Homer Kizer Ministries

March 23, 2009 ©Homer Kizer
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LUANDA, Angola – Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass Sunday with hundreds of thousands of Angolans and decried the "clouds of evil" over Africa that have spawned war, tribalism and ethnic rivalry that he said condemned poor people to virtual slavery. (Yahoo.com posting 22 Mar 2009; story by Michelle Faul, Associated Press Writer)

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The Roman Pope’s failure to understand why clouds of evil spawning war, tribalism, and ethnic rivalry have gathered over Africa and are gathering over the world discloses his lack of spiritual understanding and his unawareness of where humankind presently is in the course of world affairs that will lead to the second Advent; for warfare is occurring in the inter-dimensional portion of the heavenly realm seen in Scripture as the bottomless pit or Sheol. This warfare will see the golden-colored[1] king of Greece, led by its first king or great king, utterly trample the silver kings of Persia, the demonic princes that initiated a rebellion within the Adversary’s ruling hierarchy, called Babylon, the name taken from its head, the gold-colored spiritual king of Babylon (Isa 14:4). The demonic first king of the king of Greece, a horn erect between the eyes of the federation identified as the “king of Greece,” rules over the appetites of the flesh, belly and loins, to rule over all the earth (Dan 2:39)—this is why sex is now used to sell hamburgers, and soft drinks have an attitude.

At times human beings have a difficult time realizing that human eyes actually see very little of “what is,” and actually see less than what a barnyard turkey sees or what a bumblebee sees. But those things that birds and bees see that humankind cannot are still part of “what is”—and it is on the other side of “what is” where a war is presently occurring that effects the thoughts of men (and women), for human beings are not masters of their minds or even their so-called human nature.

Is that a controversial enough claim: men are not masters of their minds?

When the Righteous Branch reigns over the earth, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, / and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat … / and the lion shall eat straw like the ox” (Isa 11:6–7). When the kingdom of this world is given to the Son of Man (Dan 7:9–14; Rev 11:15–18) and the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh (Joel 2:28), the predatory natures of the great predators will be changed so that, “They shall not hurt or destroy / in all my holy mountain; / for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord / as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9).

The above passage from Isaiah is written in Hebraic verse; i.e., in thought-couplets. And in the spiritual position of an expanded couplet is the couplet,

They shall not hurt or destroy / in all my holy mountain;

  for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord / as the waters cover the sea

with for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea being the summation of the matter … when the predatory nature of beasts are changed so too will be human nature: in order for the earth to be full of the knowledge of the Lord so that all (neighbor and brother) Know the Lord, the New Covenant described by the prophet Jeremiah (31:31–34) will have been implemented, meaning that the Torah [תּוֹרָה] will have been put within every person as all of humankind will be the single great nation promised to Abraham (Gen 12:1–2; Gal 3:16, 29). And if the Torah is placed within the person, written on the heart and placed in the mind, then the nature of the person will not be what the “nature” of the person (even Israel, natural or spiritual) is today.

If human beings, under the New Covenant, have minds and hearts changed without effort on their part—and without permission given by them—then human beings are not masters of their minds or even of their inner nature.

The prophet Daniel records King Nebuchadnezzar saying,

I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven. He proclaimed aloud and said thus: “Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; and let seven periods of time pass over him. The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.” This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. (4:13–18)

Daniel warns the king to mend his ways when Daniel interprets what the watcher said:

O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. (4:24–26)

And what did happen?

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws. (4:29–33)

For the seven years when Nebuchadnezzar lived as an ox, the king’s body did not become the body of an ox but that of a disheveled man. The king’s mind changed: he no longer had the thoughts of a man. He no longer thought of himself as a man; his human nature was taken from him and he was given the nature of an ox, which might be taken for some sort of a brain loss if just as suddenly his reason was not returned to him:

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,

and he does according to his will among the host of heaven

and among the inhabitants of the earth;

and none can stay his hand

or say to him, “What have you done?”

At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me.  (4:34–36)

Nebuchadnezzar’s human nature was as easily taken from him then returned to him as a computer software program is easy to install then uninstall. But it isn’t just the nature of beasts or of human beings that can be installed or overwritten by another nature: when the first horn of the king of Greece is broken because he is first and the four horns or kings sprout forth from around the stump of the first horn (Dan 8:8), the first of those four horns is the first beast of Daniel chapter seven, a demonic king who, as part of the federation known as the king of Greece, is the first horseman of the Apocalypse. And this lion-like demon is made to stand as a man—his wings are plucked off—and he is given the mind of a man (7:4) so that he speaks and thinks as a man does. He is the false prophet who comes claiming to be Joseph and who will lead spiritually circumcised Israel to safety in Egypt, the land representing sin, if Israel will follow its belly.

Neither men nor demons want to believe that their nature—that which makes them who they are—comes from the Most High God and not from within themselves, meaning that they are not the possessors of their own thoughts. Yes, it is difficult to even entertain the idea that a person’s thoughts come from a mental typography or landscape not owned by the person but presently controlled by the prince of this world, and in the future controlled by the Son of Man. … Christians say some variation of “having the mind of Christ within them” without really thinking about what they say: when a Christian actually receives the mind of Christ, the person will no longer think the thoughts of a man but will think the thoughts of Christ Jesus. If a person still thinks as a man or a woman the person does not have the mind of Christ within the person, but still has the mind of a human person, which today is subject to the broadcast of the prince of the power of the air. Human nature in this age is the nature of the Adversary, with the first king of the king of Greece presently prevailing over the silver kings of Persia, the demonic spirits empowering Christianity as the world knows the religion.

An even more controversial claim: Christians mistakenly worship demons?

If Jesus says, “‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law [nomos — in this context, the Torah] or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them’” (Matt 5:17) then goes on to say, “‘Therefore whoever relaxes one of least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of [the heavens], but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of [the heavens]’” (v. 19), thereby making the commandments of the Torah representative of the entire Torah, does Jesus not make keeping commandments and teaching others to keep the commandments the prerequisite to being called great before God? And if a “Christian” is to teach others to keep the commandments will not the greater Christian Church call this person a Judaizer?

The Torah is the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. And if the Torah is put within every Israelite when the New Covenant is implemented—there is no new Torah—then will not this Christian keep the commandments and live as a Jew? And if this Christian, under the New Covenant, lives as a Jew, is this Christian not a Judaizer?

And if a Christian walks as Jesus, an observant Jew, walked (1 John 2:6) and imitates Paul, an observant Jew who by his testimony committed no offense against the Law or the Temple (Acts 25:8), as Paul imitated Jesus (1 Cor 4:16; 11:1), does this Christian not also keep the commandments, thus making this Christian a Judaizer?

When Jesus called Saul of Tarsus while Saul was on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:4–6) to do mischief to Christians, Jesus entrusted Saul to “‘one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there’” (Acts 22:12) … if this Ananias, a man of Jesus’ choosing for a major responsibility, was a devout man according to the law, was Ananias not a Judaizer? Can anyone be a devout man according to the law and not keep the commandments? Would Jesus entrust nurturing a future apostle to someone who did not walk as He walked?

·       If Ananias walked as Jesus walked, then should not disciples also walk as Ananias walked, a devout man according to the law, a Judaizer?

If Christians “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his [Jesus’] own possession, that you [a disciple] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light’ (1 Pet 2:9), how can the disciple proclaim these excellencies to the world without also being an advocate for Judaizing?

If the Church [ekklēsia] was initially identified as the sect [hairesis] of the Nazarenes and a sect of Judaism, were not these early Christians keeping the commandments and walking as Jesus walked and living as Jews, thereby being Judaizers?

When Paul was on trial before Felix at Caesarea, Tertullus accused Paul of being a ringleader for “the sect [hairesis] of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5) … would this not make Paul a Judaizer, for the Sadducees were also described as a sect [hairesis] (Acts 5:17), as were the Pharisees [hairesis] (Acts 15:5 – was used by Paul in Acts 26:5)?

The Church began when Jesus returned from the Father to breathe on ten of His disciples, saying, “‘Receive the Holy Spirit [hagios pneuma]’” (John 20:22), thereby directly transferring to them the Holy Spirit. Thus, He formed a new synagogue on the day of His resurrection; for according to the Mishnah’s requirements a new synagogue could be formed anywhere by ten male Jews. And if the ten upon whom Jesus breathed were a newly formed synagogue that “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer [proseuchē]” (Acts 1:14 — cf. Acts 16:13, 16 … the Greek word used by Luke is also the word used for the regular prayer assemblies of the synagogue), were the ten first disciples not keeping the commandments and walking as Jesus walked and as such, Judaizers?

If the early Church functioned as a competing sect of Judaism within greater Judaism, and its assemblies were meetings of a newly formed synagogue—a synagogue circumcised of heart, not necessarily in the flesh—was not the early Church an assembly of Judaizers?

If “a Jew” is no longer a person who is circumcised outwardly but is a Christian circumcised of heart, a Christian who keeps the precepts of law (Rom 2:26–29), is this Christian not a Judaizer? And what does Paul write about keeping the precepts of the law: “[if] [therefore] [the] [uncircumcision] [just requirement] [of the law/Torah] [keeps] will not the uncircumcision of him for circumcision be counted?” (Rom 2:26) … it isn’t “the just requirements” of laws about sacrifices or about freeing slaves or about going to war that will cause the uncircumcised to have his uncircumcision counted as circumcision. It is keeping the just requirements of the Torah, which will have the person loving the Lord with heart and mind while loving neighbor as self; so arguments that would have the law abolished are made by dishonest teachers and ministers, servants of Satan all (2 Cor 11:14–15).

The Apostle John establishes a not-easily-misunderstood criterion for identifying who has been born of God and for who the children of the devil are:

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:4–10)

The person who has been born of God, or born of spirit, practices righteousness, with this righteousness including keeping the commandments and having love for brother. John actually expands the commandments from the Ten Commandments to the Law or Torah, when he writes, “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us” (1 John 3:23); for it is in the Torah (i.e., in Deuteronomy) where Moses writes of Jesus, whose words will not be believed if the person doesn’t first believe the writings of Moses.

Jesus asked, “‘If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words’” (John 5:46–47). Elsewhere, Jesus said, “‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead’” (Luke 16:31). So let there be no doubt, no one can believe Jesus Christ who doesn’t first believe Moses, for Moses’ writings (the Torah) form the visible shadow and lifeless copy of Jesus’ living words.

And all of this circles back around to the claim that silver Christendom worships demons … if a Christian is someone who walks as Jesus walked, how can anyone consider Benedict XVI a “Christian”?

Seriously, if Christian’s are people who walk as Jesus walked, people who keep the commandments by faith, then no one in the Roman Church is today a “Christian,” a claim that seems ludicrous when actually set in print but a claim that has solid scriptural support—

But, you say, Christianity “evolved” from its Jewish roots—

Does Jesus change? The writer of Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (13:8). So if Jesus doesn’t change, neither does Christianity.

The religion that has appropriated the name of Christ Jesus while retaining its pagan Greek roots is no more of the Most High than is the Adversary who at one time was an anointed cherub on the holy mountain of God. As iniquity (lawlessness) was found in this anointed cherub (Ezek 28:14–15), iniquity is found in Christianity. And as fire comes out from the belly of this anointed cherub to utterly consume him (vv. 18–19), Christians will be cast into the lake of fire when judgments are revealed.

From the perspective of the Most High, fire has already come out from the belly of the Adversary just as from this same perspective the saints have already been glorified (Rom 8:30).

When iniquity was found in the anointed cherub, this cherub doesn’t immediately perish: from the perspective of human beings, he is still alive and will remain alive for more than 1,000 years (see Rev 19:7–10). When Adam ate forbidden fruit he didn’t immediately die as he had been promised but he was driven from the presence of God. When Israel in the wilderness of Paran rebelled against God and came under sentence of death, the nation didn’t immediately die but perished over the next forty years; the nation was not allowed to enter into God’s presence. When Jesus was raised on the cross, He didn’t immediately die but He wasn’t coming down from the cross alive—and so it was for Adam when driven from the Garden: he didn’t immediately die, but he eventually died. To be cut off from God becomes now the shadow and type of “death,” with death assured.

Understand, The Christian Church has been cut off from God since the Father and the Son delivered the Church into the hand of the prince of this world at the council of Nicea (ca 325CE) — the Roman Emperor Constantine was the earthly representative of the prince of this world. … The Church has been as Adam was outside of the Garden; has been as Israel was in the wilderness of Sin; has been as Satan is, alive but cut off from God and thus numbered among the dead who have never been brought near to God. The Church lives but lives without life (i.e., spiritual life).

Jesus took Israel’s sins unto Himself when He entered Jerusalem on the 10^th day of Abib as the selected Passover Lamb of God, a Lamb appropriate to the size of the house of God. And from that moment on, Jesus took inescapable death onto Himself; yet as the selected paschal lamb is not slain on the 10^th day but on the 14^th day, Jesus was not crucified until the 14^th day of Abib [the preparation day].

The voluntary lawlessness of the Christian Church excludes it from being under grace (Rom 6:16) and returns it to being under the law and under penalty of death … certainly the lawless Church would like to convince as many as possible that it is the legitimate representative of Christ Jesus, who doesn’t change, on this earth, but the Church is of the devil, the father of all liars, so no one should expect the Church to speak the truth.

Nevertheless, when Benedict XVI decried the “clouds of evil” that hang as smoke over Africa he spoke truth as he spoke as one in rebellion of the first horn of the king of Greece, but as one will only be further trampled by war, tribalism and ethnic rivalries that turn silver Christians into virtual slaves to the appetites of the flesh.

Rome’s silver rebellion against the appetites of the flesh has had problems from its beginning, with the Borgias seating the king of Greece at the papal dining table, but the Roman Church and of all of silver Christendom faces problems in their immediate future that will be far greater than those of earlier eras as Catholic legislators champion infanticide, homosexuality, fiscal irresponsibility, and restrictions on free speech. It will be “Church members” who shoot the last few shots into the dying carcass of silver Christianity before this beast roars back to life after the second Passover slaying of the first king of the king of Greece. And when this restored silver beast sprouts from around the base of the broken first horn, it will be hard as iron and just as dead.

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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

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