself, I believe that God did not give us prophecy to predict the future, which even includes the rapture. I believe God gave us prophecy so that we would know that God knows the future.  This means there is a heavy veil over prophecy and that we may not know some things are going to happen until right before or sometimes after they happen.  For now, let’s proceed with the idea of a great falling away of the church as being a sign of the soon coming of Jesus.  

When I think about other passages that might give us some more information about exactly what this coming great decline in faith might look like, I think about 2 Timothy 3:1-9.

  • But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. NKJV

While I do think this passage speaks for itself, I do want to point some things out.  The first is that this passage tells us when this situation will happen, “in the last days.” While the laundry list of evil is certainly impressive, I tend to run through most of them thinking, “exactly what is specific to the last days?”  It seems like most of this could be said about many eras in human history.  But then comes several very interesting details – “having a form of godliness, but denying its power.”  For me this is so definitive of the New Age Movement because they are so pushing for all this good in the world without acknowledging the presence of God because they are attempting to turn all of us into gods.  Of course, this is the signature temptation of the Devil and as such we would expect his children to continue to use it.  Since the time of Christ, I don’t believe that we have ever had a time where mankind is so obsessed with being good, but then they turn around and deny that there is a God.

The next phrase that sends me into some serious contemplation is, “always learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.”  This is a direct reference to the educational system that is in place in the last days and it matches the education system of higher learning that we have today. Never has there been a time where knowledge has increased like there is today, and yet, morally and socially we are going backward everywhere in the world.  The world has gone literally crazy!  The last morsel of deeper truth that is likely to present in this passage about the “last days” is the mention of Jannes & Jambres.  This is a clear reference to when Moses opposed by the evil magicians in Pharaoh’s court when he demand that the children of Israel be let go. (Exodus 7:10-12)  These magicians were able to cause their rods to become snakes, and they represent powerful unseen entities that are warring against God.  What I am saying is that along with this decline of the church, there is going to be a corresponding surge in evil. This may be linked to the opening of the Abyss in Revelations 9.  

The idea that we could face this kind of demonic resistance again or that there could be one last “golden pagan age” that happens just as we head into the “last days” should be somewhat shocking or at least a foreign idea to most of us.  This is something that the church just hasn’t really faced since its early history.  I honestly believe that the reason for this is because when Jesus came out of the grave, He took dominion over this unseen realm.  Wherever the church and the gospel have encountered occultism around the world, it has dried up to the point that people really wonder if there is anything supernatural in the world today.  As modern Christians we have trouble understanding how Jesus cast out demons left and right or that people really worshipped gods of wood and stone, but our Bible says that it is real with real power behind them.  More importantly, as we get closer to “last days” that we are likely to see a return of occult power that will fascinate people and entice them in.  This is why more women leave the church these days to join Wicca than any other organization.  Paul tells us exactly the same thing in Ephesians 6:12, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Funny how we quote this verse so often, but we don’t actually act like anything else is going on or that we are involved in a spiritual battle.  As the time of Christ’s return gets closer, I believe we will continue an ever growing amount of demonic activity causing many to resist the truth, corrupting young minds and becoming quite adversarial to those who have faith.

A great falling away must also mean that there are going to be a great many false churches that are preaching a false Gospel that glorifies a false god. Some of these false churches that we see today are preaching a religion of works, but the Apostle Paul is quick to point out the folly of such ideas.  

  • Gal 3:1-4 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? NKJV

Even in the church, the ecumenical movement is now in full swing and the number of players is growing.  The one world religion of those who are “spiritually enlightened” is gaining ground as we speak.  A religion is actually seen as the enemy and we must form a one-world religion in order to bring the world together as one. Chrislam (the fusion of Islam, Christianity and Judaism) is real as mankind tries to bring the danger of religion back under some kind of control.  No longer can Jesus be the only way.  In fact, we don’t need saving, just as long as we aren’t actually bad compared to someone else. I mean, as long as we weren’t Hitler right?  Any religion will get us there as long as it isn’t the God of the Bible.  The problem is that the Bible tells us that there would come a day when pastors and teachers would give to the people what their itching ears so long to hear.  

  • 2 Tim 4:3-8 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. NKJV

This passage confirms something what I have turned into one of my rules for evaluating any given doctrine or teaching.  “Be careful of anything that is exactly what you want to hear.”  Our false-self, our false-dreams and desires are huge motivators for our beliefs.  This verse is telling us that if preachers preach what people want to hear, then people will flock to them. Sometimes this even makes me leery of large churches for just such a reason.  If there is one thing that is sure about all of us, we can deceive ourselves. Masses of people can deceive themselves even easier because we get the peer pressure affect.  The Bible is full of warnings not to be deceived and it may be the signature condition of the “last days.”As if all of this does not cause us to wonder just how far the church can go in the wrong direction, then there are the examples of the seven churches in Revelations.

Church #1 – The Loveless Church (Rev 2:1-4:1)

  • “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:  2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for my name’s sake and have not become weary.  4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.  6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”‘

This church is very bright and extremely discerning because they know their Bibles so well that they can sort out the false prophets left and right.  Honestly, they sound a little like the Pharisees.  Their works abound and from the surface they look like the perfect church because their patience is amazing!  However, they have completely forgotten that Christianity is a “love relationship” with God.  They have lost the context of Christianity, which is to simply be in love with Jesus. They have reduced the gospel to the gospel of Martha instead of sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus and basking in His presence like Mary.  When was the last time you just delighted in utter quiet of the Holy Spirit as the still small voice overwhelmed you with His love? When was the last time your church did this?  If our motivation for all we do does not go back to the fact that we love Jesus, then in the end it will fall void and be perceived as a big gong – think “Gong Show.”  (1 Corinthians 3:1) Works are great, but we cannot let works or the knowledge of the Bible replace our faith and our deep relationship with Jesus. Repent and fall back in love with Jesus by spending time with Him every day.  If the church will do this, then the joy of the Lord will become our strength again and bring a fresh wind of revival to the church.

Church #2 – The Persecuted Church

  • “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:  9 “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.  10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.  11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”‘  

While the persecution of the church is finally getting some attention, the year 2015 was a record year in modern times based on the sheer number of Christians that were killed for their faith. Last year, 2016 also saw a tremendous number of murders as well.  This situation has been near and dear to my heart. As a result, I have joined joshuacord.org in raising money to make a documentary about the extent of Christian persecution around the world. Currently we raised enough money to have a filmmaker visit 6-7 countries. We also saw a miracle happen when we received a visa to visit Syria. You know, the country we just bombed. Persecution is a reality of the  “last days.” The passage that I find the most interesting is the description of the beheaded Saints in heaven, who are continually asking God “how long will it be before you avenge us?” (Revelations 6:10)  Unfortunately, we are literally in a situation where the Christian population is very close to being wiped out in the Middle East and unfortunately we can expect this to only worsen around the world. I believe that we are all supposed to join together and help our brothers and sisters as much as possible. As Paul has said, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith.” (Gal: 6:10)

Church  #3 – The Compromising Church

 

  • “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘these things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:  13 “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to my name, and did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.  14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.  15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.  16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.  17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”‘  

 

While there is some debate about the Nicolaitans, the consensus is that there may have been sexual immorality involved, which also ties into the story of Balaam who seduced the children of Israel in a similar manner. There are those who believe that there may have even been actual ritual prostitutes involved.  This is entirely possible, as we know this was a major problem part of some pagan cultures where Christianity had spread to. The real bottom line here is that the deeds of this church were something that God hates and that means it was sin.  Today there are many churches that are literally enticing people to sin and this is yet another sign of the fallen church. The church needs to repent and to call sin for what it is instead of celebrating it. Only then can the Holy Spirit lead us to be a witness to those around us.

Church # 4 – The Corrupt Church

  • “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass:  19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.  20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.  21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.  22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.  23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.  24 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.  25 But hold fast what you have till I come.  26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations —   27’He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’ — as I also have received from My Father;  28 and I will give him the morning star.  29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘

There are those who use this to say that women should not lead at all in church. While I believe this issue is not decided in this passage, we do have to remember that during the history of the early church, female occult priestesses were common in the pagan / occultic world.  As we know, Jezebel through a false type of prophetic spirit actually lead Israel into this type of sin. Here again the Bible clearly warns us against this type of situation.  Sadly, any recent survey of Christians in America shows little if any difference on most of what the Bible would clearly call sin.  Christians simply don’t score much different on pre-marital sex, pornography, abortion, divorce and most other moral issues. This is exactly the type of situation that Revelations is warning us of.  As the true church we must hold fast till Jesus comes without compromise knowing we are not the author or the finisher of our faith.

Church # 5 – The Dead Church Revelation 3

  • “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.  2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.  3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.  4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.  5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.  6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘  

There are several interesting items that are brought up here.  The first is that we are told that the faith of a church is dead unless there are also works that go along with those who have heard, received and held fast to their faith.  This is exactly the same conclusion that the Apostle James makes in James 2:14-26. There is only one solution for a church that has works that are inconsistent with the faith of Christ. They need to hold fast or repent! The other thing that jumps out at me about this church is that Jesus wants them clothed in white, which happens to be just like a bride.  The other thing that may be shocking for some is that there are those in this church who are in danger of having their name blotted out of the Book of Life. The implication here is that this type of church might end up being quite common as we get closer we get to the “end times.” While this disconnect between the walk and the talk of Christians is getting worse, we know this faith devoid of works has been in full bloom since 1998.  That was the year that George Barna published “The Second Coming Of The Church.” This was the first time that we realized that there appeared to be no difference between Christians and non-Christians in the morality department. This is exactly what Revelations describes as characteristics of the Sardis and the Thyatira church.

These kind of statistics leave many of us asking, how is it possible that when it comes to divorce, adultery, drug use, pornography and, gambling that the church doesn’t score any differently that the rest of the population?  While I really do preach the gospel of grace the best I can, I have to admit that something is also very wrong with the church.  The modern church seems to keep sinning so that grace may abound, which something that Paul expressly forbid. (Romans 6:1)  Furthermore, I am not one to espouses the doctrine of a salvation of works, but I have to say it sure would be nice to see more of them coming out of the church.  The truth is that there are times that we need to examine our faith and now is one of those times.  We need to see if we are really in the Lord or are we just fooling ourselves.  (2 Corinthians 13:5) I believe that Revelations may be saying that this is exactly what is going to happen to the church, as we get closer to the end of human history.  The sad truth presented here is that such a fruitless church just might miss out on the rapture or return of Christ because of the clear warning to always be watching for the “thief that comes in the night” is a direct reference to Matthew 24, where Jesus is referring to how people are caught completely off guard by his return.

Church #  6 – The Faithful Church

  • “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:  8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied My name.  9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie — indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.  10 Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.  12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.  13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘  

This church is not the biggest church or the strongest church, but they have persevered!  In fact, when it comes to worldly riches, they just might be the poorest around.  Everyone likes to ignore them or discounts them because they are so counter culture. They just don’t care what the world thinks. When all is said and done, the world will know that this church was spiritually wealthy beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.  Why? Because they remained at the feet of Jesus worshiping Him and not the world.  Indeed, the world will do the same to them and they will know just how much Jesus loves this church! I love this particular passage because God gives this church a promise that if they persevere, they will be kept from the “hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  If this idea of being kept from an “hour of trial” is speaking about the rapture, then you could also argue that many of the other types of churches in Revelations could potentially miss the rapture.  A sobering thought to say the least, but none-the-less this is the only church that the Holy spirit makes this promise to. These are the over comers and they also appear to be the ones who will be reigning and ruling with Jesus in heaven. Clearly, they are the bull’s eye of what God wants His church to be and the anti-thesis to the next church on the list.

Church # 7 – The Lukewarm Church

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘these things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:  15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.  17 Because you say ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.  19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.  20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘”  NKJV

Of all the churches talked about here, for me this is the one that especially rings true of America.  The earthly riches that we have here are astonishing compared to other areas of the world.  When you consider that someone making $30,000 / year is in the top 1% of the moneymakers in the world, and yet no one in America would be happy making such a small amount. Unfortunately, earthly riches can be just like the thorns in the parable of the sower. The cares, riches and pleasures of this life can choke the good seeds that God is planting in our lives, so that there will be no heavenly fruit. This church does not know that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked because they are so distracted by their wealth and need for nothing.  However, be careful when you judge them too harshly.  Then there is the political climate change that has developed here in America and around the world bringing in a new day of political correctness. No longer can we speak the truth because it might offend someone. All the while, no one is more offended by political correctness than Jesus. He wants to spit them out of His mouth.  Nothing is good or bad and nothing is hot or cold. For me it is astonishing that the Bible so correctly describes what is wrong with political correctness 2000 years ago.  

The solution that God presents here is a little puzzling at first.  God wants us to buy into the real treasure, which is a gold refined by fire. God wants us to be in white garments, so that we will be properly clothed when we meet Him. God does not want the shame of our nakedness to be exposed.  None of this can happen unless our eyes are anointed and rededicated to see things as Jesus sees them.  Then comes this amazing God that is so relational and makes a promise we can all take to heart.  God says that if we will hear His voice and open the door to our lives, then He will come in and dine and fellowship with us. His presence in our lives is what will help us to discard the treasures of this life and be an over comer of the thorns.  In the same way that Jesus will come into our lives, He will later invite us into His, to the point that we can even sit with Him on His throne.  The choice between the wealth of the world and the riches of a relationship with Jesus will determine our fate. Why is Jesus telling the politically correct he will spit them out of His mouth?  Because Jesus loves them and He doesn’t want that to happen to them.

State Of The Church

There are a few things about all of these passages that we need to contemplate.  The first thing is that these are all churches. The Bible doesn’t call them false churches or fallen churches, and yet none of them are perfect. Each church is told something different because each church has it’s own set of problems.  This is encouraging because I believe God sees all of His children this way.  It doesn’t seem to matter what character of the Bible you look at, the Bible records the good, the bad, and the ugly all in the same breathe.  God sees us as we really are, we would all be naked and ashamed if it were not for the cross and that needs to be kept in mind here.  In Christ, there is no more condemnation, but there is a clear reality that God is calling us to maturity in Him. When we look at God’s motivations behind His dealings with these churches it is clearly one of profound love. Discipline from God comes out of love and that is why God has to say some very confrontational things to all of these churches. Some may call it tough love and I think that may be a fair assessment because for the most part each of these churches is given a fair amount of warning.  The goal of the message to each church is to wake them up and to move them towards a deeper relationship with God.   It is also hard to miss the clear promise of rewards that will be given to them that overcome just as Christ overcomes.  This is the final encouragement that the Holy Spirit gives each of these churches and we like Paul need to press on to the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14-15)

After finishing this brief examination of the 7 churches of Revelations, I cannot think of a more adequate message for the churches that are in existence today.  Sure human nature doesn’t change and the problems of mankind are age old, but the amazing relevance of these churches to the modern churches amazes me. Though many will argue that the church has gone up and down in the sliding away from or towards God, what I am saying here is that when Christ returns for His church, it is in decline. There is no exact finishing or defining point for this slide of the church, but there are many who believe that the false prophet of revelations, will lead a false religion that will ultimately worship the beast / anti-christ.  To this end, we have seen this same decline in the modern church and it has not escaped the attention of the previous generations.  For example, William Booth, the man who started the Salvation Army, was asked by a Bishop what he though were the biggest threats to the church were in the 20th century? This is what he said:  

 

  • The church without the Holy Spirit.

 

  1. Christianity without a price.
  2. Forgiveness without repentance.
  3. Salvation without regeneration / transformation
  4. Politics without God (AKA – Communism)
  5. Heaven (reward) with no hell (consequences).

This statement certainly does stand as a thought provoking assessment of the modern church and how they have fallen away from our true calling as the body of Christ.  As we continue to see the church falling away, I believe that we will come to the point that there really is no difference between Christians and the rest of the world and this is almost true now. We are told that this falling away is one of the signs of the times that we are supposed to look for. End times or not, now is the time where we need to sound the alarm and issue a call towards repentance.  As a church, we need to return to our first love. We need to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying and walk in a different direction that may be politically incorrect.  Unfortunately, the church is more worried about what some people will say than what the Lord says.  The church is openly embracing immorality, lifting up false gods and espousing false gospels. The church, like God’s people Israel, can be caught up in a great decline. During one of these declines and falling away from God, the Bible makes this statement.  “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6) Plain and simple, Jesus has ceased being the King of the modern church and now everyone does whatever they want. What kind of church will we be if we no longer look like Christ, who is the author and finisher of our faith? How do we wake them up?  I personally believe that prophecy is specifically designed for this purpose! People may have become dead to the cry of “wolf,” but they are obsessed with the supernatural!  I believe there is no more relevant or accurate book in understanding our world and the geopolitical circumstances facing the world today.  Just as prophecy proved who the Messiah was the first time, so prophecy in these times of great deception will prove that the Bible is true and that God knows the end from the beginning.  

Three More “Last Days” Clues In Luke 17

  • Luke 17:20-29 – Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
  • 22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
  • 26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. NIV

When you look at the first part of this passage, there are those who believe that the only Kingdom of God that we will ever see one earth is the one inside us. They don’t believe in the literal return of Jesus and the literal Kingdom of God being here on earth.  The idea of the Kingdom of God being inside us is difficult to take in one breath and appreciate the true significance of this statement. Consequently, I do not want to take anything away from it by arguing against it because it is real and many books on this subject could easily be written.  However, I believe there will also be a literal fulfillment as well.  I go back to Daniel in the 2nd chapter when I think about the literal Kingdom of God. When God comes, He breaks in two all the other kingdoms of the world and fills the whole earth with peace so that everyone has a place to nest. This just hasn’t happened. The kingdoms of the world are going along just fine and so many people have no portion in this world. The other way I look at this is that if we believe that Jesus was a literal person, who was literally sinless, who literally died for our sins, who literally took away our sins both past present and future, who literally rose from the grave, who literally spent time with His disciples after His resurrection, who literally predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, who literally predicted the dispersion of Israel into all the nations until one day when Jerusalem would no longer be trodden down of the Gentiles, but now we are supposed to switch gears and believe that there is no literal return of Jesus. What about the warning to those who would miss it?  The truth is we have no reason to suddenly believe that Jesus is speaking allegorically about His return. This is the same Jesus that His own generation missed Him because He came as the suffering servant instead of the reigning and ruling Messiah that had come to set up His Kingdom. This is the Jesus that I believe is coming and a Mr. Rodgers He is not.

Many Anti-christs

The next part of this passage tells us many things, but the first is that many anti-christ’s will present them selves claiming to be the Christ. In other passages, we are also told that they will deceive many believers, but this passage goes on to confirm that Jesus will return in a very specific way.  Jesus will come in the sky and flash like lightning from one end to the other.  Fairly easy to see how this would be good way to differentiate the return of the real Jesus from any false ones.  Nonetheless, this is our first of the clues about the return of Jesus is that there will be a good number of counterfeits.  Of course, the greatest of these will be the anti-christ himself, along with the false prophet that leads the world into accepting and worshiping the beast /anti-christ. While there may not be that many currently in the running for a false christ, there are a lot of groups running for false religions that run counter to Christianity. The biggest candidate for this is Islam. Not only does Islam say the opposite of the golden rule, but also the founder of Islam is nothing like Jesus. Still, Islam is soon to become the world’s #1 religion.  (For more information on Islam, go to prophecydays.com and see the teaching series with the same name.)  While Islam may be a possibility of where a false christ might come, the current best candidate for the anti-christ or false prophet is the Pope.  One doesn’t need to be a Protestant to believe this, because many Catholics have predicted the same things throughout history.  According to the prophecy of the Popes, we are on the last one. In troubling fashion, the current Pope has called for global governance and departed from the morals held by Christians for 1000’s of years. Still, this passage warns us of the coming delusion in the form of false religions and false christ’s, so we need to be on the lookout. This same warning is repeated in Matt 24:21-25 and Mark 13:22. The detail that these passages add it that there will be “signs and wonders” that accompany these false christ’s. This is the Jannes and Jambres scenario that we have already talked about.  I like to point this out to people as often as I can, because it means that there has to be an increase in supernatural occult power for this to happen. This will be an astonishing thing for most people because they don’t even believe in anything beyond what they can see, taste, smell, and touch. How will people explain this and how will these entities explain who they are?  For now, I will move on, but we will explore more about this in our article next month.

The Days Of Lot

The next clue given here is that the return of Jesus will have something to do with what was happening in the “Days of Noah.” Next months article will be fully devoted to this subject, so for now we will move on here to the next clue, which is stated as being the same as the “Days of Lot.”  Certainly, there are those who believe the Days of Lot and the Days of Noah were very similar, but I am going to take a more traditional view of what we know was obviously happening in Sodom. For our purposes, the Days of Lot are also the Days of Sodom and Gomorrah.  The idea of rampant sexual immorality being the case here goes back to the story of what happened to the angels when they came to visit Sodom and how Lot protected them from the crowd outside his house that had come for them.  The reality is that this is fast becoming the case around the world as sex trafficking is in our own back yards. Furthermore, the changing of the definition of marriage in America has not only further damaged the first institution founded by God (the family), but it has also opened up all Christians and Christian organizations to persecution because they cannot accept the law of the land. This will allow the far left to discriminate and eventually separate Christians and Christian organizations from any kind of government support, tax exemptions, involvement and even accreditation. This would have devastated the Christian community and made us outlaws.  On the other hand, God as never let a little fire or persecution on His church go un-used.  This may exactly what the Holy Spirit meant in the earlier passage about buying gold refined by fire.  

Speaking of one of the sins of Sodom, for many of us it may feel difficult to not want react differently to the sin of homosexuality. However, it is important to note that this sin did not specifically make the 10 Commandments. Yes, it is an abomination, but so is a proud look. (Proverbs 6:16-19) Unfortunately, I wonder if I have ever made it a day without committing this sin.  It is Jesus who said that we shouldn’t attempt to pick something out of our brother’s eye when we have something even bigger of our own that we aren’t dealing with.  Now I’m not trying to minimize the impact here of this movement. The family is the first institution that God founded and the whole success of our society is based on it!  I recognize that homosexuality, along with divorce, adultery, drug use and pornography, may literally destroy the family and our society. Consequently, we must stand against this movement the best we can.  However, what I mean by the best we can is that we must try to continue to love the sinners, but stand against the sin.  The challenge is to not forget that the cross was necessary for all sin, including our own. This is why we, as a church, need to be transparent about our own sin and humble ourselves before the world, so that we can share the good news that Jesus has died for all of our sins. While we may feel led to refuse to bake a cake for their wedding, we should feel compelled to make them a cake for any other reason we can think of.  We must try to kill this movement with kindness, so that the love of God can make it to their hearts. We must not let the devil take the open arms of Jesus on the cross and turn them into hate. We need new and creative ways to still show the love of Christ, while we stand firm on the foundations that God has provided in His word. This will be the challenge as we move forward into a world that is increasingly hostile towards the church and our message of hope and redemption.  

Remember, we just had a presidential candidate (Bernie Sanders) who does not believer that any born again Christian or a Christian who believes that Jesus is the only way should be in any public office.  Unfortunately, this unprecedented persecution is also another sign that we are truly living in the last days. As we end this discussion, I hope that you can see that we are truly living in a time where the church is falling away from following God. This in and of it self is not proof that we are in the last days, but as we continue to show the great convergence, the case becomes quite compelling. Thus far we have determined that we are living in the days where “Jerusalem is no longer trodden down by Gentiles.”  The geopolitical situation has progressed to the point that Jerusalem has become a “burdensome stone” for the whole world. We are living in the days where the world is starting to persecute the church in unprecedented ways and finally, we are once again living in the days of Lot. Hopefully God has gotten your attention by now, because we are just getting started!

I hope you will be able to rejoin this series next month as we look at the “Days of Noah”, but please take a few minutes to look up some of the articles listed here.  Remember, the cipher that Jesus gave us says, “when you see these things happening, then stand up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.” This means that part of our goal is not just to show you what the Bible says prophetically, but to show you that what the Bible says is really happening around the world. It is to this end that we believe you will begin to see the convergence and stand up for Jesus. After 1900 years of sleeping, maybe we need quite a few alarm clocks to wake us back up to the fact that one day Jesus is really going to literally return!

For more information on see the prophetic series, “The Convergence” please go to prophecydays.com where you will find the video, audio and notes from the series.

The Falling Away

Study Compares Christian and Non-Christian Lifestyles

Do Non-Christians and Christians Live Different Lifestyles? – https://www.christiantoday.com/article/american.study.reveals.indulgent.lifestyle.christians.no.different/9439.htm

STUNNING CLAIM: U.S. AT POINT WHERE ‘ELECTIONS DON’T MATTER’

http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/stunning-claim-u-s-at-point-where-elections-dont-matter/#AmOAbd6pTdmyHE6w.01

Of Abortion, By Abortion, For Abortion

https://www.frcaction.org/updatearticle/20160727/of-abortion

Ben Carson Ties Hillary Clinton to Lucifer at Republican Convention

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/ben-carson-hillary-clinton-lucifer-republican-convention-rnc-gop-trump-166725/#2UWT7PHMWgbeEqvZ.99

Caught on Camera: Obamacare Architect Admits Deceiving Americans to Pass Law

http://dailysignal.com/2014/11/09/caught-camera-obamacare-architect-admits-deceiving-americans-pass-law/
California Steamin’: HHS Gives Abortion Rule a Pass

Welcome to a Bernie Sanders Wiccan ritual

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-sanders-prayer-circle-20160514-snap-story.html

Bernie Sanders’s Religious Test for Christians in Public Office

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/bernie-sanders-chris-van-hollen-russell-vought/529614/

California to ‘punish’ faith-based colleges for ‘holding wrong views’

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/06/california-to-punish-faith-based-colleges-for-holding-wrong-views/#VmObV2qGcohbk3TZ.99

Canadian Christian Law School Fights Accreditation Ban Over Opposition to Homosexuality

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/canadian-christian-law-school-fights-accreditation-ban-over-opposition-homosexuality-164764/#DHxfbE2GwiforW1F.99

Obama’s Foreign Policy Guru Boasts of How the Administration Lied to Sell the Iran Deal

http://www.weeklystandard.com/obamas-foreign-policy-guru-boasts-of-how-the-administration-lied-to-sell-the-iran-deal/article/2002252#.V07nw9j_rDU.facebook

Planned Parenthood Will Not Face Justice Because There Is No Justice In America

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/planned-parenthood-will-not-face-justice-because-there-is-no-justice-in-america/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=ShareButton

Obama Can Force Coverage of Birth Control and Abortion Drugs on Churches, Admin. Lawyer Says

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/obama-force-churches-cover-birth-control-abortion-drugs-lawyer-tells-supreme-court-160019/#XLxazjeoM2tk13Ph.99

United Methodist Church Bans Intelligent Design Group From General Conference

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/united-methodist-church-bans-intelligent-design-group-general-conference-creation-evolution-155368/#kEqUZ5o27zTBqhzS.99

Justice Scalia warns that the US Supreme Court is causing the ‘destruction of our democratic system’

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/justice-scalia-warns-us-supreme-203000305.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=fb

POPE INVOKING GLOBALIZATION – Pope tearing down Christianity in bid for One World Religion

http://www.infowars.com/pope-invoking-globalization/

Bow Down, Witches: Pagans Flock to New York City for Festival

https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/bow-down-witches-pagans-flock-to-new-york-city-for-festival

I put a spell on you, Mr. President – LA Times publishes an article about how to hold a spell on Donald Trump to curse him and our country.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-wagman-put-a-spell-on-donald-trump-20170523-story.html

Planned Parenthood Chief Is Asked What Should Happen ‘If a Child Survives an Abortion Attempt.’ Here’s Her Response.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/29/planned-parenthood-boss-was-asked-what-should-happen-if-a-child-survives-an-abortion-attempt-heres-her-response/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=ShareButtons

Pope Says Having A Personal Relationship With Jesus Is Dangerous And Harmful

http://www.godfruits.tv/pope-says-personal-relationship-jesus-harmful/

Obama can kill you with a drone!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/us-drone-strike_n_2813857.html

Obama Plans To Reduce Deficit By Cutting Tax Exempt Status Of Christian Churches

http://nationalreport.net/obama-plans-reduce-deficit-cutting-tax-exempt-status-christian-churches/

VIDEO: This Rabbi Just Issued a Chilling Warning to America… And It’s Going Viral

http://conservativetribune.com/rabbi-chilling-warning/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=WesternJournalism&utm_content=2015-06-22

Persecution Of The Church

Francis Chan: Christians Will Be Relevant If They Become Rejects, Stand With Jesus

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/francis-chan-together-2016-christians-relevant-rejects-jesus-166599/#X93BrsDhDmb7yS5C.99

7 Signs That America Declared War on Christianity

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/signs-america-declared-war-christianity-163165/#lB72zEl3xBizcCJY.99

Obama Can Force Coverage of Birth Control and Abortion Drugs on Churches, Admin. Lawyer Says

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/obama-force-churches-cover-birth-control-abortion-drugs-lawyer-tells-supreme-court-160019/#DfBguOtve33DvAxU.99

Report: 2015 Saw ‘Most Violent’ Persecution of Christians in Modern History

Wyoming School Tells Students They Can Only Pray in Private — Here’s How Well That Went Over

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/12/21/school-cafeterias-are-not-religion-free-zones-wyoming-school-reverses-prayer-ban/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=ShareButtons

Vatican rejects “chosen people” claim, calls on Israel to end “occupation”

http://yalibnan.com/2015/06/25/vatican-rejects-chosen-people-claim-calls-on-israel-to-end-occupation/

From Pakistan to America, Christ’s Prophecy of Christian Persecution Coming to Pass

https://signsofthelastdays.org/pakistan-america-christs-prophecy-christian-persecution-coming-pass/

The Days of Lot

FEDERAL COURT BLOCKS OBAMA’S TRANSGENDER-BATHROOM ORDER

http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/judge-blocks-obamas-transgenders-schools-mandate/#dlT4u6D4YVIzUMcP.01

Christian baker takes ‘compulsion of speech’ case to Supremes

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/07/christian-baker-takes-compulsion-of-speech-case-to-supremes/#DKs9ZxSBjiI1hx0s.99

Churches Can’t Have Sex-Segregated Bathrooms, Make Transgender Feel Unwelcome, Unless Closed to Public, Iowa Commission Says

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/churches-sex-segregated-bathrooms-transgender-feel-unwelcome-closed-to-public-iowa-commission-166167/#j4F2JmqAlTEFKHou.99

Canadian Christian Law School Fights Accreditation Ban Over Opposition to Homosexuality

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/canadian-christian-law-school-fights-accreditation-ban-over-opposition-homosexuality-164764/#qIDluKWiaJq73gI0.99

BISEXUALITY STUDY: 1 in 3 American Young Adults Identify on Bisexual Spectrum

http://www.advocate.com/bisexuality/2015/08/20/.V0uM8LHxIQg.facebook

Canada May Ban Anti-Transgender Speech With 2 Years in Prison

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/canada-may-ban-anti-transgender-speech-with-2-years-in-prison-164382/#14qLCLmsmZ95BgCt.99

Obama Orders All Public Schools to Apply Transgender Bathroom Access Rules; Texas Ready To Fight

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/obama-order-public-schools-transgender-bathroom-access-rules-texas-163852/#5sRysz6oWYeg9iRP.99

American College of Pediatricians Says Teaching Children Transgenderism Is Normal Is Child Abuse

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/american-college-of-pediatricians-says-teaching-children-transgenderism-is-normal-is-child-abuse-159772/#8VokGWYYLRFxwhsV.99

Tom DeLay: Justice Dept. Wants to Legalize 12 ‘Perversions

Breaking News at Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/Tom-DeLay-Justice-Department-perversions/2015/06/30/id/652929/#ixzz4Ih8vLPVK 

Canada Legalizes Most Sex Acts With Animals

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/canada-legalizes-most-sex-acts-with-animals-165053/#tR2IdSQZZArUS0KA.99

Rubio: Gay Agenda’s ‘Next Step’ is to Define ‘Mainstream Christianity’ as ‘Hate Speech’

http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/rubio-gay-agendas-next-step-define-mainstream-christianity-hate-speech

Want more?  Visit us at prophecydays.com for the complete series.

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The Cherubim: Throne Guardians of God

Now, since you’re paying attention, you’ll remember that the divine rebel in Eden, the nachash of Genesis 3, was called a guardian cherub in Ezekiel 28. As we just showed you, nachash and saraph, the singular form of seraphim, are interchangeable terms. But if the rebel in Eden was one of the seraphim, how could he also be one of the cherubim?

Good question. Cherubim are mentioned more frequently in the Old Testament than the seraphim. They are usually referenced in descriptions of the mercy seat on top of the Ark of the Testimony or carved decorations in the Temple built by Solomon. The exceptions are the cherubim who guard the entrance to Eden and the four cherubim Ezekiel saw in his famous “wheel within a wheel” vision by the Chebar canal.

The modern image of cherubim has been shaped by artists in the Middle Ages—cute, chubby little boys with dinky wings who filled up the empty space in religious paintings. Nothing could be further from the biblical and archaeological truth. Cherubim are seriously bad dudes you do not want to mess with. For more, see Josh Peck’s book Cherubim Chariots.

The cherubim of the mercy seat are usually shown as a matched pair of plainly recognizable angels perched on top of the ark with their outstretched wings touching in the middle. The Bible doesn’t describe these cherubim, telling us only that they have wings and faces. Why? Apparently, everybody in the 15th century B.C. was familiar with what a cherub looked like, and they knew it was right and proper for them to serve as Yahweh’s throne-bearers. You see, God appeared to men above the mercy seat “enthroned on the cherubim.”  (See Numbers 7:89; 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2: Psalms 80:1 and 99:1; and Isaiah 37:16.)

But the cherubim that Ezekiel saw looked like something from a nightmare:

…this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze.

Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.

As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.

Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Ezekiel 1:5-14 (ESV), emphasis added

While these living creatures aren’t identified as cherubim in these verses, they are specifically called cherubim in Ezekiel 10.

So how do we read this? These creatures sound nothing like the shining serpentine seraphim. What’s even more confusing is the description Ezekiel gives of another type of angelic being, the ophanim—the wheels that UFO hunters love to call spacecraft. They seem to be related somehow to the cherubim:

And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without turning as they went. And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.”

And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

Ezekiel 10:9-14 (ESV), emphasis added

Wait—the ophanim had the face of a cherub and the face of a human? What’s the difference? Why a cherub instead of an ox for the fourth face? Is there some connection between the cherub and the ox?

Well… maybe. The word cherub probably comes from the Akkadian karibu (the “ch” should be a hard “k” sound, although we English speakers don’t usually say it that way). It means “intercessor” or “one who prays.” The karibu were usually portrayed as winged bulls with human faces, and huge statues of the karibu were set up as divine guardians at the entrances of palaces and temples. This is like the role of the cherubim placed “at the east of the garden of Eden… to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24, ESV)

This is speculation, but the divine rebel in Eden, the anointed guardian cherub, might have protected the tree of life once upon a time.

Cherubim were the gold standard for guarding royalty in the ancient Near East. In Assyria they were called lamassu, and the Akkadians called them shedu. They were sometimes depicted as winged lions rather than bulls and they were often incorporated into the thrones of kings.

So the function of the biblical cherubim, guarding the tree of life and carrying the throne of God, was entirely consistent with what the neighbors of the Israelites knew about these beings. Based on archaeological finds in the Levant (modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel), the cherub was probably more like a winged sphinx than a humanoid with wings.

In other words, the presence of the cherubim in the Bible wasn’t something the Hebrew prophets just made up. The cherubim were known by different names by the other cultures of the ancient Near East, but they served a similar role in all of them. The cherubim were supernatural bodyguards for the throne of Yahweh, and their imagery was appropriated by earthly kings. A bit of hubris, no doubt encouraged as a PSYOP by the Enemy. Remember, “you shall be as gods.”

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The consequences of the rebellion in Eden were immediate and harsh:

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” […]

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”

[T]herefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:14-15, 22-24 (ESV)

For centuries, well-meaning Christians have pointed to Genesis 3:14 as the moment in history when snakes lost their legs. That misses the mark entirely by desupernaturalizing the story. God didn’t amputate the legs of snakes; He was describing the punishment the nachash would suffer in figurative language. Even casual observers of the animal kingdom know that snakes don’t eat dust.

What happened was this:  The nachash was cast down from the peak of the supernatural realm, “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” to become lord of the dead.

What a comedown! Isaiah 14 makes a lot more sense when you keep a supernatural worldview in mind:

Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.

All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!

Isaiah 14:9-10 (ESV)

Remember these verses because we’ll come back to them later in this series. The “shades” referenced by Isaiah are the Rephaim (root word rapha), a mysterious group mentioned several times in the Old Testament. The Rephaim weren’t an invention of the Hebrews, either. They were well known to their neighbors. We’ll examine them more closely a forthcoming article in this series.

For Adam and Eve, the banishment affected the two of them and all their descendants through the present day. Instead of living with God as members of His council, we humans have struggled for millennia to make sense of a world that often seems to make no sense. The memory of our brief time in the garden of God has echoed down the centuries, and it may be the source of our belief that mountains are somehow special, reserved for the gods.

Here’s the main takeaway of this article:  Eden was a lush, well-watered garden “on the holy mountain of God,” which was where Yahweh presided over His divine council. The council included the first humans. They walked and talked with the supernatural “sons of God” who, based on clues scattered throughout the Bible, were beautiful, radiant beings. At least some of them were serpentine in appearance.

The long war between Yahweh and the sons of God who rebelled is not just about control of the spirit realm, it’s also about whether humanity will be restored to its rightful place in the seat of the gods—among the divine council on the Holy Mountain of God.

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Rebel on the Mountain of Eden!

The long war between God and the lesser gods who rebelled began on a mountain, and it will end on a mountain.

First things first: The rebel gods are real. That’s not something you’re likely to hear in church. Not only have we been taught that the pagan deities of the ancient world were imaginary, most American Christians today don’t even believe in Satan or the Holy Spirit.

That’s not an exaggeration. The Barna Group found in a 2009 survey of American Christians that only about one in three believes Satan is real and not just a concept. Likewise, nearly 60% of American Christians said they didn’t believe the Holy Spirit is living entity. So it’s not surprising that when we think of Baal, Asherah, Moloch, Dagon, Chemosh, Marduk, and the rest of the pagan pantheon mentioned in the Bible (if we think of them at all), we assume they were nothing more than lifeless blocks of wood and stone.

We couldn’t be more wrong.

The true story begins on a mountain: Eden.

But wait, you say. Eden was a garden! Yes, it was. A garden on a mountain.

In Ezekiel 28, God tells the divine rebel from Eden:

You were an anointed guardian cherub.
I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
    in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.

Ezekiel 28:14 (ESV), emphasis added

If you read the Old Testament carefully, you’ll notice many references to God’s holy mountain. The prophets knew that the war between the rebellious fallen gods and the Creator was all about who would establish their holy mountain—the “mount of assembly” or “mount of the congregation”—as supreme. The most obvious reference is in Isaiah 14, a section of scripture that scholars generally agree is a parallel to Ezekiel 28:

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.

Isaiah 14:12-15 (ESV), emphasis added

Over the course of this special five-week series, we’ll dig deeper into the conflict between God and the rebels and explore the importance of cosmic mountains. We’ll identify key battles in the long war and lay out a prophetic scenario for the final battle of this age.

Above all, we’ll show you a glimpse of this long war in the heavenlies, and where you can find it in the Bible. It’s a conflict that the prophets and apostles knew was real, but over the last two thousand years our churches have teaching us about it. With this war stripped out out of the Bible, we’re left with an incomplete story of God’s plan to save us from the gods who want to kill us and destroy everything we love.

So let’s start at the beginning. What do we know about the enemy? Was it a talking snake?

In a word, no.

So who or what was the serpent? Most of us assume it was Satan, but maybe not. The serpent isn’t named in the book of Genesis. In fact, Satan wasn’t even a personal name in the Old Testament.

Satan means “accuser,” written ha-shaitan in the OT. It’s a title, the satan, so it really means “the accuser.” Think of it as a job title, like prosecuting attorney.

The adversary in the Garden is the nachash, which is the word translated into English as “serpent.” It’s based on an adjective that means bright or brazen, like shiny brass. The noun nachash can mean snake, but it also means “one who practices divination.”

In Hebrew, it’s not uncommon for an adjective to be converted into a noun—the term is “substantivized.” If that’s the case here, nachash could mean “shining one.” And that’s consistent with other descriptions of the satan figure in the Old Testament.

For example, in Isaiah 14, the character called Lucifer in the King James translation, based on the Latin words chosen by Jerome (lux + ferous, meaning “light bringer”), is named in Hebrew Helel ben Shachar—”shining one, son of the dawn.”

Interestingly, Šahar was a Canaanite deity, so a better translation of the verse is “Day Star, son of Dawn.” And that leads to some interesting speculation about the nature and origin of Helel. Were Helel and Šahar two of the fallen gods who rebelled against Yahweh? But I digress.

Now, consider this in Daniel 10:

I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

Daniel 10:5-6 (ESV), emphasis added

Obviously, “shining one” is a pretty good description of the angel who battled the prince of Persia, another supernatural being, to bring his message to Daniel.

About 900 years before Daniel, when the Israelites started complaining on their way out of Egypt (see Numbers 21:4-9), God sent saraph nachash (“fiery serpents”), to bite them. Saraph is the root word of seraphim, which roughly means “burning ones.” But the key point of these verses in Numbers 21 is that the Hebrew words saraph and nachash are used interchangeably. So rather than “fiery serpents,” the translation should read “saraph serpents”.

Deuteronomy 8:15 praises Yahweh for bringing Israel through “the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents,” reinforcing the interchangeability of saraph and nachash.

Now, if the mental image of flaming snakes isn’t weird enough, the prophet Isaiah twice referred to flying serpents (saraph `uwph, in Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6). And in his famous throne room vision, Isaiah saw:

…the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Isaiah 6:1-2 (ESV), emphasis added

Again, the root word of seraphim is saraph, the same word translated “serpent” in Numbers and Deuteronomy. In fact, aside from the Isaiah 6 passage above, every single mention of seraphim in the Old Testament refers to serpentine beings!

The flying serpent was a well-known symbol in the ancient Near East, especially in Egypt. It would have been very familiar to the Israelites. The uraeus, a cobra standing on its coil with its hood extended, was a royal symbol of protection used by pharaohs and Nubian kings. Tutankhamun’s death mask is an excellent example; the uraeus’ hood is depicted with six distinct sections that look a lot like wings.

Of course, some scholars cite this as evidence that the Hebrews’ understanding of seraphim was influenced by, or borrowed from, Egyptian cosmology. That’s a common message from skeptics—Israel copied its religion from its neighbors. We’ll deal with that later.

The bottom line is this: What Adam and Eve saw in the Garden wasn’t a talking snake, but a nachash—a radiant, divine entity, and one that very likely had a serpentine appearance.

Next month – The Cherubim: Throne Guardians of God

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