America's Economic Crisis - full article

Introduction: The Judgment of America

            Contrary to what many Americans believe, including many Christians and Christian leaders, the United States is being judged.  Even though they seem like separate and unrelated incidents, in point of fact, both the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 and our present economic crisis are “spiritually intertwined” – both part of a much larger multifaceted picture.  This study explains the spiritual aspects behind the terrorist attack of September 11^th, why this attack spiritually affected America’s economic collapse (which in turn, affected others worldwide), and why it was the direct result of our sins together with the sins of our forefathers having reached their full measure.  

            According to Scripture, America as a nation has committed many sins, both past and present.  None stands out more than our idolatry and covetousness, which have precipitated such specific sins as replacing Christianity with the new secular religion of Liberty, enslaving Africans, exploiting Native American Indians, and the unbridled greed of American commerce.  Right from the start, America’s lawmakers, rather than submitting to the law written on their hearts, transgressed the Law of God and changed His ordinances by passing man-made laws based upon human traditions and pagan lawmakers.  Many of these laws nullified the Word of God and led people into sin.  These sins demand an accounting by a righteous God.

Notwithstanding that many sins contributed to America reaching her full measure, to spiritually understand the events of September 11, 200l it is important to understand that the timing of the terrorist attack on America was spiritually linked to September 11, 1787.  The specific month and day is significant because America was attacked 214 years later to the month and day that James Wilson, Congressman from Pennsylvania and a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, prophesied before the Pennsylvania legislature that America “would lay a foundation for erecting temples of liberty in every part of the earth”.[1]  Wilson’s prophecy was a reflection of America’s Founding Fathers beliefs in Enlightenment – not those of Christianity.    

It is well known that America’s Founding Fathers, as well as those who later implemented their plans and beliefs, used artwork and architectural symbolism to spiritually link our nation’s capital to civilizations of antiquity.  Thus, another key to understanding the spiritual aspects of the economic crisis, as well as the war in Iraq, is the symbolism of the “geographical fish” in Washington, DC, as shown in the 1928 annotated aerial photograph below, which was compiled and produced by the U.S. Government Printing Office. [2]    

L’Enfant and President Washington, peers of James Wilson, incorporated the fish into the geographical footprint of Washington, DC at its inception to show the relationship between the spiritual and natural realms.  This was also to link America spiritually to the ancient city of Nineveh, which, like DC, was represented by the picture of a fish inside the enclosure of a city.

            We know from Scripture that God is in control of all things, big and small, and that because of this, we know that He allowed both the terrorist attack on America and our current economic crisis to occur.  However, He only allowed the attacks along specific spiritual lines where spiritual connections and sin openings existed.  In other words, the Lord “leveled and made a straight path for His anger” – spiritual pathways for judgment.

Why Now? – Reaping from the Sins of our Forefathers

There is a Biblical principal that nations as well as individuals reap corporately from what both they and their forefathers sow.  Today, both the terrorist attack on America and the current economic crisis have come to pass because America is reaping from what we and our forefathers have sown. 

As Jeremiah lamented,

Lamentations 5 [7] Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

The concept of national sins is not just an Old Testament principle.  When speaking to the Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus addressed the sins of their fathers, who had killed the prophets, as reaching their full measure.  As Jesus said to them,

Matthew 23 [31] Thus you are testifying against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  [32] Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim [so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure].  [33] You serpents!  You spawn of vipers!  How can you escape the penalty to be suffered in hell (Gehenna)?  [34] Because of this, take notice:  I am sending you prophets and wise men (interpreters and teachers) and scribes (men learned in the Mosaic Law and the Prophets); some of them you will kill, even crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue and persecute from town to town.  [35] So that upon your heads may come all the blood of the righteous (those who correspond to the divine standard of right) shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar [of burnt offering].  [36] Truly I declare to you, all these [evil, calamitous times] will come upon this generation. (Amplified Bible, emphasis added)

Jesus was saying that there is a point in time when the sins of a nation are “filled to the brim” and when that point in time is reached, that nation will reap judgment from their sins.  The sins of their fathers reached their full measure as a nation when they crucified Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 2 [14] For you, brethren, became imitators of the assemblies (churches) of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea, for you too have suffered the same kind of treatment from your own fellow countrymen as they did [who were persecuted at the hands] of the Jews.  [15] Who killed both the LORD Jesus and the prophets, and harassed and drove us out, and continue to make themselves hateful and offensive to God and to show themselves foes of all men.  [16] Forbidding and hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles (the nations) that they may be saved.  So as always they fill up [to the brim the measure of] their sins.  But God’s wrath has come upon them at last [completely and forever]! (Amplified Bible, emphasis added)

The Sins of America are filled to the Brim

The terrorist attacks on America (whether it was the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 or the 2001 attack) and the still unfolding current economic crises have come about because America has reached that point in time when our nation is reaping from our past and present sins.  America’s sins are not isolated to the sins of any one particular generation.  Rather, America is reaping from what our ancestors and we have sown throughout the generations over a period of more than 400 years. 

In May of 2007, America celebrated the 400^th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown and spiritually, there was cause for celebration.  As part of the 400^th year celebration and for the first time in America’s history, legislatures from several former slave states, including the state of Virginia, as well as the President of the United States publicly and officially acknowledged that America’s forefathers were wrong to have sanctioned and engaged in slavery.  It was for that reason that the Nicolaitan spirit that “lorded over” both those who were enslaved with the visible shackles of slavery and the invisible shackles of racism and discrimination was pushed back and the door was open for the first African American to be elected as President of the United States only one year later in 2008.  (see the articles titled Jamestown: America’s First English Colony and The Spiritual Dimensions of the 2008 Presidential Campaign)  The injustices against the Native American Indian were acknowledged as well, and for that reason, I believe that the “Tecumseh Curse” has been reversed. 

On the other hand, many of America’s national sins were not acknowledged.  Given that the sins of a nation are full and complete at 400 years, then 400 years as a nation is a reason for Americans to repent of all their sins as well as celebrate.      

God’s Timing and 400 Years: 

God’s timing for the Israelites to be set free from slavery was specifically linked to the point in time that He judged the Amorites as a nation.  God told Abraham that after 400 years of slavery, his descendants would possess Canaan when the sins of the Amorites were full and complete (Genesis 15:13-16).  The term Amorite and Canaanite are one and the same.  It seems their sins as a nation were full and complete in the fourth generation,, which corresponded to the 400 years the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites.  Given that it was after 400 years of slavery that the LORD intervened and judged Egypt for enslaving the Israelites, it is reasonable to conclude that the sins of other nations would be full and complete at 400 years as well.  Again, as Jesus said, “Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim [so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure].” (Matthew 23:32, Amplified Bible) 

Obviously, it was long before Moses was born, that the LORD had revealed to Abraham that his offspring would be in bondage for 400 hundred years.  Given the time frame of 400 years, Moses’ first attempt at freeing the Israelites from bondage, which resulted in the killing of an Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15), would have fallen short of the set time.  However, at the appointed time, which was 400 years according to Acts 7:6 or 430 years to the day [3] according to Exodus 12:40-41, God sent Moses back (Acts 7:34) to deliver the Israelites out of bondage and lead them out of Egypt. 

Given the spiritual significance of the relationship between 400 and 430 years and the sins of a nation reaching fullness, then we should look at America in that same time frame.  More to the point – what has America reaped in that same time frame and why? 

To answer that question, we need to keep in mind that America’s “spiritual” forefathers include both French and Spanish, as well as English.  All three have contributed in one way or another to America’s sins being filled to the brim.   (See: The Spiritual Seeds of America and The Curse over America: the Spanish Requerimiento for background) 

Therefore, taking into account that in 1565 the Spanish established governmental and spiritual roots in present day America just one year after the French Huguenots established their governmental and spiritual roots, we can see that the timing of both attacks by “al-Qaeda” on the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001 is of the utmost significance. 

• Al-Qaeda’s first terrorist attack in 1993 occurred 428 years after the Spanish supplanted the French Huguenot colony in present day Florida and replaced it with a Spanish colony. 
• Al-Qaeda’s second terrorist attack in 2001 occurred 436 years after the same events.
•  We also need to keep in mind that our current economic crises in America started approximately 400 years after England established their governmental and spiritual roots at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.

It may seem unreasonable and unwarranted that a nation can reap from the sins of their leaders before their death let alone after their death.  The many Americans who believe that America is the greatest nation in the world may find this belief deplorable and even unacceptable that America could ever come under God’s judgment.  However, it is a Biblical principle that is made known throughout the Bible.  For example, 2 Samuel 21 reveals that it was not until after the death of King Saul that the greatest nation on earth, Israel, experienced a three-year famine because of King Saul’s past sins.  More to the point, if the greatest nation on earth can reap from their sins, then surely America will reap from hers. 

A nation may reap from their sins at any given time, not just when they reach their 400^th year as a nation.  For example, we know that the nation of Israel reaped from the sins of King Saul before he died.  However, it was not until after the death of King Saul, that the nation of Israel experienced a three-year famine because of Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites.  2 Samuel 21 reveals that Saul sinned when he violated the covenant which Joshua had made with the Gibeonites.  Consequently, even though Saul was dead, the Gibeonites were able to call down a curse upon Israel that resulted in the famine.  Even though this particular covenant was made hundreds of years before the birth of Saul, nonetheless, all future leaders of Israel were to honor this covenant just as Joshua, a leader of Israel, had honored the covenant.  Because it was a national leader of Israel who violated the covenant, the entire nation of Israel was affected by a famine.  It was only after another king, King David, went to the Gibeonites and made atonement on behalf of Israel that the three-year famine stopped and God healed their land. 

To reverse the curse, as atonement the Gibeonites required that David deliver unto them seven of Saul’s sons to be put to death, and for that reason, David delivered unto them seven of Saul’s household.  

2 Samuel 21 [3] Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?  [4] And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. [5] And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, [6] Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. (emphasis added)

It was seven of Saul’s sons that the Gibeonites requested for atonement in order for them to reverse the curse.  Interestingly, this is the same number of American Presidents that have died before leaving office because of a curse cast on them by a Shawnee Indian.  The Shawnee cast the curse basically for the same reason that the Gibeonites cast the curse on Israel:  American presidents, like King Saul, did not honor treaties that either they or past presidents made with the Native America Indians and as a result, many Native Americans lost their lives and their land. 

The Tecumseh Curse 

The “Tecumseh Curse” was cast by Tenskwatawa as retribution for the death of his brother, Tecumseh, Chief of the Shawnee Indians.  Tenskwatawa cast the curse on every future President of the United States who was elected in a year ending in zero beginning with then governor William Harrison, who he held personally responsible for his brother’s death.  To date, beginning with William Harrison, who was elected President in 1840 after Tenskwatawa cast the curse, seven of the nine Presidents elected in a year ending in zero have died in office.  The two exceptions:  President Reagan elected in 1980 survived an assassination attempt on his life and President Bush, who was first elected in 2000, completed his tenure.  As noted above, it was President Bush who acknowledged the injustices committed by America against Native American Indians as part of America’s 400^th year anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown, which broke this curse.

Just as one king made atonement for the sins of another king, a president had to make atonement for the sins of previous presidents and lawmakers.  David was under the Old Covenant, which was “an eye for an eye” and he responded accordingly.  On the other hand, as a Christian, President Bush is under the New Covenant and atonement through the eyes of the New Covenant in this particular situation would be reconciliation – and President Bush responded accordingly. 

In the Bible “seven” is symbolic of completion.  It was probably for that reason that the Gibeonites requested seven males from Saul’s household and not six or eight.  If so, then the seven Presidents that have already died in office as a result of Tenskwatawa’s curse would indicate completion as well.  This would also correspond to the timing of President Bush’s acknowledgement of America’s wrongs against the Native America Indians, as one would affect the other. 

However, this does not mean that a future president will never die or be assassinated while in office.  Future presidents or high-ranking lawmakers may be assassinated because of sins that go back to America’s Spanish roots as such sins remain unconfessed.          

I want to point out that it was only when the famine was in its third year that David sought the Lord as to the cause.  In other words, the beginning consequences of reaping (judgment) can be subtle, as I believe has been the case in the judgment of America.  For example, there were numerous other signs of America reaping from past sins before the actual attack of September 11^th or the economic crises.  Nonetheless, these signs were ignored and whether it is on a personal level or a national level, all too often mankind tends to look to the natural to explain their circumstances.  Because they don’t inquire of the Lord, they try to fight spiritual battles with carnal weapons and carnal solutions.    Even today, leaders from around the world, including America, are meeting to find a carnal solution to the global economic crises when they need to humble themselves before the Lord and confess their sins of greed and idolatry.

America’s Sins

            Some of America’s sins, such as the enslavement of Africans and our treatment of Native American Indians, are obvious even to the casual observer.  However, other sins of our nation that are bringing God’s judgment are not so obvious, and in fact, go back to our founding as a nation.  These include the establishment of a new secular religion called “Liberty”, the hypocrisy of our Declaration of Independence, the idolatry of our Constitution and national laws, and our extreme covetousness and greed.  At the very core of all these sins are America’s lawgivers

The key to understanding the sin of America’s founding lawmakers is found with the Sanhedrin during Jesus’ time.  As we examine the lawgivers of Jesus day, we find that of all people, it is the sins of the lawgivers who added to the sins of their forefathers!  And, as we examine America’s lawgivers we shall see why the sins of our lawgivers here in America, more than all other people, have added to the sins of our forefathers as well.  The only difference between the lawmakers in Jesus’ time and our lawmakers today is time.  Both rejected God’s purpose for their lives as lawgivers and both bear witness against themselves.

Teachers of the Law – Transgressing and Nullifying God’s Laws

            To begin with, the teachers of the law, also translated as scribes, lawyers or experts in the law, were both lawmakers and interpreters of the law.  They were one of three groups that made up Israel’s High Court and administrative body, the Sanhedrin; the other two groups were the Chief Priests and Elders.  Further, many of these three groups were also Pharisees, one of the two main religious factions within Israel at the time.  Here is what Jesus had to say about the teachers of the law and the Pharisees:

Matthew 23[27] Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  [28] In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.  [29] Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.  [30] And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’  [31] So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  [32] Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! (NIV, emphasis added)

Jesus referred to the teachers of the law as:

·         Snakes and a brood of vipers (Matthew 23:33),

·         Self-righteous, full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matthew 23:27-29; 5:20),

·         Mishandling the Divine Law handed down through Moses (Matthew 23:4) (1Timothy 1:7) and for that reason, Jesus rejected their interpretation of the Law (Matthew 5:20),

·         Hypocritical legalism – upholding the letter of the law that kills, but not the spirit of the law that gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6); (Romans 7:14), and 

·         More zealous for the “legalistic traditions” of their forefathers rather than upholding the “Holiness of God’s Divine Law” handed down through Moses.

Moreover, they took away the key of knowledge causing the law to become a hindrance to the people (Luke 11:52).  They tied up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves were not willing to lift a finger to move them (Matthew 23:4).  At length, they testified against themselves that they, like their forefathers, killed the “true prophets” (Matthew 23:31), filling up the measure of the sins of their forefathers (Matthew 23:32). 

            Not only did the teachers of the law transgress God’s law, there were also many instances where the teachers of the law and Pharisees created their own laws, man-made traditions, which nullified God’s laws and thereby, caused their brethren to sin.  For example, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the law using one of their man-made traditions, Corban, as an example,

Mark 7 [9] “And he said to them: You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  [10] For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’  [11] But you say, that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), [12] then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.  [13] Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.  And you do many things like that.” (NIV, emphasis added)

The establishment of the man-made tradition of Corban also caused the people to sin (v.12 “then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother”).  In other words, if the people kept the “commandment” of Corban, then they violated God’s law.  Sadly, this was not an isolated instance of nullifying God’s law and causing the people to sin (v.13). 

Scripture further reveals that the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, meaning they placed their will above God’s will.  In doing, so they rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah and sought a way to kill Jesus.

Luke 7 [30] But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John. (NIV, emphasis added)

Men of all ages have their own free will and because of that, men can reject God’s purpose for their lives.  In the context of Luke 7:30, we know they specifically rejected John’s baptism of repentance, which means they rejected Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  It was God’s will to send His only begotten Son to the world to reconcile man to Himself.  It was also God’s will that none should perish, but that all mankind would respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Yet rather than repent, the teachers of the law rejected the very one that came to fulfill the law of which they supposedly were experts. 

While this Scripture is referring to Salvation, we also know from other Scriptures that the Lord equips individuals with specific abilities or “gifts” to enable them to serve in certain capacities.  For example, in the Church,

 Ephesians 4 [11] It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, [12] to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. (NIV)

Similarly, because the Lord ordained the civil government, He equips some to be judges, some to be lawgivers and so on.  (Romans 13)

Jesus also compared the Pharisees and experts in the law that rejected God’s purpose for themselves to children playing in the streets who were not willing to play with each other. 

Luke 7 [30] But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.  [31] And the Lord said, “Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like?  [32] They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.” (KJV, emphasis added)

For whatever reason, the children could not agree or would not agree on what game to play.  Interestingly, the games the two groups of children are suggesting to one another are incompatible.  One group of children wants to imitate a wedding while the other group of children wants to imitate a funeral.  One group of children pretends to be rejoicing while the other group pretends to be in mourning.  

Likewise, the fact that our lawmakers here in America cannot agree on critical legislation is childish.  Like the children in Luke 7:31-32, their political agendas are incompatible.  The Democrats mourn legislation the Republicans rejoice over and vice versa, the Republicans mourn legislation over which the Democrats rejoice.  Whether it is the Democrats or the Republicans, neither party genuinely seems to be willing to work together.  (see further comments on this and the full text of President Obama’s address to a joint session of congress in the Epilogue of this paper)

By refusing the baptism of John, in essence the experts in the law refused to repent.  Rather than repent, they continued to dishonor the Lord by mishandling the very Law that was designed to bring about the holiness that God desires for all mankind and that they of all people were called to uphold.  Therefore, we want to examine more closely how the experts in the Law misused the Law to further their own agenda.

In particular, they violated the 9^th Commandment:

Exodus 20 [16] Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

In general, the teachers of the law were enemies of Jesus.  They were among those who set about to entrap and destroy Him through false testimony, thus violating the 9^th Commandment of the very law they were to uphold in holiness – adding to the sins of their forefathers.

Mark 14 [53] They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together.  [55] The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put Him to death, but they did not find any.  [56] Many testified falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree.  [57] Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against Him:  [58] “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.’”  [59] Yet even then their testimony did not agree.  [60] Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer?  What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”  [61] But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.  Again the high priest asked Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  [62] “I Am,” said Jesus.  “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  [63] The high priest tore his clothes.  “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked.  [64] “You have heard the blasphemy.  What do you think?”  they all condemned Him as worthy of death. … Mark 15 [1] Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the leaders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision.  They bound Jesus, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate. (NIV, emphasis added)

The sins of their fathers reached their full measure as a nation when the teachers of the law and the Pharisees crucified Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 2 [14] For you, brethren, became imitators of the assemblies (churches) of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea, for you too have suffered the same kind of treatment from your own fellow countrymen as they did [who were persecuted at the hands] of the Jews.  [15] Who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and harassed and drove us out, and continue to make themselves hateful and offensive to God and to show themselves foes of all men.  [16] Forbidding and hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles (the nations) that they may be saved.  So as always they fill up [to the brim the measure] of their sins.  But God’s wrath has come upon them at last [completely and forever]! (Amplified Bible, emphasis added)

            We can see from the Scriptures that the teachers of the law were law-breakers!  They were self-righteous hypocrites, wicked, unrepentant, and rejected Jesus Christ, God’s Law and God’s purpose for themselves.  Instead, they made their own laws and caused the people to sin as a result.  Likewise, America’s lawmakers, as we shall see, have also rejected God’s divine purpose for themselves and they too have rejected the teachings of Jesus Christ as well as the Ten Commandments as a whole – the Law given by God through Moses!

The Significance of King James

It is with this understanding that we approach King James of England – truly one of America’s Founding Fathers.  Anyone who has examined the rule of King James knows that he persecuted Christian denominations outside of The Church of England; for that, the Pilgrims and other Protestant denominations rebuked him.  However, to his credit, the King that established the American colonies also commissioned the translation of the Bible into English that is named after him:  the King James Bible.  For that, King James is to be commended.

However, one has to ask why King James persecuted his fellow brethren?  In answering this question we will have a better understanding as to why the Church cannot be the civil leader of a nation.

Scripture reveals that there are two types of Christians (1Corinthians 3:1-2).  While both have their salvation, one is carnal (or worldly) and the other is spiritual.  This distinction is the reason we have divisions within the church. 

The carnal Christian will persecute the spiritual Christian because he has not crucified the flesh.  Carnal Christians are like men of the world – they identify more with human standards than the precepts of Christianity.  Carnal Christians will incorporate traditions of men (that nullify the Word of God) into the Church.  On the other hand, the spiritual Christian will reject the traditions of man because they nullify the Word of God (Matthew 15:2-6).  The carnal Christian will apply the principles of human philosophy and worldly wisdom to the teachings of Christianity – hence the division!

A Christian cannot discern the teachings of the Lord according to the worldly standards; that’s why we have Scripture.  Carnal Christians reason things out according to their flesh, not according to the Spirit, and you cannot fight spiritual battles with carnal weapons.  As Paul pointed out to the Corinthians,

1 Corinthians 3 [3] You are still worldly.  For since there is jealously and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?  [4] For when one says, ‘I follow Paul’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere men?” (NIV)

Herein was King James error!  Instead of allowing Christians to worship within their own denomination, they were persecuted if they did not follow the doctrine of the Church of England.  King James did not understand that the various Christian Protestant denominations did not reject God’s Word as being authoritative nor did they reject King James as a civil leader, they only rejected the traditions of man that the Church of England embraced that nullified the Word of God.  King James failed to understand that the Pilgrims, French Huguenots, Calvinists and other Protestant denominations were his “co-workers” in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some Christians, like Apollos, have a zeal for the Lord, yet have some limitations in their understanding.  Once this understanding is supplied, in this case by Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos was even more effective in his evangelism (Acts 18:25-28).  However, other Christians have a zeal for the Lord, just as Apollos, but their zeal is not based upon knowledge of the Lord, but on their own understanding and human traditions, such as was the case with the Israelites in Jesus’ time (Romans 10:2-3).  In this latter instance, they establish their own righteousness rather than the righteousness that comes from God. 

Obviously, there are many reasons as to why the Church is not called to be the civil leaders of a nation, most notably, the divisions within the Church – the brethren persecuting the brethren.  The varying denominations that exist today are the result of the strife and disagreements within the Church.  Scripture reveals that a house divided cannot stand!  

Therefore, who would even decide which denomination or Christian group would lead a secular nation?  The carnal Christian who embraces the secular things of the world?  The spirit-filled Christian who opposes and rejects the secular things of the world that nullify the Word of God?  The Christian who has a zeal for the Lord, yet doesn’t have the full knowledge of the Gospel and for that reason misrepresents Jesus Christ to the world?  Those who say they are Christians – but are not?  Obviously, only Jesus Christ can establish His Kingdom!

Even though a civil government is not called to be spiritual leaders of the Church, all governments, even one who establishes a state religion of Christianity, is still ordained by the Lord.  Yet, Scripture interprets Scripture.  Scripture reveals that we are not to submit to laws that would lead us to sin or rebel against God (Acts 4:17-19).  One cannot obey man, even when that man is a civil leader and brethren, when it is contrary to the command and will of God. 

The Protestants verses our Founding Fathers:  The Protestant colonists who came to America did not reject God’s Word as being authoritative, nor did they reject King James as their King – they only rejected the human traditions of man that nullified the Word of God which the Church of England embraced.  On the other hand, America’s Founding Fathers knowingly rebelled against God’s established government that they were under during the Revolutionary War.  They knowingly rejected the Word of God as being authoritative and knowingly elevated the pagan gods of antiquity.   

America’s Sin – Replacing Christianity with New Religions

            From the time of our founding as a nation to the present day, there has been a relentless assault on Christianity in America.  The most vicious attacks have not come from without, but from within the Government at the highest level of our lawmakers.  It started with our Founding Fathers establishing a new secular religion called Liberty to “free” us as a nation from Christianity.  At the same time, national leaders and lawmakers set the stage for combining other religious views and gods into Christianity – synchronistic religion and synchronistic worship – and not only tolerated, but elevated Islam to the same level as Christianity.  We see examples of this latter element concerning Islam with President Obama.

Liberty – Our New Secular Religion

Liberty was America’s new secular religion and the Capitol was her Temple.  When America’s Founding Fathers established Liberty as their new secular religion, they were seeking to be liberated from Christianity.  (For a more detailed discussion of this, see the article: Liberty: America’s New Secular Religion and New Secular Law) 

One of the roots of America’s sins is that they chose “Liberty” as their new secular religion over the precepts of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Pamela Scott describes the religious aspects of our Capitol serving as a temple for a new religion in America:

 “To plan a dome as the Capitol’s central element implied that the building was to serve a quasi-religious function – indeed to be a civic temple.  … During the American Revolution, several actual or metaphorical secular ‘temples’ had been invented, designated, or erected, each extolling some aspect of the young country’s purpose and history or the conduct of American patriots.  The surrender of British troops at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19/20, 1781, took place on the surrender field near Washington’s tent, which was called the ‘temple of Glory’. These temple-like structures were deemed appropriate because liberty was a new secular religion in Revolutionary America.  On September 11, 1787, jurist and signer of the Declaration of Independence James Wilson, in an address before the Pennsylvania legislature, prophesied that the new federal government would ‘lay a foundation for erecting temples of liberty in every part of the earth.”[4] (emphasis added)

The Capitol was lady Liberty’s Temple:

“Latrobe may have intended this figure to synthesize several allegorical concepts key to the Capitol’s iconography, an updated and Hellenized version of Giuseppe Ceracchi’s Minerva as the Patroness of American Liberty, which had been executed in 1792 for Philadelphia’s Congress Hall.  This interpretation strengthens his vision of the Capitol as a synthesis of Roman and Greek political and artistic principles.  Athena had been the mythical founder of Athens; her temple had been the Parthenon.  ‘Liberty’ had founded the United States as well as the city of Washington; her temple was the Capitol. ” [5] (emphasis added)

We can see that the concept that the Capitol was to function as a secular temple was not new.  Rather, it was a continuation of the ideology behind the “secular temples” erected during the Revolutionary War, “each extolling some aspect of the young country’s purpose and history or the conduct of American patriots”.  As described in the above quote, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington’s tent had been elevated to the status of the “Temple of Glory”.

The Capitol building was also meant to exemplify another aspect of America’s ideology: liberty.  It was to be a witness to America and the rest of the world that America’s goal was to, “lay a foundation for erecting temples of liberty in every part of the earth”.

It is significant that Wilson prophesied to the Pennsylvania legislature on the same day and month that the terrorists attacked America.  Interestingly, America’s attackers were “Arabs” who claimed they attacked America because America meddled in the affairs of other nations – the very thing that Wilson had prophesied. 

Synchronistic Worship and Synchronistic Religion

President Bush’s beliefs, like many Americans, are synchronistic in nature. Synchronistic worship refers to people who have opposing beliefs concerning salvation and eternal life, yet who justify worshipping together because they share many of the same moral beliefs.  This belief clearly violates the First Commandment, which requires exclusive worship of the Lord.  To worship the Lord exclusively distinguishes us from the pagan nations who do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God who is the way and the only way to the Father!  To worship alongside those who do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is to worship alongside those who do not know the Father and are paying homage to a pagan god.  2 Kings 17 describes such a situation.  Not surprisingly, synchronistic worship was one of the primary reasons for God’s judgment of Israel and Judah.

President Bush is not the first President to embrace synchronistic forms of worship.  As a Freemason, George Washington embraced all religions, including Islam.  Interestingly, George Washington’s fish, explained in detail later, also spiritually links America to the Philistines and their fish god, Dagon.  The ancient Philistines also attempted to combine the worship of Yahweh alongside Dagon.  After the Philistines captured the ark of the God, they placed it in Dagon’s temple.  To their chagrin, Dagon was toppled once, reset, then toppled again and broken in pieces. (1Samuel 5-6)  They very quickly found out that Yahweh would not share His glory with a pagan deity. 

Interestingly, modern day Gaza is one of the five cities of the ancient Philistines and it is well known that President Clinton was instrumental in Israel’s decision to surrender the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians.  This was a decision that cost Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, his life and a decision that Israel deeply regrets.  To this day, our political leaders continue to support the Palestinians control of the Gaza Strip and continue to pressure Israel to give up more of the land that God gave to them to the Palestinians.

Dagon, represents many things; however, the influence of this spirit in America can be witnessed in our political leader’s willingness to encourage Americans to combine their worship of the Lord with that of a pagan religion – all to be politically correct.  Like the spiritual offspring of the Philistines who continue to live in the ancient city of Gaza, the official religion in modern day Gaza is Islam. 

Going back to our French roots that the Huguenots laid down in 1565, it’s worthy to note that when the Huguenots came to what is now known as America, they brought with them “Moors”, men of African descent who were followers of the Muslim faith.  They were free men, not slaves, and they were the first Africans to set foot on our soil.  Unlike some of America’s future leaders, the French Huguenot’s governor did not compromise their Christianity for men of other faiths as they called the Moors into accountability when it endangered the well-being of their colony. 

America’s new secular religion meant that Americans were at liberty to practice whatever religion they wanted to and that Christianity would no longer be the “official state religion” as it was before the American Revolution.  For that reason the Constitution states that no lawmaker would be required to take a religious test to serve in that capacity, as required before the American Revolution.  In other words, those Americans who were not Christians could now serve as lawmakers because they had been liberated from the official state religion of Christianity.  (See article titled: Liberty: America’s New Secular Religion and New Secular Law)

Romans 13 reveals that civil governments have been established by the Lord and we are to submit to the civil governments just as Jesus Christ and Paul did.  Jesus paid taxes to Caesar and he submitted to Pilate and Herod as well.   Neither they nor Caesar’s court that Paul stood before were believers: quite the contrary, they were all unbelievers. 

Obviously, these civil governments did not provide the same spiritual leadership as that of Moses, the Judges or the Kings of Israel.  That the civil government is made up of unbelievers is further confirmed in 1 Corinthians 6 regarding lawsuits before unbelievers. 

1Corinthians 6 [6] But brother goes to law against brother, and that before [Gentile judges who are] unbelievers [without faith or trust in the Gospel of Christ]? (Amplified Bible)

In other words, lawmakers, whether they are Senators, Congressmen or the President of the United States, are not called to be spiritual leaders for the Church.  They are called to be civil leaders of a civil government.  However, while they are not called to be spiritual leaders, they are called to be “moral” leaders.       

Until Jesus Christ returns to establish His Kingdom we are required to submit to a civil government.  Many Christians believe that Christians should hold public office so they can pass laws that further their Christian beliefs.  Even if that were true, given the many different Christian denominations and doctrines within the Christian community, how would Christians even decide what Christian denomination or so-called Christian denomination would represent all of Christianity? 

Would it be the doctrine taught by the Baptists?  The Methodists?  The Episcopalians?  The Roman Catholics?  The Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses?  Even though all those denominations teach Jesus, not all the denominations agree on who Jesus is.  For example, most Christian denominations believe that Mormons and Jehovah Witness are nothing more than cults because they teach a different Jesus than the Bible does (and I would agree).  On the other hand, Mormons and Jehovah Witness believe that anyone outside their denomination does not have their salvation.  Again, my question is this – how would Christians even decide what Christian or so-called Christian denomination should be the civil leaders?          

Actually, the answer is found in the Constitution.  Article II, Section 1 and Article VI of the U.S. Constitution requires the President, Senators and Congressmen to take an oath of office or affirmation to uphold the Constitution.  Moreover, the First Amendment to the Constitution reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceable to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The clear implication of the First Amendment concerning religion is that all lawmakers, by the oath of their office, are not to show favoritism of one religion over another.  Interestingly, because he was a professing Christian, evangelicals helped to elect President Bush believing that he would promote and pass laws that would favor Christianity.  Instead, President Bush remained loyal to the oath of office that he took to uphold the Constitution.  In support of the First Amendment to the Constitution, President Bush repeatedly made it clear that he supported and promoted toleration of all religions, not just Christianity.   

In November 2008, President Bush attended a United Nations Faith Forum along with people of other faiths, including representatives of Islam, to promote religious toleration of all faiths.  As reported by The Washington Post, President Bush was quoted:

 “‘One of my core beliefs is that there is an almighty God, and that every man, woman and child on the face of this Earth bears his image,’ Bush said.  ‘…I know many of the leaders gathered in this assembly have been influenced by faith as well.  We may profess different creeds and worship in different places, but our faith leads us to common values.’  …The president also emphasized that democratic systems are best suited to encourage tolerance among different faiths.  ‘We strongly encourage nations to understand that religious freedom is the foundation of a healthy and hopeful society,’ he said.” [6]

The United Nations Faith Forum is only one of many occasions where President Bush took the opportunity to demonstrate his tolerance of other faiths.  President Bush attended the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony in 2007 honoring the Dalai Lama, a man who believes he is a god incarnate.  President Bush escorted the Dalai Lama to the Capitol and joined in presenting the nation’s top civilian honor to him, referring to him as “His Holiness”.  Just prior to the presentation, President Bush said,

“‘I admire the Dalai Lama a lot … I support religious freedom,’ Bush said in a short-notice press conference at the White House.  … ‘I have consistently told the Chinese that religious freedom is in their nation’s interest.  I’ve also told them that I think it’s in their interest to meet with the Dalai Lama and will say so at the ceremony today in Congress,’ Bush said.”[7]      

When Christians honor the Dalai Lama as “His Holiness”, elevate religions that do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the only way to the Father is through the son, then they are misrepresenting Jesus Christ, the Gospel and Christianity.  Again, synchronistic worship allows the evil spirit operating behind Dagon, a pagan fish god, legal access to operate within the gates of America.    

Christians are called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ.  On the other hand, the Constitution requires that all civil lawmakers be ambassadors for all religions.  A Christian cannot be both – he needs to choose who he will be an ambassador for:  Jesus Christ or all other faiths.  To be an ambassador for all religions is to misrepresent Jesus Christ, the Gospel and Christianity. 

Even though they are not called to be spiritual leaders, civil leaders are still accountable to the Lord.  According to Romans 2:9-16, the law is written on everyone’s heart which means that everyone is capable of keeping or making moral laws whether or not they are a Believer.  Obviously, keeping the law or the ability to live a moral life does not mean that someone has their salvation – even the most moral individual has to be born again to be saved.  It simply means that the unbeliever has the ability to choose right from wrong and a desire to live in an environment that is safe for their families as much as a Believer does, otherwise there would be total chaos in the world.   

Whether the government was under the spiritual leadership of Moses, the Judges that governed Israel, the Kings of Israel, the Kings of pagan nations or the civil governments as we know them today – all governments are accountable to the Lord.  As such, all nations will reap from the sins of their leaders as well as their own sins. 

When a civil government exalts created things above the Lord who ordained their civil governments, then that government is treading on dangerous ground, just as the Israelites were treading on dangerous ground when Aaron made the golden calf as the god that brought them out of Egypt. 

Acts 7 [40] Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.  [41] And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto 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; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? [43] Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

Sadly, America’s civil leaders have defied men from among their own ranks, and like the Israelites in Acts 7:41, they too have “rejoiced in the works of their own hands”.  Moreover, Americans continue to exalt those leaders like George Washington who have been deified. 

The Lord will not share His glory with anyone!  Civil leaders are not to exalt pagan deities nor deify their leaders as gods.  The focal point of the United States Capitol, which is located in the eye of the Rotunda, is The Apotheosis of Washington, a mural that portrays Washington as a god with a goddess on either side as well as thirteen spiritual maidens surrounding him. 

            The Rise of Islam 

Long before Muhammad and the Koran were memorialized in stone at the United States Supreme Court Building (as described further below), America’s Founding Fathers expressed their admiration of Islam.  Therefore, I would like to explore past and present relationships between America’s lawmakers, specifically President Obama, and Islam as one has a bearing on the other.  In fact, spiritually we can understand current events as they pertain to President Obama and the recent speeches he delivered in Turkey and Egypt.

To begin with, it’s important to explore America’s African roots going all the way back to 1564 when the French Huguenots successfully established a colony in what is now known as America, only to be murdered by the Spanish Conquistadors one year later.  As background information, I would suggest reading “The Spiritual Roots of America” on our website.

African Roots in America: 

It is significant to note that when the Huguenots came to America they brought free black men with them.  They were identified as Moors,[8] meaning Muslims of African descent, thus establishing a spiritual basis of racial freedom and equality in the land.  More than likely, Rene de Laudonniere, the founder of Ft. Caroline, met the Moors that came to America with him while he was in Morocco.  Interestingly, the first Muslim nation to sign a peace treaty with America was Morocco in 1786. 

The Spanish saw these free black men as a threat and an infringement on their slave trade in nearby Cuba.  When the Spanish murdered the Huguenots, they invoked the principality “Santiago, the Moor Slayer” to come to their aid in the battle.  With their war cries of “Santiago, Santiago”,[9] they also massacred the Moors who came to America with the Huguenots. 

When the Spanish invoked the principality, Santiago, new gods came to the gates of Fort Caroline and America and subsequently, war ensued.  This can be understood in the context of Judges 5:8 and Daniel 10:13:

Judges 5 [8] They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

Daniel 10 [13] But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

These Scriptures, among others, clearly reveal that warring geographical principalities exist and are very much involved in the activities of mankind, operating behind those who allow it.  Ephesians 6 even warns us that our battle is in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).

It was at this same time (the martyrdom of the Huguenots) in America’s history that the roots of slavery were established by the Spanish Conquistadors.  The Spanish had brought 500 or so African slaves on broad with them to America, and it was these 500 slaves that the Spanish used to build St. Augustine, the first Spanish mission in America. [10]  Thus began slavery and slave labor in America.      

Not only is it significant that the first Africans to set foot in America were free men, it is also significant that they were identified as “Moors”.  Moor was a derogatory term used by the Spanish to describe the Muslims of African descent who had invaded their country in previous centuries.   

It should also be noted that the Moors that came to America with the Huguenots were not believers as the Huguenots referred to them as “infidels”.[11]  Similar to the “mixed multitude” accompanying Moses to the Promised Land in the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:37, Numbers 11:4), these infidels, as well as agnostics, and prisoners, accompanied the Huguenots to the New World. 

Exodus 12 [37] And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. [38] And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. (emphasis added)

Numbers 11 [4] And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? [5] We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:

Those who settled in new lands did not always have a choice of who came with them.  Oftentimes, to receive funding for their voyage and new colonies they were required to bring along with them others that a country may have wanted to rid themselves – hence, the mixed multitude.  Just as the mixed multitude was a snare to Israel, the Moors proved to be extremely problematic for the Huguenots.  However, the Huguenots never compromised their beliefs for the Moors, rather, Laudonniere, governor at Ft. Caroline, called them into accountability for their sins according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Barak Hussein Obama

At one time, the term, Moor, identified anyone of dark complexion who was Muslim from North Africa or specifically, those from Morocco.  Over time, the term, Moor, included all Muslims of African heritage, regardless of their country of origin.  With the understanding that the first Africans to arrive in America were also Muslims, then President Barrack Obama’s ancestry immediately becomes noteworthy!  

Whose son are you, young man?  Scripture reveals that the sins of the fathers go down three and four generations.  We also know that the genealogy of someone was extremely important to the Israelites.  For example, after David killed Goliath – King Saul asked David “whose son are you, young man?”

1 Samuel 17 [55] And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth?  And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. [56] And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. [57] And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. [58] And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. (emphasis added)

It seems that David’s courage and character, spiritually as well as physically, in some way was a reflection of his father.  Thus, the ancestry of President Obama’s forefathers cannot be ignored – they are part of his spiritual DNA as well as his DNA in the natural and are part of his identity. 

That the character of Jesse was reflected in his son David should speak to all Christian fathers.

Who were his Fathers?  Even though Barrack Obama was born in America, his father and grandfather were citizens of Kenya and African Muslims.  His stepfather was Muslim as well and for a period of his life, Barrack Obama was raised in a Muslim country.  Even though Barrack Obama is a confessing Christian, he was raised with an appreciation of the faith of his ancestry – Islam.  When addressing Turkey’s Grand National Assembly in April of 2009, he reached out to Muslims saying:

“…So let me say this as clearly as I can: The United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam. … We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world – including in my own country.  The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans.  Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country -- I know, because I am one of them.”[12] (emphasis added)

Moreover, in a joint press availability session with President Gul of Turkey, President Obama stated,

“… although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”[13]

Many Americans were appalled that President Obama even dared to indicate that America was not a Christian nation – as though he was the first President to make such a bold claim.  In fact, President Obama was only echoing the beliefs of many of America’s Founding Fathers.

            As mentioned earlier, Morocco was the first Arab nation to recognize America as a nation, a detail not lost to President Obama.  He referred to this fact in his address to the Arab nations when speaking from Cairo:

“I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.  The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco.  In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President, John Adams, wrote, ‘The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims.’”[14]

President Obama was quoting from Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli (the official name of this treaty was the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary).  The treaty was actually comprised of individual treaties, the first signed with Morocco in 1786.  Collectively, these treaties were also known as the “Barbary Treaties” or the “Treaty of Tripoli”.  As a whole, the Treaty of Tripoli was signed in 1796-97, ratified by Congress and then signed into law by President John Adams in 1797 – eleven years after the individual treaty was signed with Morocco.  Article 11 of this treaty reads:

“As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”[15] (emphasis added)

Article 11 confirms that America’s second President as well as the sitting Congress who ratified the Treaty of Tripoli, like Obama, did not consider America to be a Christian nation.  And like President Obama, they were certainly not offended by Islam nor did they want to offend the Arab nations concerning their practice of their religion. 

President Obama’s appreciation of Islam and his own Muslim ancestry is also echoed in a subsequent speech delivered in Cairo, Egypt on June 4, 2009.  The text of this speech, in its entirety, is included in the Appendix and bears witness that Barrack Obama’s character – spiritually as well as physically – is truly a reflection of his Muslim forefathers.  In this speech he said,  

 “There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.  As the Holy Koran tells us, ‘Be conscious of God and speak always the truth."  (Applause.)  That is what I will try to do today -- to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Now part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience.  I'm a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims.   As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and at the fall of dusk.  As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam.  It was Islam -- at places like Al-Azhar -- that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment.  It was innovation in Muslim communities -- (applause) -- it was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed.  Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation.  And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality. (Applause.)”[16] (emphasis has been added)

In the same speech, President Obama points out that America’s presence in the Middle East conflicts are because of the terrorist who he believes to be a threat to America – not because of their religion.  In essence, President Obama was saying that America is not at war with Islam’s god, we are at war with your nation’s terrorists. 

Obviously, the Muslim influence is there.  The Muslim name, Barack Hussein Obama, speaks for itself.  This too is a Biblical principal as names often defined a characteristic or the nature of a person.    

It is important to understand that the spiritual offspring of the Spanish who attacked Ft. Caroline and killed the Moors and the French Huguenots, both of whom the Spanish hated, would spiritually perceive Barrack Obama as a Moor.  They would also view him as a heretic in much the same way as their ancestors viewed the French Huguenots as heretics.  Even though the French Huguenots, like Barrack Obama, confessed to be Christians, the Spanish considered them heretics nonetheless because they would not come under the authority of the Roman Catholic Pope.  Of course, neither does Barrack Obama.

Like the first black men to arrive in America, Barrack Obama comes from a line of free men, whereas his wife is an offspring of slavery.  In this sense, they are both making history in America.  Like the first Africans to arrive in America, it can be said that Barrack Hussein Obama, like his father and grandfathers, is a Muslim of African descent and that he too is a Moor.  At least, he will be perceived as such by the spiritual offspring of the Spanish Conquistadors and the Knights of Santiago, as well as many other Americans! 

Ambassador for Islam:  In his speech given in Cairo Egypt and heard throughout the world, President Obama’s remarks bear witness against him, that like his forefathers, he too is an “Ambassador for Islam”.  Many Arabs took note that President Obama presented himself as a Teacher of the Muslim Religion even comparing him to Muslim religious leaders.   Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure: 

Islam was at the very core of his address.  Even though he mentioned Jesus and Moses, it was only in passing.  Rather, at times it seemed that President Obama was proselytizing for Islam.  His comments seemed to indicate that Islam could solve all of the world’s problems. 

This was not missed by Muslim world leaders.  In his first interview following President Obama’s speech in Cairo, Egyptian President Mubarak shared his perception of President Obama’s personal views of Islam as reported by Reuters  and the Associated Press (emphasis has been added to both below quotes):

“He [President Obama] is a sympathetic man, and says the United States will not fight Islam because Islam is a heavenly religion”,[17] and

“Obama ‘sympathizes and says Islam is a heavenly religion like other religions’ … ‘President Obama is someone who differs from the other presidents of the United States,’ said Mubarak.”[18]

Jesus said “Woe to the teachers of the law and Pharisees” who sat in Moses’ seat of authority and who traveled over sea and land to proselytize according to their own beliefs, but not according to God’s will:

Matthew 23 [15] Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.  (NIV)

Ambassador for Christ:  As Christians, we are called to be Ambassadors for Christ.  As a professing Christian, one would expect President Obama to choose to win converts for Jesus who alone can save.  Yet, rather than referring to those Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament that testified of Jesus as the Messiah, President Obama quoted from the Koran.   President Obama presented Jesus Christ as nothing more than an equal, if that, of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, thus diminishing the very heart of Christianity. 

Instead, President Obama should have pointed to the Scriptures that reveal that the Mohammedans, who look to Ishmael as their spiritual father, are only the natural offspring of Abraham, not the spiritual offspring of Abraham, because Ishmael was the son of Abraham’s flesh.  On the other hand, Christians look to Abraham as their spiritual father because, like Isaac, we are the children of the promise, and for that reason, we are the true spiritual offspring of Abraham. (Galatians 4:21-30). 

Furthermore, President Obama should have pointed to the Scriptures that reveal that the spiritual offspring of Ishmael will never share in the promise of the spiritual offspring of Isaac (Galatians 4:30).  For that reason the spiritual offspring of Ishmael, including those who practice Islam, will always “spiritually” persecute the children of promise (Galatians 4:28-29). 

More to the point, once President Obama stepped into the “Seat of Moses”, he should have pointed to the Scriptures that reveal that Islam and Christianity are incompatible.  When Barrack Obama, a teacher of the civil law, wrongly took it upon himself to sit in Moses’ “Seat of Authority” presenting himself as a Teacher of the Law and a Teacher of Islam, he misrepresented the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thus, he too is accountable for traveling over sea and land to proselytize according to his own beliefs rather than according to God’s will. (Matt 23:15)

Notice the differences between the beliefs of America’s first and highest-ranking government official, Governor Laudonniere, and today’s equivalent, President Obama concerning Islam.  When the spiritual roots of America were laid down, Moors were considered “Infidels”, not “Brethren.  In other words, the Huguenots were Ambassadors for Jesus Christ, but Obama is an Ambassador for Islam.

It’s obvious that the Islamic beast in America that we are beginning to become more and more aware of, even though it was not apparent nor embraced by our parent’s generation, was sanctioned by our forefathers. 

Revelation 17 [8] The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Civil Leaders are Ordained by God

Like all civil leaders, Barrack Obama is ordained of the Lord (Romans 13).  Moreover, it was in God’s timing and for His specific purposes that Barrack Hussein Obama was elected President of the United States. 

Today’s civil leaders, just like Pilate who gave the order to crucify Jesus, are conscious of the power and authority they wield.  However, like Pilate, they don’t understand that their earthly authority and power is given by God and they can abuse that power (Romans 13) (John 19:10-11).

Obviously, God can and does use the civil leaders He ordains to carry out His righteous purposes, even though they are not righteous themselves.  For example, God gave Pilate the power and authority to crucify Jesus in order that the words Jesus spoke concerning the kind of death He was to die would be fulfilled. (John 18:32)  Like righteous King David, who served God’s purpose in his own generation (Acts 13:36), today’s leaders also have a purpose in their own generation.  Even though King David was a righteous man whose heart was after God, God’s sovereign will does not depend on the righteousness of man, as was the case with Pilate.

Interestingly, Pilate realized that Jesus was an innocent man and not wanting to become involved with their religious matters, Pilate encouraged the Sanhedrin, the Jews High Court, to judge Jesus according to the Jewish law.  Instead, the Sanhedrin not only lied when they said that it was unlawful for them to put any man to death,[19] they also manipulated Pilate by threatening to go to Caesar with charges of high treason against Pilate himself (John 19:12).  Even today, we find religious leaders who turn religious battles into political battles – and vice versa – for their own selfish reasons. 

John 19:11 reveals that even though Pilate was guilty of sin, the Sanhedrin was guilty of a greater sin.  There are several reasons why one was more guilty than the other, but the one I want to emphasize is that Pilate was given an authority that the Sanhedrin was not.  Furthermore, Pilate never presented himself as an “expert of the law” in religious matters as they pertained to the Jewish law, whereas the Sanhedrin did.  Similarly, when a civil leader like President Obama goes outside his boundaries as a civil leader and takes it upon himself to sit in the “Seat of Moses”, yet misrepresents God’s righteous laws as he did in his address to the Arabs in Cairo, Egypt, then he is guilty of the greater sin, just as in the case of the Sanhedrin. 

As can be seen from the short discussion above about President Obama and his Moorish ancestry, the spiritual seeds that were sown in America by the Huguenots and their martyrdom by the Spanish are prologue to current events in America.  What seems incomprehensible in the natural realm, such as our economic meltdown in 2008 or an African American elected as president of the United States, becomes clear as the spiritual dimensions of our history are revealed and understood.  The spiritual truths of our past are also prologue to our future, such as the coming persecution of spiritual Christians by carnal Christians and the State.

The spiritual significance of God’s timing and purposes for Barrack Obama, and the spiritual significance of the Moors and the Moor Slayers in America are further explored in other articles on our website.   

            President Bush and Islam

Journalist Bill Broadway’s article in The Washington Post, “God’s Place on the Dais; Use of ‘Jesus’ in Inaugural Prayers Breeds Some Worry”, is a critique of the prayers given at President Bush’s first inaugural address in 2001.  Broadway stated, 

“President Bush made history by being the first president to use the word ‘mosque’ in an inaugural address. … Hutson and others say Bush is the first president to refer to Islam in an inaugural speech. … [Bush said] ‘Church and charity, synagogue and mosque lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws.’”[20] (emphasis added)

The article further confirms that present day Americans continue to echo the ideology of our Founding Fathers and secular religion.  Moreover, President Bush made history by including “mosque” in his inaugural address. Ironically, it was in September of the same year that those who worshiped in mosques attacked America.   

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure:  When President Bush included “mosque” in his inaugural address of 2001 he added to the sins of America’s forefathers who had already spiritually linked America to ancient Nineveh. 

            In the same article on Bush’s first inaugural address, Broadway quoted two pastors: Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, President Bush’s personal pastor, and Rev. Barry Lynn, a United Church of Christ minister and executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.  Rev. Caldwell was quoted as saying,

“… in an interview this week from his office in Houston, said it was not his ‘intent or desire to exclude or offend anyone’ and apologized if he had done so.  ‘I was invited by a Christian to offer a prayer,’ he said.  ‘And as a Christian who revels in the right to express his religious freedom, I chose to pray in that name I always pray in.  ‘If I had to do it over again, I probably would not say, ‘All who agree, say Amen,’” he said.  ‘Additionally, I probably would not say ‘Jesus, the name that’s above all other names.’  That truly could be interpreted as inflammatory or offensive.’”[21] (emphasis added)

In response to Rev. Caldwell’s (and Rev. Graham’s) prayers, Rev. Lynn,

“… called the inaugural prayers ‘inappropriate and insensitive.’  He noted that [Rev. Franklin] Graham’s invocation also asked God to give the president and his advisers ‘the courage to say no to all that is contrary to Your statues and holy law.’  Graham was thereby placing God’s law above the country’s, Lynn said.  ‘In a secular society, that is wrong’.”[22] (emphasis added)

It is bewildering that President Bush, a professing Christian, placed Islam alongside Christianity.  However, it is incomprehensible that a so-called Christian pastor such as Rev. Lynn, echoed the words spoken in 1833 by Rufus Choate who believed that the U.S. Constitution should be placed above the authoritative Word of God (Choate’s quotation is explained in more detail later).  It is equally incomprehensible that President Bush’s pastor apologized if he had offended anyone by mentioning the Name of Jesus at the inauguration!

The above article describes attitudes that one would expect from a civil government.  Even in Biblical times when one pagan nation captured another nation, they generally let those they conquered keep their gods and religion.  America, of course, is a nation of immigrants.   

However, what I find shocking is that two pastors would bow their knee to secular religion when we are called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ.  We need not apologize to those who are offended at the Name of Jesus, the Name above all other names, because one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Blessed is he who does not take offense:

Matthew 11[6] And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth. (Amplified Bible)

Christian pastors who:

1)   acknowledge the secular religion of our forefathers or

2)   believe that Christians in government should be sensitive to those who find the Name of Jesus offensive to the point that they shouldn’t even mention the Name of Jesus or

3)   find it offensive that a Christian President should be encouraged to uphold the Word of God over the Constitution,

misrepresent the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure:  So, as always they fill up to the brim the measure of their father’s sins.  Pastors who misrepresent Jesus Christ and the Gospel have added to America’s guilt.

Just as the nation of Israel reaped before and after the death of their leaders, America is also reaping as a nation.  We are reaping from the sins of our forefathers as well as from the sins of our present-day leaders who have continued to walk in the same rebellious ways and sins of past leaders, like Rufus Choate, who placed the Constitution above the authoritative Word of God. 

Those who reject the perfect law of liberty and reject Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone do so in part because they find accountability offensive.  They cannot begin to accept the concept of a nation reaping and sowing unless it applies to a nation they consider their adversary.  Nonetheless, our generation has added to the sins of our Founding Fathers, filling them up to the brim, and for that reason, America is being judged.

America’s Sin – The Hypocrisy of our Christian Lawgivers

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure:  The hypocrisy of today’s Christian lawgivers is adding to America’s guilt and this particular transgression is a key cause as to why the sins of our forefather’s are filling to the brim. 

Many, like Barrack Obama, for reasons of their own, have stepped into the “Seat of Moses” and in doing so, have brought reproach to the Gospel because “they do not practice what they preach”.  In speaking to the experts of the law Jesus said:

Mark 7 [6] He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. (emphasis added)

As the sins of our Christian lawmaker’s are becoming more and more publicly exposed, their hypocrisy is more and more apparent.  For example, the latest two lawmakers to be exposed were Senator John Ensign of Nevada and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.  Both politicians made personal morality a measuring stick for elected public officials and demanded the resignation of politicians who were caught in infidelity because it violated the sanctity of marriage as taught by the Bible.  However, they themselves were following the lust of their flesh and both were caught committing adultery.  Yet, both have refused to resign. 

Their immorality and hypocrisy brings “the way of truth into disrepute”.  As Peter prophesied:

2 Peter 2 [2] And many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed.  (Amplified Bible)

Had Ensign and Sanford not professed Christianity or had they practiced what they preached, the Gospel would not have suffered reproach.  However, because of their actions many unbelievers are now speaking evil of Christianity. 

After the wife and staff of South Carolina’s governor could not explain the whereabouts of Governor Sanford, the news media was determined to uncover the details of his mysterious disappearance.  In response to the media, an unidentified individual informed them that Governor Sanford would be on a flight from Argentina arriving at the Atlanta airport.  It was much to his surprise at the Atlanta airport that Governor Mark Sanford, a professing Christian was confronted by a news reporter upon his return from a liaison with his mistress who lives in Argentina.  Later the same day in a news conference Governor Sanford admitted to having an affair. 

When President Clinton went through impeachment proceedings over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, like Senator Ensign, then Senator Mark Sanford called for Clinton’s resignation.  Now politicians and others are calling for Sanford’s resignation as Governor because of his hypocrisy of being “holier than thou” and for his potential misuse of his office.

Interestingly, some who were standing directly behind Sanford as he addressed the television media during his press conference were “smirking” as Sanford spoke of attending prayer meetings, “God’s Law” and “Moral Absolutes”.  Actions speak louder than words, and needless to say, Sanford’s actions brought “the way of truth into disrepute” (Mark 7:6) as the media is having a field day in pointing to his hypocrisy.  To add fuel to the fire, correspondence between Governor Sanford and his mistress was anonymously sent to the news media.

It’s understandable why Jesus rebuked the experts in the law because they did not practice what they preached!  However, we need to keep in mind that while we are not to imitate their actions, Jesus commanded that we are to practice what they taught.  Obviously, their teachings would have to be in agreement with the precepts of God’s Word. 

Matthew 23 [3] So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice.

Many people are calling Governor Sanford a hypocrite.  According to Strong’s, “hypocrite” can be understood as an actor under an assumed character – in other words a “stage-player” (Strong’s G5273).  This is interesting given Philippians 1:15-18 where we find that some preach Christ out of selfish ambition.  This, of course, is what many politicians do to reach Christian voters. 

Many people believe that Governor Sanford’s confession was an appeal to the Christian base of the Republican Party.  In other words, they believe his confession was simply “damage control”.  Nonetheless, Paul reveals that whether from false motives or sincere motives, Christ is preached.  In this particular situation, their message is true even though their motives are tainted and impure.  The Gospel’s validity is not dependent on the messenger.  In other words, we are to obey God’s Word even when it comes from hypocrites.  Sadly, many people will unjustly judge the Gospel by the spokesperson.  

The point I want to make is that even though many Lawmakers reject God’s purpose for themselves (Luke 7:30), they nonetheless understand that God’s laws are absolute – as Sanford’s words bear witness.  When Sanford publicly acknowledged his adultery, he also acknowledged that God’s laws are not just a rigid list of do’s and don’ts, rather, they are laws designed to protect people from themselves.  As he stated in his press conference

“But I am -- I am here because if you were to look at God's laws, there are in every instance designed to protect people from themselves. I think that that is the bottom line with God's law -- that it's not a moral, rigid list of dos and don'ts just for the heck of dos and don'ts. It is indeed to protect us from ourselves. And the biggest self of self is, indeed, self. That sin is in fact grounded in this notion of what is it that I want, as opposed to somebody else.”[23]

The fact that Senator Ensign was a member of the well-known men’s Christian Organization, “Promise Keepers”, whose members promise to uphold the sanctity of their marriage vows clearly reveals that he too understands God’s Laws and what they require.  They both erred when they rejected God’s purpose for themselves as ambassadors for Jesus Christ bringing the Gospel into reproach!  And, this was not lost by Satan, the accuser of the Brethren!   

 America’s Sin – The Hypocrisy of the Declaration of Independence

  One of the founding documents of this country is our Declaration of Independence, which declared separation from Great Britain and established the United States as a new, independent nation.  At the core of the Declaration was the concept of “liberty”.  However, what does American liberty really embody? 

Liberty was the war cry of those who fought in the Revolutionary War.  Liberty became America’s new secular religion and the Capitol of the United States was America’s temple of and to Liberty.  The Capitol was to serve as a witness not only of America’s secular liberty, but of America’s goal to establish their ideal of liberty throughout the world.  (See article titled: Liberty: America’s New Secular Religion and New Secular Law)  

Moreover, liberty was the war cry of those lawmakers who justified the war in Iraq. However, liberty as defined by America is not welcomed by all nations, including Iraq, nor should it be.  Every nation should be at “liberty” to choose their own form of civil government, including Iraq who supposedly embraced America’s form of democracy after America invaded their country.

President Bush, like others before him, believed that liberty is everyone’s “God-given right” and for that reason, President Bush justified making liberty a cornerstone of America’s foreign policy.  However, Bush’s concept of liberty is not in agreement with Scripture’s “perfect law of liberty”. 

President Bush’s concept of liberty is secular and imperfect.  God’s concept of liberty is the “perfect law of liberty” found only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thus, liberty apart from Jesus Christ is not and cannot be everyone’s “God-given right”. 

            God’s Perfect Law of Liberty – Jesus Christ

According to Scripture, the law of liberty that everyone will be judged by is according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ – not secular liberty.  James and Paul refer to this fact:

James 1 [25] But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. (emphasis added)

James 2 [12] So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

Romans 2 [16] In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

The perfect law of liberty is the Gospel in its entirety and according to the Gospel of Christ Jesus – Jesus and Jesus alone is the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20).  In other words, our liberty and freedom are based upon and found in the belief in Jesus Christ and His teachings.

Scripture reveals that many will find it offensive that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of our liberty.  Therefore, we should not be surprised when a nation professes a cornerstone apart from Jesus Christ and places their founding documents and laws above the authoritative Word of God. 

The “Laws of Nature” according to the Declaration of Independence

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure:  America’s desire to establish liberty apart from God’s perfect law of liberty has added to America’s guilt. The Declaration of Independence has added to America’s guilt and is one reason why America is reaping calamities.  The Declaration of Independence is another example of man’s attempt to establish secular liberty apart from God’s perfect law of liberty.  Therefore, let’s take a closer look at the Declaration of Independence.  More to the point – what has America reaped and why?

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, reads in part:

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary … to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them …We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” (emphasis added)

These words sound ethical and virtuous, yet American history bears witness that neither Thomas Jefferson nor the other Founding Fathers secured the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for those they governed.  Actions speak louder than words and the actions of our Founding Fathers bear witness that the “Laws of Nature” and “unalienable rights” referred to in the Declaration of Independence are secular “god-given rights”, but not righteous “God-given rights”.

The Declaration implies that we are entitled to these god-given rights because of the “Laws of Nature” and of “Nature’s God”.  Yet, the god-given rights guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence are not in agreement with the “Perfect Law of Liberty” as revealed in Scripture.  They are nothing more than utopian ideals and for that reason they cannot be guaranteed as demonstrated by America’s history. 

It is important to note that Satan is “god” of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4); therefore, god spelled with a small “g” as above is in reference to the god of this age while God spelled with a capital “G” is referring to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  True God-given rights are quite different from secular “god-given rights” which are exclusionary.  This would explain why the Founding Fathers did not extend the god-given rights they speak about to their slaves, Native American Indians and others who were disenfranchised, such as women and the poor.   

The LORD allows man to accept or reject the rights that He offers to every man.  On the other hand, man does not have the choice when it comes to secular god-given rights – those rights are determined by men, as was the case with America’s Founding Fathers. 

First, the Declaration states that “all men are created equal”.   However, Thomas Jefferson, like George Washington and other Founding Fathers, owned slaves.  Their actions speak volumes:  they did not walk the talk.  The government, contrary to what they stated in the Declaration, did not secure the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for either those they enslaved or the Native American Indians who were deprived of their land by the government. 

Unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

·         Life according to the Word of God: Exodus 20:13 commands “Thou salt not kill”

·         Life according to the Declaration of Independence:

-        Yet, the Founding Fathers, slave owners themselves, did not pass laws that punished slave owners who took the lives of their slaves! 

-        America’s government not only justified taking land that belonged to others, the government justified killing Native American Indians who lived on that land in order to take possession of that land for themselves. 

-         Today, how many innocent civilians have lost their lives in wars (Iraq, Vietnam, etc.) from weapons (bombs, landmines, mortar rounds, bullets, etc.) fired by American soldiers?   

-        Over 45 million unborn children in America have been legally killed since 1973 when our government said abortion was a woman’s “right”.

·         Liberty according to the Word of God: As described above, Scripture reveals that the “perfect law of liberty” is found only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

·         Liberty according to the Declaration of Independence:

-        One only has to take into consideration that the “liberties” of the slaves and Native American Indians were not protected by the very ones that authored and approved the Declaration of Independence.

-        What liberties of poor white people were protected?   

-        How many innocent people sit in prisons today because their liberties have not been protected? 

-        As a rule, the government passed laws to protect the liberties of the general population after, and only after, the public rebelled against the government in one way or another.  For example:

·         Laws against segregation

·         Voting rights laws

·         Laws to protect coal minors

·         Child labor laws. 

-        Again, liberty according to the Declaration of Independence is “secular liberty” and imperfect.  Liberty apart from Jesus Christ is not everyone’s “God-given right”. 

·         The Pursuit of Happiness according to the Word of God: Scripture reveals that God, through His kindness, places happiness in our hearts: 

Acts 14 [17] Yet He did not neglect to leave some witness of Himself, for He did you good and [showed you] kindness and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with nourishment and happiness.  (Amplified Bible, emphasis added)

·         The Pursuit of Happiness according to the Declaration of Independence:

-        The Founding Fathers professed that it was the responsibility of the government to protect everyone’s god-given right to pursue happiness.  Yet, like those in Ezekiel 13:22, the people that God had not made sad, they themselves made sad. 

-        They did not protect the happiness of the slaves or the Native American Indians.  It was common to sell a slave’s children or spouse to another slave owner thereby making it impossible for the slaves to establish a family unit.  Only the slaves themselves could understand the sorrow and “unhappiness” they must have endured at the hands of the very ones who were to protect their supposed right to pursue happiness. 

-        Displacing Native Americans from their lands and hunting grounds (their home, food supply and livelihood) certainly did not make them happy or allow them to pursue happiness.  This problem persists today.

-        Not regulating industry that required factory workers, miners and other working classes to labor extremely long hours in intolerable and often unsafe conditions for minimal wages did not allow these people to pursue happiness.

Yet, America’s lawmakers continue to promote these so-called secular laws of nature as God-given rights, not only for America, but also for the rest of the world.  For that reason, President Bush made liberty the cornerstone of America’s foreign policy.  Our lawmakers are on treacherous ground when they confuse God-given rights with the god-given rights of Satan and interfere with other God-ordained civil governments. 

To prophesy that America would lay a foundation for erecting temples of liberty in every part of the earth is to interfere with other civil governments that have been established by God (Romans 13).  Whether it is a democracy or other form of government, all civil governments have been established by the Lord, and to interfere with other governments is to interfere with governments established by God.  

            God-given Rights vs. god-given Rights

Why is there confusion between God-given rights and god-given rights?  When Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers spoke of God it was in generic terms.  Whether it was the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States – America’s Founding Fathers never defined God in Biblical terms or as the father of Jesus Christ.  They referred to God in generic terms only because they understood that while some believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – others did not.  In fact, God meant one thing to George Washington while it meant something completely different to Thomas Jefferson.  Therefore, God or god-given rights would mean different things to different groups, depending upon their religious beliefs.

It may come as a surprise to those Americans who believe that God has a divine purpose “exclusively” for America that God has a divine purpose for all nations – first and foremost the nation of Israel.  The revelation of God’s law of nature has been made known to all nations, not just to those living in America.  The law of nature is the “moral law” according to the will of God and Romans 1:20 and 2:14-15 reveals that this law of nature is a law that is made known to all of mankind, not just Believers.  Therefore, all of mankind is capable of living in a society not ruled by chaos regardless of their form of civil government. 

Keep in mind, the Roman government that both Jesus and the Apostle Paul submitted to was not a democratic form of government.  Consequently, America cannot claim that a democratic form of government is everyone’s God-given right. 

In Biblical times, Israel understood that the Roman government, whose authority they were under at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, would not bring salvation to the earth.  In fact, the Israelites were waiting for the promised Messiah to come, deliver them from the Roman civil government and set up His righteous kingdom.  Yet, because of envy and a variety of other reasons, instead of letting Jesus establish His kingdom, they enticed the civil government to crucify Him. 

Even though all civil governments are established by God, none, including America’s civil government, can nor are they ordained to bring salvation to the world any more than the Roman government who aided the Israelites in crucifying Jesus.  Salvation and true liberty is found in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. 

For America to believe that they can establish freedom and God-given rights throughout the world by promoting America’s form of democracy in countries they invade (e.g., Iraq) is arrogance and idolatry.  At best, they can only hope to establish a democratic form of government, but not a righteous government.

God’s law cannot be set aside by secular law or secular liberty.  In Matthew 5:17, Jesus declares that He did not come to do away with the law, meaning the law according to Scripture:

Matthew 5 [17] Think that am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:  I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.  [18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

According to Isaiah 9, the government rests on the shoulders of Jesus Christ, yet our lawmakers seek to take the government off the shoulders of Jesus Christ and place it on their own shoulders.  Like Pilate, America’s lawmakers boast of their own power and authority – yet no civic government has any authority except it were given it to them from above (John 19:10-11). 

John 19 [10] Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?  [11] Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Romans 13 reveals that all civil governments are established by God; therefore, they are subject to Him.  They are God’s sword – not their own.  Therefore, their power is limited – their power does not negate the power of God, His Word or their accountability to Him.  Like Pilate, today’s lawmakers, whether they are Believers or not, are accountable to the Lord.  Even though Jesus submitted to Pilate, He made it clear to Pilate that He, like the Israelites who represented the religious establishment, were both accountable, but in different ways.  Accountability is a Biblical principal, not an issue that lawmakers can vote on. 

Even though Pilate was guilty of sin because he ordered Jesus crucifixion, those who handed Jesus over to Pilate were guilty of the greater sin because they knew that Jesus was the Son of God – Pilate did not (John 19:11).  In other words, even though America’s civil government is guilty of sin, the Church leaders who pray secular prayers at events such as the Presidential Inaugural so as not to offend someone are guilty of the greater sin because they know better and in doing so, they misrepresent Jesus Christ.  Obviously, those civil leaders who profess Jesus Christ, yet misrepresent Him, are guilty of the greater sin as well.

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure:  Together, America’s civil government and America’s religious establishment have added to America’s guilt.  Whether it was Caesar’s civil government, which Jesus submitted to in order to fulfill prophecy, or today’s civil governments, neither have been called to establish Jesus’ Kingdom.  Jesus Himself will do that! 

John 18 [35] “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied.  “It was your people and your chief priests who handed You over to me.  What is it you have done?”  [36] Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews.  But now My kingdom is from another place.” (NIV)

Man cannot do what only Jesus Christ was called to do.  The civil government is not called to be the spiritual leaders of the Church.  However, Romans 2:12-16 reveals that the law is written on their hearts as well on the Believers heart and even though they are not called to be the spiritual leaders of the Church, they are accountable to be the moral leaders of the nation they serve.  For all of the above reasons lawmakers should acknowledge that the government rests on the shoulders of Jesus Christ and place the authoritative Word of God above the Constitution.   

Many Christian lawmakers have chosen patriotism over being an ambassador for Jesus Christ and they can be likened to the carnal Christians that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3.  A Christian who takes the oath of office to uphold a constitution that requires him not to show favoritism to one religion over another and still believes that he can be can be an ambassador for Jesus Christ is a carnal Christian.  To show favoritism to Christianity would violate his oath of office and Scripture is clear about the dangers of taking oaths.  Scripture reveals that anything beyond a “yes” or “no” is of the evil one.  In other words, a Christian needs to choose whether he wants to serve secular religion that requires him to take an oath to uphold freedom of religion or be an ambassador for Jesus Christ –he cannot do both.

America’s Sin – Idolatry of Our Constitution

            The U.S. Constitution was America’s second attempt at structuring a national government and national laws (the first was the Articles of Confederation).  Like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution created spiritual openings (sins) for America.  It officially endorsed and legalized the institution of slavery in the newly independent United States (Article 2, Section 3) until slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment. It was idolatrous from its inception and continued the hypocrisy of the Declaration of Independence.  Moreover, it promoted synchronistic worship and synchronistic religion.

The Significance of James Wilson

On September 11, 1787, a breach in the spiritual realm was created when James Wilson verbalized the ideology of America’s Founding Fathers at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.  It was through this breach to the day and month that the Islamic terrorists attacked America on September 11, 2001.  However, his prophecy that America would erect temples of liberty throughout the world was not the only factor that contributed to the breach in the spiritual realm in 1787. 

America accuses Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization of not valuing the lives of human beings.  However, America’s Constitution bears witness that neither did James Wilson nor our other Founding Fathers who met in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft America’s Constitution.    

As a member of the Constitutional Convention, James Wilson helped draft the U.S. Constitution.  Per Wilson’s proposal, the “Three-fifths Compromise” was included in the constitution, which counted “all other Persons” (i.e., slaves) as three-fifths of a person for purposes of taxation and representation.  Even three-fifths was considered too much for those who did not want slaves to be considered at all.  Furthermore, three-fifths was not a reflection of true feelings since many in attendance even considered slaves, the backbone of America’s southern economy, to be anything other than property. 

It is difficult to comprehend that one human being believed that he had the power to determine the worth of another human being.  Yet, that was the mindset of America’s Founding Fathers who, as a group, decreed in America’s Constitution that slaves were only “three-fifths” of a whole person.  Believing that the Constitution was the authoritative law of America, apparently they also believed that Americans throughout the ages would also accept their values and way of thinking that one could devalue the lives of others.  By examining America’s history it is easy to see that the Founding Fathers way of thinking concerning the value of people has manifested in one way or another throughout America’s existence.  For example, child labor practices, inhuman working conditions/practices in the workplace, the draft, unequal pay, discrimination/racism, to name a few.

Only because of economic greed and political reasons did our Founding Fathers compromise and agree that slaves were even three-fifths of a whole person.  Even those in attendance who didn’t agree with slavery didn’t necessarily oppose slavery; for that reason, they were able to agree to “three-fifths” in order to find favor on other issues that would further their own personal agendas and lust for power and money.  Again, “covetousness practices” 

Another interesting connection with James Wilson is found in the embryonic beginnings of our federal banking system.  The first central government incorporated bank in America, the Bank of North America, was chartered on December 31, 1781 and began operations January 7, 1782.  Wilson not only helped his friend Robert Morris, the Superintendent of Finance of America, draft the bank’s charter, but also argued its constitutionality and was appointed as one of its original directors.  The main purpose of the bank was to finance the war debt of the new country and effectively married the wealthy with the government.

Apart from his public accomplishments, Wilson’s personal life was one of greed.  He was publically thought to be guilty of “engrossing” (hoarding goods to drive up prices) and war profiteering.  He engaged in excessive and unsuccessful land speculation throughout his life and even tried to influence legislation in Pennsylvania to favor land speculators.  He twice landed in debtor’s prison and died in North Carolina at the age of 56, disgraced and penniless.

James Wilson’s friend, Robert Morris, is portrayed in the mural, The Apotheosis of Washington, which is located in the eye of the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.   The Apotheosis of Washington is an allegory that connects American historical figures with the spiritual realm – a concept that was embraced and nurtured by George Washington before his death.  As previously noted, George Washington is portrayed elevated to the status of a god with a goddess on either side.  In this same mural, while not elevated to the status of a god, Robert Morris, “financier of the American Revolution”, is portrayed receiving a bag of gold from Mercury, the pagan god of commerce. 

Interestingly, because of America’s current financial crises, the government has transformed several of today’s once leading banks and financial institutions into quasi-government agencies as part of the government’s recovery plan – a move unwelcomed by many.     

            The Constitution Becomes an Idol    

Sadly, many of our lawmakers, like Rufus Choate, who served as a Congressman and Senator from Massachusetts during the 1830’s, put their trust in man and in the U.S. Constitution rather than the Lord.  In 1833, Choate proudly stated,   

“We have built no temple but the Capitol. 

  We consult no common oracle but the Constitution.”

~ Rufus Choate, 1833 [24]

These words spoken by Rufus Choate in 1833 not only speak volumes about his beliefs, but they also reaffirm the ideology of America’s forefathers who built the Capitol to function as a “civic temple” and who placed the Constitution that they authored above the authoritative Word of God.  The words of Rufus Choate, one might say, now belong to the ages. 

With the approval of Congress, Choate’s words have been engraved at the entrance to the new Capitol’s Visitor Center that opened in December of 2008.  The Visitor Center now serves as the “new gateway” to the Capitol and will forever be a reminder to all who pass through those doors that America’s lawmakers “have built no temple but the Capitol and they consult no common oracle but the Constitution.”     

America’s Sin – Idolatry of our National Laws

God ordained all civil governments (Romans 13:1), so obviously He doesn’t punish a civil government for the power it wields – He punishes them when they abuse that power.  More specifically, America abused that power when they violated the First Commandment that reads, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”! (Exodus 20:3)

When a nation consults laws established by a pagan lawmaker who professes to be the earthly representative of a pagan deity or receives laws from a god other than Yahweh, then that nation has placed other gods before Him and He will judge that nation for abusing the authority He gave them when their sins have reached full measure.  He will not share His glory with another!      

The Evolution of American Law:

It might surprise some Christians to discover that America’s laws have a distinctly pagan influence.  The following is a quote from Art in the United States Capitol prepared by the Architect of the Capitol, which describes the 23 relief portraits in the House Chamber at the US Capitol.

“The 23 relief portraits in marble are of men noted in history for the part they played in the evolution of what has become American law.  They were placed over the gallery doors of the House of Representatives Chamber when it was remodeled 1949-50.... In chronological order the lawgivers are:

[Lawmaker]		[Date]	[Office, Occupation, or Historical Position held]
Hammurabi	c	2067-2025 B.C.	[King of Babylon]
Moses	c	1571-1451 B.C.	[Hebrew Prophet & Lawmaker]
Lycurgus	c	900 B.C.	[Spartan Legislator]
Solon	c	594 B.C.	[Athenian Statesman]
Gaius	c	110-180 A.D.	[Roman Jurist]
Papinian	c	200 A.D.	[Roman Jurist]
Justinian	c	483-565 A.D.	[Byzantine Emperor]
Tribonian	c	500-547 A.D.	[Byzantine Jurist]
Maimonides	c	1135-1204 A.D.	[Jewish Philosopher]
Gregory IX	c	1147-1241 A.D	[Pope]
Innocent III		1161-1216 A.D.	[Pope]
de Montfort		1200-1265 A.D.	[English Statesman]
St. Louis		1214-1270 A.D.	[King of France]
Alphonso X		1221-1284 A.D.	[King of Leon and Castile]
Edward I		1239-1307 A.D.	[King of England]
Suleiman		1494-1566 A.D.	[Sultan of Turkey]
Grotius		1583-1645 A.D.	[Dutch Statesman]
Colbert		1619-1683 A.D	[French Statesman]
Pothier		1699-1772 A.D.	[French Jurist]
Blackstone		1723-1780 A.D.	[English Jurist]
Mason		1726-1792 A.D.	[Drafter of Virginia Constitution]
Jefferson		1743-1826 A.D.	[Third President of the U.S.]
Napoleon		1769-1821 A.D.	[Emperor of France]” [25]

As an example, America’s lawmakers considered the codes of a pagan king of Babylon to be significant to the evolution of the American Constitution.  The Codes of Hammurabi were developed by King Hammurabi who believed that Babylon was under the rule of the pagan gods and that the god, Marduk, had called him as his earthly representative to govern both the land and the people.   Scripture clearly reveals that the spirits behind these pagan gods do indeed rule over geographical areas and have human representatives that maintain places of worship for them (Jeremiah 49:1-3, 48:7; Judges 11:23-24; Daniel 10:13-21, Ezekiel 28).  However, Scripture also reveals that the Lord will judge the gods of a nation as well as the nation itself. 

The Lord had this to say about the Kings of Babylon and Marduk:

Jeremiah 50 [1] This is the Word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians.  [2] Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror.  Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.” (NIV)

The Hammurabi Code was found engraved in rock with a relief of Hammurabi portrayed receiving the laws from the sun god – the god of Justice.  Interestingly, this concept was embraced by America’s lawmakers as well.  On the north side of the marble base of a monument to Chief Justice John Marshall, there is “a panel in relief, ‘Minerva Dictating the Constitution to Young America’.  A companion panel on the south side, ‘Victory Leading Young America to Swear Fidelity at the Altar of the Union’ is depicted…” [26]  To acknowledge King Hammurabi and the gods he represented is consistent with the Founding Father’s belief that the gods were involved in the everyday lives of men. 

Marduk’s Star was Jupiter:  As described in other articles (see Freemasons are most Religious and Liberty: America’s New Secular Religion), The Apotheosis of Washington linked America’s historical figures with pagan gods.  As Acts 19:35 and Amos 5:26 reveal, pagan gods were identified with planets.  In The Apotheosis of Washington, Washington is portrayed as the pagan god, Jupiter, who was associated with the same planet that pagans associated with Marduk.  Not only was Marduk associated with the planet Jupiter, in many instances Marduk was considered another name for Jupiter.  Even though The Apotheosis of Washington was painted long after Washington’s death, it was consistent with his own personal beliefs concerning Jupiter.  

Moreover, America’s Capitol Hill was named after Rome’s Capitoline Hill, the location of the temple built for Jupiter.  It was here that government officials went to pay homage to Jupiter and to request his blessings regarding governmental affairs.  And, the list goes on regarding Jupiter’s influence. 

Obviously, Hammurabi and the principality, Marduk, who operated through him, had a significant influence on America’s government and lawmaking.  The oldest known monuments of Marduk portray him holding the “spiritual triangle” that George Washington knowingly incorporated into the footprint of our nation’s capital.  (See the article on Spiritual Triangles: The Federal Triangle)  Hammurabi even credited the fish god, Dagon, as his creator.   Further, Dagon is one of the three principalities that the image of the fish surrounding the mall area in D.C., represents.  Spiritual triangles, so important to both Marduk and Washington, were incorporated within the fish as well as the tail of this fish.

Clearly, our American lawmakers did not choose Hammurabi or many of the above-mentioned lawmakers because of their righteousness or because they worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob exclusively.  They were chosen because, like Hammurabi, not all but many of the laws they made were moral laws – based on their sense of right and wrong – according to the laws that were written on their hearts.  Nonetheless, morality does not equate to righteousness, and we as a nation are not to consult the laws of unrighteous Hammurabi, his gods, or other unrighteous men.  We are to exclusively consult the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who ordained all governments. 

Scripture reveals that there is nothing new under the sun – what has been will be again.  Just as Satan beguiled Hammurabi and other pagan kings to act as the human representatives of spiritual beings whose goal is to further Satan’s kingdom, Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would only bow down, worship him and in essence, be Satan’s earthly representative.  

Matthew 4 [1] Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. [2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. [3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. [4] But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. [5] Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, [6] And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. [7] Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. [8] Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; [9] And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. [10] Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. [11] Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. (emphasis added)

Thy Kingdom Come:  However, Jesus Christ made it clear to Satan that He was here to do His Father’s will, and that was to establish His Father’s Kingdom – not further Satan’s Kingdom. 

Just as Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would only bow down and worship him, Satan will continue to tempt those who serve in government to interfere with the government of other nations.  Many will be blinded believing they can conquer and rule over other nations.  Hitler is only one among a list of many rulers before and after him who believed they could conquer and rule other governments. 

Satan is the god of this age (John 12:31, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:1-3) and we know that there are geographical principalities that influence earthly rulers (Daniel 10 – 11), however, Satan does not have the authority to give to whomever he wants to the power to rule over nations.  The only authority Satan has is the authority that God allows him to wield as god of this age and he cannot go outside the boundaries of authority that God has established for him.  Yet, Satan will continue to offer to those who are blinded by him what is not his to offer, and those who are blinded will believe the lie. 

Interestingly, Satan offered Jesus what already belonged to Jesus – all the kingdoms of the world.  Jesus knew that the government rested on His shoulders and that the kingdoms belonged to Him.  Further, Jesus would not bypass the cross in order to establish His Kingdom.  The fulfillment of His Kingdom will be realized during His thousand-year reign.  For those reasons. when Jesus commanded Satan to get behind Him, Satan retreated.  More to the point, Satan yielded to the authority of Jesus Christ and took his place, which was subordinate to Jesus.

1 John 3:8 reveals that Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of Satan.  When Satan retreated, he must have realized that it was only a matter of time before his kingdom was abolished and that his reign as god of this age was soon to end.  Until then, just as Satan tempted Jesus, Satan will tempt the most holy of Christians.  That is why as Christians we must do as Ephesians 6:17 instructs us, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”.  We must know what the Word of God says about the governments He has established and apply it to our lives.

The timing of the temptation of Jesus reveals that it was crucial that Jesus overcome Satan before He began His ministry.  Satan’s defeat was sealed when Jesus said to Satan, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve”!  If we are to overcome and defeat Satan in our own lives, we too must embrace the principle of the Kingdom of God and that is to worship the Lord and Him only. 

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure.  Today’s government leaders who promote secular religion and continue to place the Constitution over the authoritative Word of God have added to the sins of our Founding Fathers who violated the First Commandment and placed Secular Religion and its gods above the exclusive Worship of Yahweh.  Unlike Jesus, America’s Founding Fathers did not overcome Satan when forming their new government after winning the Revolutionary War.  Rather, they paid homage to Satan when they replaced the state religion of Christianity that had been established in the colonies by King James with “Liberty” as their new secular religion.  The state religion of the colonies honored the First Commandment – the exclusive worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! 

Rufus Choate, whose words are engraved at the Gateway to the U.S. Capitol building, reaffirm the ideology of America’s forefathers: “We have built no temple but the Capitol.  We consult no common oracle but the Constitution”. By contrast, before the American Revolution the Bible was considered the authoritative Word in America.  It was on the basis of this new secular religion of Liberty that James Wilson, on September 11, 1787, prophesied that America would establish a temple to in every part of the world!

To embrace secular religion is to embrace false gods and to embrace either is to pay homage to Satan.  Moreover, Satan doesn’t care if a nation acknowledges Yahweh – as long as it is not exclusive worship of Yahweh!   

Revelation, Chapters 1 through 3, reveals that the Lord sent a messenger to the seven churches with letters that addressed the current spiritual condition of the individual churches as well as the spiritual condition of certain individuals within their congregations.  The letters revealed that Jesus either applauded their deeds or listed deeds that He was against because they were counter to Biblical teachings or both, depending on the church.  Needless to say, the churches that received rebukes were commanded to repent.    

            The U.S. Supreme Court

America’s Lawmakers, specifically Supreme Court Justices, of all people, have added to the sins of our Founding Fathers who sanctioned the power that the Justices wield.  According to the Constitution of the United States, the Founding Fathers intended that the United States Supreme Court Justices were to interpret the Constitution they had authored.  For that reason, they and they alone would determine what laws were constitutional and what laws were unconstitutional.  In particular, Christian Lawmakers who interpret laws according to their understanding of the Constitution rather than according to the commands of the Lord – calling good what God calls evil and calling evil what God calls good – have added to the sins of our Founding Fathers.   

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure:  Scripture reveals that even the stones that man erects bear witness to what a particular generation believes and those same stones are meant to be a witness to other generations to come of the beliefs of their forefathers. (Joshua 22:27-29; 24:25-26).  In the same way, the marble stones that make up the building itself as well as the marble images incorporated into the Supreme Court Building bear witness that the Supreme Court Justices of all people and of all Lawmakers have added to the sins of our Founding Fathers. 

 Let’s begin with the images.  The stone representations, a frieze on the north and south walls of the Courtroom, of Hammurabi, Muhammad and fifteen other ancient Lawmakers that were incorporated into the architecture of the United States Supreme Court Building are a witness to our present generation and all future generations to come that the United States Supreme Court Justices honored secular and pagan lawgivers as the great lawgivers of history.  Each of the seventeen supposed “Great Lawgivers of History” were specifically chosen to emphasize a correlation between the sculptural subject and the function of America’s supposedly “Supreme” Lawgivers – the United States Supreme Court Justices themselves.

I have mentioned seventeen stones, however, there are actually eighteen total.  The representation of Moses, the only true “Great Lawgiver of History”, is portrayed alongside the other seventeen representations.  However, we will find that the representation of Moses is a misrepresentation and that in itself bears witness against the Supreme Court Justices.   

As was the custom of the Architects who designed government buildings, Cass Gilbert, architect of the Supreme Court Building, used iconography to visually convey the ideology of the United States Supreme Court Justices.  The images of Muhammad and the other seventeen ancient lawgivers were meant to visually convey that America’s Supreme Court Justices identified with those they believed to be the “Great Lawgivers of Antiquity”.  The Justices themselves believed that they too were “Great Lawgivers”, contemporary peers to the eighteen ancient lawgivers whose images are commemorated in the friezes of the Supreme Court Building!  In other words, they idolized those they identified with – it is hero worship and is nothing more than the sin of idolatry. 

The same concept applies to the architect of the building itself, which Chief Justice William Howard Taft, overseer of the construction of the Supreme Court building, considered to be a “temple”.  This temple was to house the Constitution that he likened to the Biblical “Ark of the Covenant” with the Supreme Court Justices as a priestly class guarding its sacred principles. To liken the Supreme Court Building to the Ark of the Covenant implies that the Constitution itself was considered to be as sacred as the Ten Commandments that the Lord commanded Moses to place within the Ark.  We will come back to the Building after further exploring the images.   

The eighteen images in the Supreme Court building frieze speak volumes!  Let’s begin with the marble representation of Moses.  The following quotes are from an information sheet published by the “Office of the Curator Supreme Court of the United States” and reveals that the tablets Moses are holding exclude the first five Commandments of the Law. 

“Moses (c. 1300s B.C.) Prophet, lawgiver, and judge of the Israelites.  Mosaic Law is based on the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Moses is depicted in the frieze holding two overlapping tablets, written in Hebrew, representing the Ten Commandments. Partially visible from behind Moses’ beard are Commandments six through ten.” (emphasis added)

The stone image of Moses bears witness that the highest court in the land acknowledges the last five Commandments that give details of our duties toward our fellow man – yet does not acknowledge the first five Commandments that give details of our duties toward Yahweh (and our parents).  More to the point, they acknowledge the “moral” Commandments, however they do not acknowledge the “Divine” Commandments. 

Because iconography is designed to have more than one meaning, the architect can visually convey one message to those who understand the true intent – in this case the lawgivers – while hiding the true meaning from others – the general public.  For example, while the public is meant to see the representation of Moses, more than likely they won’t comprehend that Moses is misrepresented!  From my personal experience Christians will simply focus on the fact that Moses is represented, and not realize that only five of the Ten Commandments are portrayed.  Even if they did, they would probably not comprehend the significance of this fact and how it relates to the ideology of the Supreme Court Justices.  In other words, the exclusion of the first five Commandments was not an oversight!  

The Commandments were ten in number, meaning “completeness”.  Therefore, the moral commandments cannot be separated out from those that reveal the nature of Yahweh.  Keeping in mind that the Ten Commandments were written by God Himself – and He and He alone is the Lawgiver (James 4:12) – then man is treading on dangerous territory when he believes that he has the liberty of excluding the Divine commandments from the moral commandments.  It is to take away the “Key to Knowledge”.  

In Scripture, the key to knowledge and the beginning of wisdom is reverence for the Lord:

Luke 11 [52] Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge.  You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering. (NIV)

The revelation of God’s will is contained in His Ten Commandments – therefore how do people know they are sinning against the Lord when our Lawmakers exclude the first five commandments that reveal who He is!  Without the first five Commandments, America’s laws are purely moral and secular in nature.  At best, both the Divine and the moral laws of the Ten Commandments only brought knowledge of sin, but it could not save.  That’s why Jesus Christ came, not to abolish the Law but to fulfill the Law, so that those who believe in Him would not be under the curse of the Law, but under the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ! 

John 1 [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (NIV)

The Letter of the Law kills – but it is the Spirit that gives it life – 2 Corinthians 3:6:  In other words, what is the point of America’s man-made laws when they leave Yahweh and Jesus out of the equation?  America’s laws can only bring death!  Any law without the Spirit can only lead to death;  it is only a code of law and there is no life because there is no Spirit. 

“Thou shalt not”, contained in nine of the ten Commandments, reveals that man’s nature leans more towards transgression than obedience – hence the need for laws.   Without the Spirit to give the Laws life, then where is man’s hope or the incentive to turn from “Thou shalt not” to “Thou shall”?

Why are our prisons filled to over-capacity and why is America witnessing more and more lawlessness?  Why are America’s Judges and Prosecutors fearing for their well-being?  God’s Laws are never changing, whereas man’s laws are ever changing.  Why?  Because man’s laws cannot change a man’s heart.  Even though the Ten Commandments were given to the Nation of Israel on tablets of stone, we know from the Book of Romans that after Jesus Christ came, the Law was written on the hearts of everyone, including the Gentiles, so there is no excuse. 

An example of America’s ever changing laws is the use of marijuana.  At the present time, the recreational use of marijuana is illegal.  However, because Americans are intent on using marijuana as a recreational drug, our legal system is on the verge of making marijuana legal.  Interestingly, according to many government officials, the government stands to profit from the sale of marijuana through its taxation.  Given the financial predicament that many states have found themselves in due to the economic crisis, the profit from marijuana would be a much welcomed income – so they justify sin!  Sadly, this would not be the first time that lawmakers have changed laws here in America because of the potential profit.  

Many of America’s Lawmakers are like those about which the Apostle Paul spoke:. 

1 Timothy 1 [7]  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. (NIV)

Paul reveals that the purpose of God’s Laws were to identify sin and Paul further reveals to Timothy that the Law is good only when used properly – 1 Timothy 1:8. 

1 Timothy 1 [6] From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; [7] Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.  [8] But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; [9] Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,  [10] For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;  [11] According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. (emphasis added)

Verse 8 reveals that the law is good only when it is interpreted according to the purpose for which God has given it. Anything other than its original purpose and meaning is not to use it lawfully. 

For example, too often lawmakers, both believers and unbelievers, pass laws that become stumbling blocks for people.  For instance, the laws of the land say it is lawful to have an abortion, yet this secular law only leads people into sin.  The legal argument that life does not begin in the womb is contrary to the knowledge of Psalm 139 [27] that reveals that life does begin in the womb.  By passing such laws, the Lawmakers unwittingly place themselves under God’s Law.  It is by God’s Law that man will be judged, not secular laws passed by man.  On Earth as in Heaven:  It is God who wields the power to determine what is lawful and what is unlawful.  One needs not to go any further than the Ten Commandments and Scripture to know and understand what is lawful and unlawful. 

Those lawmakers who confidently affirm that it is legal to have an abortion do not know what they are talking about (verse 7).  They have taken away the knowledge that even though it may be legal to have an abortion, meaning they will not be prosecuted and sent to prison, that abortion is still a sin.

Scripture forewarns us about those who are ambitious to be lawmakers, professing to be teachers of the law, yet have neither the qualifications nor the spiritual understanding of God’s Law to make laws to properly protect mankind.  In other words, they discern God’s Law through a secular mindset, not that of a spiritual man, and therefore they do not use God’s law for the purposes He intended.  God’s law was made to protect people, yet, according to 1Timothy 1:8, God’s law is only good if one uses it properly, that is, when it is interpreted according to the purpose for which God has given it. Anything other than its original purpose and meaning is not to use it lawfully. 

Those lawgivers who did not use the law lawfully missed the mark because they were legalistic or because they turned aside unto “vain jangling”.  The teachers of the law who were legalistic demanded keeping the “letter of the law” to achieve righteousness.  Their error was in the belief that man could attain a more excellent perfection by keeping the letter of the law than could be reached by the Gospel alone.

On the other hand the teachers of the law who turned aside to worthless arguments and discussions not even worth hearing, distorted the moral principles of the law.  Their error was not in meeting the obligations of the law or achieving perfection, but in passing immoral laws that called evil good and good evil.  Case in point: the legalization of abortion and gay marriages came as a result after our lawmakers listened to and participated in numerous “worthless arguments, studies and discussions that were not even worth hearing”.

Regardless of the reasons why the experts in the law missed the mark, they misrepresent God’s laws and for that reason lead people into sin and bondage.  Although the Law is written on everyone’s heart (Romans 2), we know that many people choose to live according to their sinful nature because their minds are set on what their nature desires, not on what the Lord desires.  Because the carnal mind is opposed to the will of God, they cannot submit to God’s laws.  Instead, they will submit to their sinful nature and lawlessness, thus the need for civil laws (Romans 8).

Habakkuk 1:7 & 11describes people who are a law unto themselves and promote their own honor.  Their own power and strength is their god – and these people are to be feared and dreaded.  For that reason as well as others, mankind needs lawmakers to pass moral laws that will govern society and call into accountability those who have a law unto themselves.  Because the law is written on the hearts of lawmakers as well, they are capable of passing moral laws that are not opposed to God’s moral laws enabling society to make a distinction between right and wrong.

However, keeping in mind that even lawmakers can reject God’s purpose for themselves as lawgivers (Luke 7:30), instead of leading they end up following those who vote for them, simply to be re-elected.  This is much like the experts of the law during Jesus time who knew that Jesus was the Messiah, but they didn’t want to lose their place in the Temple by acknowledging Him. 

John 12 [42] Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in Him.  But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they be put out of the synagogue; [43] for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.  (NIV, see also John 11:48) 

            Muhammad and the Supreme Court

Because America’s Supreme Court Justices have rejected God’s purpose for themselves, we should not be surprised that they embraced the lawgivers of nations that are anti-Christian or pagan civilizations.  For example, the United States Supreme Court honors Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, as one of the eighteen “Great Lawgivers of History”.  To honor Muhammad is to honor Muhammad’s god, Allah, who supposedly gave the “divine law” of Islam to Muhammad.  To pay tribute to Muhammad and Allah dishonors the Lord and violates the commandment that we are not to have any other gods before Yahweh.  Therefore, we want to explore the Supreme Court Justices ideology with regard to Muhammad and the other seventeen lawmakers they consider the “great lawgivers of history”.  

The following quotes are from an information sheet published by the “Office of the Curator Supreme Court of the United States” regarding the marble images of Lawmakers incorporated into the architecture of the United States Supreme Court building.

“Cass Gilbert (1867-1934), architect of the Supreme Court Building, selected Adolph A. Weinman (1870-1952), a respected and accomplished Beaux-Arts sculptor, to design the marble friezes for the Courtroom. Weinman’s training emphasized a correlation between the sculptural subject and the function of the building. Gilbert relied on him to choose the subjects and figures that best reflected the function of the Supreme Court Building. Faithful to classical sources and drawing from many civilizations, Weinman designed a procession of “great lawgivers of history” for the south and north walls to portray the development of law. Each frieze in the Courtroom measures 40 feet long by 7 feet, 2 inches high and is made of ivory vein Spanish marble.”[28] (emphasis added)

The following description of Muhammad is taken from the same information sheet as mentioned above.

“Muhammad (c. 570 - 632) The Prophet of Islam. He is depicted holding the Qur’an. The Qur’an provides the primary source of Islamic Law. Prophet Muhammad’s teachings explain and implement Qur’anic principles. The figure above is a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor, Adolph Weinman, to honor Muhammad and it bears no resemblance to Muhammad. Muslims generally have a strong aversion to sculptured or pictured representations of their Prophet.”[29]

Notice the United States Supreme Court’s appreciation for the Qur’an.  Anyone who is familiar with the teachings of Yahweh realizes that Islam and the Qur’an are anti-Christian and will always be at war with Christians as well as God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel.   Yet, Islam’s Prophet Muhammad holding the Qur’an is among the eighteen lawgivers memorialized in stone.  These stones of the United States Supreme Court building are a witness that the Supreme Court Justices have placed other gods before Yahweh adding to the sins of our forefathers! 

Christians may also be somewhat surprised to find out that in 1997, when the Council on American-Islamic Relations requested that the Supreme Court remove the image of Muhammad because images are against their beliefs, Chief Justice Rehnquist, on behalf of the Supreme Court, rejected their request.  In a letter to the CAIR, he stated that the image was intended only to recognize and honor Muhammad among many other lawgivers, as an important figure in the history of law – it was not intended as a form of idol worship. 

Furthermore, in literature available to those who tour the Supreme Court Building, they further state that Muslims believe the divine word of God was revealed to their Prophet Muhammad.  America’s highest court in the land has spoken and the stone images bear witness to what they have spoken.       

The Temple of Justice

Now that we have examined the marble images let’s consider the marble building itself which also bears witness against the Supreme Court Justices.  As described above, the U.S. Capitol building has within its architecture 23 historical lawgivers, only one of whom was biblical (Moses), that are credited with the evolution of American law.  In similar fashion, the U.S. Supreme Court building has its own set of the great lawgivers of history.  Not surprisingly, only two of the eighteen figures are biblical (Moses and King Solomon).

When examining the architecture of the Supreme Court Building, whether it is the exterior of the interior, one has to take into consideration the ideology of Chief Justice Taft who was authorized by Congress to oversee the construction of the building and whose ideology was incorporated into the iconography of the building. 

 “Chief Justice William Howard Taft liked to think of the Constitution as the ‘Ark of the Covenant,’ and the judiciary as a priestly class guarding its sacred principles.”[30]

 “The frieze on the south wall features a procession of ‘Ancient Lawgivers,’ from Menes to Augustus; their modern counterparts, including Blackstone, Marshall, and Napoleon, appear on the north wall.  Such sculpture contributes to a general atmosphere of quasi-religious veneration appropriate for Chief Justice William Howard Taft’s vision of a ‘temple’ of justice.”[31]

I suppose it would only be natural for those who identify with the lawmakers of antiquity and who envision themselves to be a priestly class to want their own temple.  Because the building itself would house the Supreme Court Justices, all of whom Chief Justice William Howard Taft considered to be a “priestly class guarding the sacred principles of the Constitution”, he likened the building to the Biblical “Ark of the Covenant”.  It seems that just as the ark symbolized the throne of the Lord (1 Samuel 4:4), the Supreme Court Building was to symbolize the throne of the Supreme Court Justices.  Hence, Chief Justice Taft’s vision of a Temple of Justice.  To liken the Supreme Court Building to the Ark of the Covenant also implies that the Justices considered the Constitution itself to be as sacred as the Ten Commandments that the Lord commanded Moses to place within the Ark. 

From Genesis through Revelation we find that even though man does not want to serve God, nonetheless, they want to be like God.  That is why we find that men, throughout the ages (including our own lawmakers), even though they establish man-made traditions that nullify the Word of God, will still want a temple like God’s Temple, an ark of the covenant like God’s Ark of the Covenant, followers devoted to them like those devoted to Yahweh, honor and glory that belongs only to the Lord.  Thus, they become their own gods, violating the First Commandment that forbids us to have any other gods before Him.

Lawmakers, Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure.  Like those lawgivers in Jesus time, America’s lawgivers have also added to the sins of our forefathers by taking away the key to the knowledge that there is only one Lawgiver and Judge.  It is the same One who is able to save and to destroy, the One who has the absolute power of life and death, and that is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (James 4:12) 

Luke 11 [52] Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the

key to knowledge.  You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering. (NIV)

God’s laws provide guidelines as to how we, as Christians, are to live alongside unbelievers as well as other believers.  God’s Laws are a key to knowledge and are designed to protect us from ourselves.  For example, 1 Corinthians 6:18 reveals that those who sin sexually sin against their own body; likewise, Ephesians 5:26 reveals that when we sin in our anger we give the devil a foothold into our lives.  

According to 1Timothy 1:6-10, the law was meant to protect men from “menstealers”, meaning those who kidnap people and sell them into slavery.  Yet, not only was menstealing an accepted aspect of America’s slave trade, America’s laws, including the Constitution of the United States, bears witness that our lawmakers protected the menstealers, rather than those who were kidnapped from the African nations and islands and sold into slavery.  Obviously, America’s forefathers failed to use God’s law properly.  Not only did they fail to make secular or moral laws to protect people from menstealers and slavery, but they themselves purchased slaves from the slave traders.  In doing so, they not only took away the key to the knowledge of the Scriptures, but they sinned against mankind and the Lord! 

America’s Sin – Covetousness and Greed

Part of the spiritual attack against America was eventually to bring down our economy as well as the economies of nations that yielded to America’s manipulation to support us in exploiting other countries.  As of 2008, America and other nations who deferred to America are battling an economic war of global magnitude.  Again, the openings for the attack were greed, covetousness practices, pride, idolatry, merchandising and trafficking that led to violence.

While merchandising is a Biblical principal it’s quite another thing when Satan becomes involved corrupting the process.  Ezekiel 38 reveals that Satan, the King of Tyre, ruled through the earthly Prince of Tyre.  We know that the King of Tyre is referring to Satan because verse 13 reveals that the King of Tyre had been in the Garden of Eden and verse 14 refers to the King of Tyre as the anointed cherub.  We know from verse 17 that Satan fell because of his pride.  However, what is really interesting is what verse 16 and 18 reveal about Satan’s fall.  Satan also fell because he sinned through merchandising and trafficking that led to violence! 

Ezekiel 28 [16] By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. [17] Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. [18] Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

America has also sinned through her merchandising and trafficking that has led to violence.  Slave trafficking was a common practice among our Founding Fathers who owned salves and all of America understands the violence that came as a result of our Founding Fathers merchandising and trafficking of human beings.  The list doesn’t stop there.  Throughout America’s history, many Americans have been involved with some form of merchandising and trafficking that has led to violence, such as illegal drugs or alcohol during Prohibition.    

Osama bin Laden has also accused America of greed.  He has always maintained that when his organization attacked America in 2001, it was to draw America into a costly war – a war he hoped that would eventually bankrupt America.  Interestingly, America placed its energies and money in Iraq (the country where ancient Nineveh is located), the ancient civilization with which America’s forefathers spiritually aligned themselves (this is explained in more detail later). 

Covetousness, which is also idolatry (Colossians 3:5, Ephesians 5:5), was at the very core of America’s economic system established by our Founding Fathers.   It was our Founding Fathers who justified slavery and the injustices perpetrated against Native Americans because of their covetousness for land, wealth and power. 

Micah 2 [2] And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

Over time, slavery was abolished and war with the Indians ceased.  However, the seeds of covetousness and covetous practices sown by our forefathers continued to exist.  Throughout America’s over 400 years, first as colonies and then as a nation, these seeds have grown to one degree or another and in the fullness of time their covetous branches, like poison, have spread throughout all of America.

As long as America was prospering these covetous practices were not particularly disturbing.  Today, however, lawmakers as well as the general public have become alarmed at these very practices only because of the profound economic crisis that we are presently facing on both a personal and corporate level.  

Even though America has not acknowledged the covetousness and greed of our Founding Fathers, Americans, including lawmakers, have acknowledged that greed is at the root of America’s present economic crisis, which has effected Wall Street, the mortgage industry and the automobile industry, only to mention a few.

Greed begets covetous practices.  For example, for many, fraud, deception, extortion and usury [32] became accepted practices at all levels of the mortgage industry, if that was what was required to either approve or secure a loan for those who otherwise would not have qualified for a loan as well as for those who just “wanted more”.  However, because of the crisis that the mortgage industry is facing and the profound impact it is having on America, these practices are now being scrutinized by America’s lawmakers.  Both lender and borrower are being called into accountability, albeit from a secular standpoint, after thousands of people have lost and continue to lose their homes to foreclosure. 

Just as trade is a Biblical principle, lending and borrowing is a Biblical principle.  Yet, Satan and his hordes seem to always find someone they can operate through to corrupt the righteousness of Biblical precepts. 

Scripture speaks about the lender and borrower, a taker of usury and a giver of usury, as well as society as a whole, including God’s people, all being called into accountability.  Note that this refers to a worldwide crisis!

Isaiah 24 [1] Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. [2] And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

Isaiah 24:10 even speaks of foreclosure.

Isaiah 24 [10] The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

“Shut up” in the context of Isaiah 24:10 means to surrender.  In other words, those who owned houses, for whatever reason, had to give up their houses.  Likewise, for a variety of reasons, many homeowners today have been forced to surrender their homes to foreclosure.

As revealed in Isaiah 24, sin was the root cause of the people’s woes.   Likewise, sin was the root cause of America’s economic crisis and it was sin that allowed America’s enemies to enter into their gates on September 11, 2001.  

You cannot fight sin with carnal weapons.  America’s lawmakers have acknowledged that greed is at the core of our economic crisis, but only from a worldly perspective – not from a Godly perspective of sin.  Because their perspective is worldly, they are trying to fight spiritual battles with carnal solutions. 

Spiritual Connections

The Enemy Entered Into the Gates of America

            With an understanding of America’s sins of idolatry, hypocrisy and covetousness, we can now explore the spiritual aspects of the judgment that has come upon our nation, including the spiritual gateway of Washington, DC and the ruling principalities involved in this judgment. 

First was the element of surprise.  Americans were stunned by the “impossibility” of the 2001 terrorist attack and the 2008 economic collapse.  However, there is an interesting parallel in the Bible between events in ancient Jerusalem and modern-day America. 

Lamentations 4 [11] The Lord hath accomplished his fury; He hath poured out His fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.  [12] The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. (emphasis added)

Just as the kings of the earth and inhabitants of the world described in Lamentations 4:11-12 mistakenly believed that the gates of Jerusalem were fortified against any possible attack from the enemy, Americans and people around the world were astonished when our enemies entered into the gates of America and successfully attacked our country on September 11, 2001.  The fire in Lamentations 4:11 speaks of a fire that surpasses other fires.  Likewise, it was no ordinary fire that we witnessed on September 11, 2001.  The magnitude of the fire that consumed the Twin Towers, like the fire in Zion, devoured even its foundations – a foundation that will not be rebuilt.  

The Twin Towers represents the heart of America’s economic system and it is this foundation that the LORD is destroying. 

Furthermore, just as the myth that America’s enemies would not nor could not enter the gates of America was dispelled, the myth that America was the leader in global economics was dispelled as well.  In the fall of 2008, America’s economy collapsed causing a domino effect around the world.  Again, Isaiah 24 reveals that the entire earth, all nations, are being judged and the people, regardless of their social status, will not be able to escape the economic crisis.  Because people worldwide were personally effected by America’s economic breakdown, the reputation of America was not only damaged, but the admiration and high regard that many other nations had for America was replaced with feelings that ranged anywhere from outrage to contempt for America’s leaders. 

For that reason, America has now found herself in the position of often following the lead of other nations – a humiliating position that many Americans would never have thought possible.  Nonetheless, other nations have become the head and America the tail.

As already mentioned, spiritually, the timing of the terrorist attack on America was linked to that of September 11, 1941 as well September 11, 1787.  Again, the specific month and day is significant because one of the places that the terrorists attacked was the Pentagon.  It was to the month and day that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pentagon took place:  September 11, 1941.

Two messages were being sent.  First, by attacking the Twin Towers in New York, the message Osama bin Laden wanted to send was that he was targeting the heart of America’s economic system.  Second, by attacking the Pentagon – the message he wanted to send was one of the ways he hoped to bring about an economic crises in America was for America to engage in a costly war in the Middle East.  Just as the Twin Towers collapsed in 2001, America’s economic system collapsed in 2008.  It was after the 2001 terrorist attack on America that America did go to war by invading Iraq.  This war has been very costly for America, not only financially, but in the loss of lives – just as many lives were lost in the terrorist attack.  The Twin Towers was meant to be symbolic of our economy and the Pentagon was meant to be symbolic of our military.      

Obviously, Osama bin Laden had an acute awareness of what he was doing.  Because of America’s present-day economic crisis, the terrorist organization, al-Qaeda, has declared that they have been vindicated in their attacks on America.  This begs the question: How could Osama bin Laden be so on the mark?

Using the Enemy as an Instrument of Judgment

            Scripture reveals that at times the Lord used one nation to attack another nation that was in disobedience to Him (Jeremiah 51:1-2), even if that nation was not as righteous as the one being attacked (Habakkuk 1:12-13).  Eventually, the nation that was the destroyer will, in turn, reap destruction as well (Habakkuk 3:14-16).

            Scripture further reveals that it is God’s will that all men come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9); however, when mankind continues in its rebellion, then the Lord will let them reap what they have sown and it is at that point that the Lord will give them over to their own ways (Romans 1:22-23).  When men sin, the result is that they will reap corruption. 

Galatians 6 [8] For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Amplified Bible)

The Lord sets before us both blessings and curses; it is up to each one of us as individuals and nations to choose.  Obedience reaps blessings and disobedience reaps curses. (see Deuteronomy 27 & 28)

The Lord has many ways to achieve His purposes and at times, the Lord will even use Satan and the demonic to bring about His purposes.  There comes a time when those who won’t receive the truth that the Lord will let Satan and the demonic deceive them or carry out the curses in Deuteronomy 28.  For example, 1Kings 22 19-23 reveals that mankind is influenced by the spiritual realm.  At times the demonic can influence mankind in a way that is beyond his control because it is at this point man is reaping from what he has sown. 

1 Kings 22 [19] And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left. [20] And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. [21] And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. [22] And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. [23] Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

According to Isaiah 54:16, God has created both the one who makes the weapons of war and those who use those weapons to destroy others. 

Isaiah 54 [16] Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

America, as a nation, does not honor the Lord.  There are many true Christians that live in America, but that doesn’t make America a righteous nation – it just means that there are righteous people living in America.  Because America does not honor the Lord, America is reaping evil at the hands of our enemies: Osama bin Laden and the terrorist group al-Qaeda.  However, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda will, in turn, reap from their sins as well.   

Spiritual Gateways – the Washington, DC Fish

Once it was decided that America’s new seat of government would be geographically located in the South, George Washington was authorized by the Founding Fathers to determine, independent of others, the precise geographical location.  He was also authorized to oversee the development of our nation’s Capital.  Even though Thomas Jefferson and others were able to incorporate their ideology into the foundations of Washington, DC, President Washington and Washington alone had the first and final say. 

Pierre Charles L’Enfant and Andrew Ellicott were among those who were employed by George Washington to lay out the geographical footprint of our nation’s capital.  Per his directives, George Washington’s ideology was also incorporated into the Capitol building itself.  Throughout America’s history, lawmakers and architects alike have ensured that this “spiritual footprint” not be altered.  For example, memorials, monuments and so forth continued to be strategically placed in accordance with Washington’s original plans and ideology.  

For this reason, I want to explore the symbolism of the original geographical diamond shaped perimeter of Washington, DC and the Mall area within the District that represents a fish.  As will be shown, there are multiple spiritual links between the fish, the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 and America’s present economic crises.  

To begin with, the Mall area is located within the image of a fish that is cradled between the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers located within the boundaries of Washington, DC.  The symbolism of the fish that identifies the Mall area lying geographically within the enclosures of the city spiritually connects Washington, D.C. to the ancient city of Nineveh, however, not in the way that George Washington and those aligned with him envisioned, as will be explained further below.

Earlier photographs of Washington, DC clearly portray the Capitol, White House, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials as well as the Washington Mall all strategically enclosed within the outline of a huge fish, as shown in the 1928 annotated aerial photograph below of Washington, D.C.

Just as civilizations of antiquity used the symbol of a fish to identify spiritual gateways, so did our Founding Fathers.  It was this spiritual gateway that the enemy entered into America and began their attack. 

            Symbolism of the Washington, DC Fish

It is a well-known fact that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, as well as others, used a visual form of communication known as iconography throughout the United States Capitol to convey their ideology for America.  They not only used iconography to weave their ideology throughout the Capitol building itself – but also throughout the city in structures as well as the very “geographical footprint” of the “lay of the land”.

The outline of a fish was incorporated into the original planning of Washington, D.C. by those employed by George Washington and according to his ideology.  In each succeeding generation, including ours, there are those who have protected and continue to protect and ensure that the original goals of George Washington were and will be implemented in all future planning of our nation’s capital.  Therefore, this particular aerial photograph of Washington, D.C. is one of the keys in understanding the “spiritual” aspects of the economic downfall of America’s economy as well as the terrorist attack of September 11. 

It’s obvious that the representation of a fish was not just happenstance.  This is just another example to the degree of secrecy that George Washington and the Freemasons operated to serve their own purposes.  If the boundaries of a fish are not just a fluke, then that leads us to believe that there was something of paramount significance in spiritually connecting the symbolism of a fish to the geographical area of the District of Columbia.

I found it remarkable that the White House, the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and several other buildings all correspond to the anatomy of a fish.  Given the lack of documentation, it is evident that the intent was for this symbolism to remain hidden, not only from the public, but according to Albert Pike, much of what went on in Freemasonry was hidden even from fellow Freemasons of the lower degrees.  It would appear that within the fraternal order of Freemasonry there were those who were considered the elite. 

What was the meaning or message they were conveying, yet hiding, not only about our Nation’s Capitol, but about themselves as well?  Although symbols are open to interpretation, I would like to share some clearly identifiable, distinctive symbolism concerning the Washington, DC Mall area that could not just have been coincidental. 

The anatomy of a fish contains several key parts.  Starting at the top of the fish and proceeding clockwise, we find the following parts externally: a dorsal fin, caudal fin or tail, gills, and a head.  Internally are the heart and reproductive organs.  The symbolism of the fish is explained using the above aerial photograph annotated with key Washington, DC landmarks and buildings, as shown below. 

On top of the fish is the dorsal fin.  This is the part of the fish that lends stability in swimming.  The dorsal fin is where the White House, the executive branch of government, is located and the White House, like the dorsal fin, lends stability to the legislative branch of our government. 

The tail of the fish, also called the caudal fin, is the main propelling fin of the fish.  This is the location of the U.S. Capitol that houses Congress, the legislative branch of government, and like the caudal fin, the legislative branch of our government is what propels America.

Representative of the gills, the breathing apparatus that takes water in and extracts oxygen for this fish, is the Tidal Basin.  Just as the gills of a fish are located slightly behind the eye, the Tidal Basin is located slightly behind the eye on the map.  The water in the Tidal Basin functions in the same manner as the water that goes in and out of the gills.

At the head of the fish where the brain is located is the Lincoln Memorial.  The Lincoln Memorial was designed architecturally to resemble the ancient Greek Parthenon in Athens, which was the shrine for the Greek goddess Athena, sometimes called the mind of god.  Just as Athena was the mind of a pagan god and was born at the head of the river, Lincoln’s Memorial was geographically built in the head or mind of the fish with the head located on the Potomac River.  Athena was also the goddess of wisdom and war, two characteristics of Lincoln’s presidency.

Two internal organs are also represented.  The hart of a fish is located near and directly behind the gills of the fish.  This is the location of the Jefferson Memorial.  Jefferson was instrumental in authoring the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, particularly the fist ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights.  More than anything else, these documents represent the “heart” of the American experience.

Finally, the reproductive organs of the fish are found on the bottom of the fish near the tail, but extending diagonally inward to the center of the fish.  This is the exact location of the Washington Monument, an obelisk that is an ancient symbol of sun worship found in many ancient civilizations, including Babylon and Egypt.  The sun was the giver of life to plants and man; in this context, the obelisk was also the phallic symbol of reproductive significant.  George Washington, of course, is affectionately known as the “father of our country” and his phallic symbol is right where it should be.

This examination only scratches the surface of the fish’s symbolism.  For example, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica as well as some historians, “L’Enfant’s ideas for a capital city were based not on 13 colonies with 3,000,000 inhabitants, but on a republic ultimately having 50 states and 500,000,000 citizens.”[33]  As a “timely” point of interest, according to the Census Bureau’s “Population Clock”, as of Tuesday, October 17, 2006, the United States population reached the 300 million mark at 7:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.[34]  The 300 million mark is only 200 million shy of L’Enfant’s 500,000,000 estimate, which no doubt will eventually be realized.

Given L’Enfant’s vision in 1790 of 50 states, it is interesting that a fish has 49 to 53 scales that make up the lateral line of a fish, but the most common are 50 or 51 scales.  The lateral line of a fish, which extends from the top of the gills to the tail, corresponds to the location of the Mall with its straight line extending from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol.  America has 50 states and with the addition of the District of Columbia the total is 51.

In the tail of the fish is Capitol Hill, an ancient “high place” where the Algonquian Indians used to hold their tribal councils.  The Capitol grounds are in the shape of a goat’s head, symbolic of Satan.  In Masonic symbolism, they intended the nation to be propelled (caudal fin) by Satan, not God.  And the list goes on.

Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of Treasury from 1795 to 1800, even compared the residents of DC to a bad fish.  “Many Congressmen turned up their noses and wondered how long it would take to write off a bad experiment in capital location and begin again.  Oliver Wolcott, the Secretary of the Treasury, possibly noting the absence of any source of taxes, observed that ‘the people are poor, and as far as I can judge, they live like fishes, by eating each other,’”[35]

Three Principalities over Washington, DC

Exodus 20 [4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any        likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,         or that is in the water under the earth:

Freemasons often use one symbol to convey more than one idea (or spirit) while at the same time achieving a particular objective that involves multiple concepts or beliefs.  So it was with the image of the fish.  Spiritually, the symbol of the fish corresponds to three different principalities from among the hordes that fell with Satan:  Leviathan, Dagon and Rahab.

1.  Leviathan,

a.    Scriptural Reference:  Scriptures concerning the Leviathan can be found in Job 3:8, Job 26:13; Job 41:1-34, Psalms 74:13-14, Psalms 104:26 and Isaiah 27:1.   

b.    Symbolism: a large twisted and coiled sea monster or serpent.  Also a symbol of Babylon and interestingly, this principality is concerned with lending and borrowing!  Leviathan is also “king of pride”

c.    Legal Access to operate in America:  covetousness, greed, pride, debt, unethical lending and borrowing

2.  Dagon,

a.    Scriptural Reference:  1 Samuel 5

b.    Symbolism: Dagon was a fish-god, an object of idolatry worshiped by the Philistines

c.    Legal Access to operate in America:  idolatry and synchronistic worship

3.  Rahab,

a.    Scriptural Reference (NIV & Amplified):  Job 9:13, Job 26:12, Isaiah 30:7

b.    Symbolism: Rahab was symbolic of a dragon or a large sea monster.  The word Rahab means to be proud and arrogant and is a poetic reference to Egypt. 

c.    Legal Access to operate in America:  pride and boasting (arrogance) 

All three of these principalities are within the dominion of the Beast Out of the Sea, which is the Antichrist spirit.  All three are among the ruling principalities over the city of Washington, D.C. and their influence can be evidenced not only in our nation’s capital, but throughout America.  All three principalities gained legal access in America at its very inception and have grown stronger as the sins of America have been filled to the brim.

The word, Leviathan, means twisted or coiled.  However, Leviathan comes from a primitive root that means “to borrow as a form of obligation” or “to lend” in the sense that that the one who borrows “joins himself” to the lender. Moreover, Leviathan “is a king over all the children of pride” (Job 41:34) and “causes people to lend and borrow”.[36]  In other words, the Leviathan has spiritual dominion over anyone who is prideful and embraces covetousness practices.  For that reason it is able to operate through people’s sin of pride and greed “causing” people and nations to lend and borrow.  When their sins of pride and greed are filled to the brim, then the result is personal and global fear, chaos and confusion that we are witnessing at the present time, which are all manifestations of the Leviathan spirit. 

Scripture reveals that no one who has ever battled with Leviathan will want to do so again. (Job 41:1-9 & 34)  This is the global consensus today of all those who have dared to arouse Leviathan – albeit from a carnal perspective.

In Job 3:8, the King James translation refers to “mourning” while the NIV translation uses the word “Leviathan”.  Both translations are correct in that one of the Hebrew meanings for the word Leviathan also means mourning.  The Leviathan is also a spirit of confusion and chaos.   Confusion, chaos and mourning are exactly what the world witnessed when the airplanes flew into the Twin Towers, considered to be the heart of America’s economic power – “America’s Economic Leviathan”.  In other words, the spirit of Leviathan was unmistakably the principality operating behind the events of September 11^th. 

            Leviathan and Judgment

From the beginning, Osama bin Laden maintained that part of his strategy for attacking America on September 11^th was to engage America in an on-going conflict in the Middle East and that this conflict, as wars go, would require a tremendous amount of money.  Consequently, America would find herself with an enormous war debt.  In turn, this war debt would have a negative impact on America’s economic well-being.  Not surprisingly, those in Osama bin Laden’s camp now feel vindicated because of America’s profound economic crises, which is causing internal conflicts as well as global.  

It has often been stated that history repeats itself and in America, history has been repeated concerning war debts.  For example, at the end of the Revolutionary War the newly founded America was faced with an alarming war debt.  Furthermore, America’s war debts from subsequent wars continued to add fuel to America’s other existing and increasing economic debts.  Just as the war debts that came as a result of the Revolutionary War, today’s war debts have a tremendous effect on the general population. 

When the colonists won the Revolutionary War they believed that the new nation of America was founded on liberty and liberty for all – after all that’s what they were fighting for.  Yet, this ideology proved to be not so.  At its inception, America was steeped in national debts incurred from the very war that liberated them from England.  This national debt took precedence over liberty and liberty for all.  The colonists may have been liberated from England and the taxes imposed upon them by the mother country, however, those who fought in the Revolutionary War to gain that liberation found out that they had not been liberated from their own countrymen and taxes here in America

Sadly, many who fought in the Revolutionary War were never paid for their services and found themselves in debt, unable to pay personal taxes let alone any additional taxes that were imposed upon them to pay for the war debts.  As a result, the very government they helped establish actually confiscated their property for non-payment of taxes.   It seems that America was founded more on the principal of debt than on the true meaning of liberty – after all, actions speak louder than the words that only express ideology.  

History further bears witness that America’s new government exploited their poor in an effort to pay off the war debts of the Revolutionary War when they placed a tax on those who manufactured whiskey.  After fighting a war based on taxation without representation, those who manufactured liquor in colonial America were now being taxed to pay off the debt incurred during the Revolutionary War – a tax that was impossible for most of them to pay.  While those like George Washington actually had the money to pay the tax levied on the whiskey they made, the poor people did not.  In fact, the whiskey itself was used in place of cash to pay their debts because of the lack of real currency. 

It seems that Osama bin Laden understood more about America’s history (and spiritual openings) than America’s own government.  Needless to say, the real battle is in the spiritual realm. 

The Lord began to speak to me concerning the Leviathan as early as September 7, 2001.  Revelation 18 speaks of the fall of Babylon within one hour.[37]  It was within one hour that both towers of the World Trade Center,  the seat of America’s finances, were fatally attacked. 

Pride goes before the Fall.  As noted above, Leviathan is known as “the king of pride”.  The World Trade Center, located in the Financial District in lower Manhattan, was considered the heart of America’s economic power.  America took pride that they were the model for nations worldwide when it came to economics, money, free trade, lending and borrowing.  However, there is a Biblical principal that pride goes before the fall:

Proverbs 16 [18] Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

            As of September 2008, America has been humbled because of the economic meltdown that started in America and subsequently affected the economies of other nations.

As already mentioned, the root meaning of the word Leviathan has to do with lending and borrowing – more specifically, to lend and borrow as a “form of obligation”.  In this sense, spiritual cords are formed between lender and borrow that allows the spirit of Leviathan to operate.  These spiritual cords can be between individuals as well as nations, as was the case with the World Trade Center.

Leviathan twists and braids things or people together, to join oneself to another in a bad sense.   In other words, when Leviathan is behind lending and borrowing, then Leviathan becomes the binding force that binds things together, including people.  Now when this spirit has been clearly identified by the Lord as the Leviathan, then we need to pray for discernment as to how the Leviathan is binding things or people together.  In other words, what is the spiritual opening that has given this spirit legal access?

Not all lending and borrowing is wrong.  When done according to Biblical principals, lending and borrowing is permissible.  However, America did not lend or borrow according to Biblical principles and it was for that reason, as well as America’s pride and greed, that Satan was able to enter into the gates of America to attack geographical areas that are symbolic of pride and greed.    

Lamentations 4 [12] The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the        world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should           have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.

I want to point out that even when Satan has legal access, the adversary can only enter the gates of a country and attack when he is being used as the Lord’s instrument.  God is always in control of any given situation – not Satan.     

Proverbs 22 [7] The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. 

Proverbs 22:7 is a good example of the Leviathan binding the borrower to the lender.    Both lender and borrower are willingly joined together by a binding agreement.  The focus is on the one who borrows because to borrow is a form of obligation.  For example, all future decisions by the borrower must be made in consideration of the effect those actions will have on his debt.  The lender, since he has invested in your life, has a legal right to some type of supervision over your life to protect his investment.  Decisions now need to be made with the mindset to protect and to pay back the debt.  Leviathan can operate in this type of a situation.  The Leviathan's strength is in its ability to bind itself to people and to things, and one of the ways he can work is through debt. 

This may be why the Lord is speaking to so many of His people to be aware of the Biblical principles of lending and borrowing.  For example, when we lend to our brethren we are not to charge usury.  Furthermore, if our brother fails to pay back a loan, then according to 1Corinthians 6:1-8, we are not to take him to court.  Instead, we are to suffer the loss.

Scripture records that the Leviathan is a spirit that is very difficult to battle, as world leaders are finding out.  In Job 41, the Lord inquires of Job if Job can deal with the Leviathan.  Job 41:8 indicates that those who do battle with Leviathan will remember the battle and not do so again.  Scripture also indicates that the usual way of warfare is not necessarily the way we are to war against Leviathan.  If that is the case, then how are we to take authority over this spirit?

To deal with Leviathan, the source of binding needs to be discerned.  Once the source is identified, then that sin needs to be dealt with.  In other words, we need to let the Lord deal with that area of our life and bring it into correction.  For example, if pride is the source of binding with this spirit, then pride needs to be addressed.  If borrowing or lending is the source, then we need to let the Lord deal with us in that area also.

The strength that Leviathan has is in its ability to bind people together so that they are under obligation to each other and through that obligation, place themselves under the power of Leviathan.  If lending and borrowing are the source of binding, then to have authority over Leviathan and free oneself from that spirit, the source of binding of either lending or borrowing needs to be severed.  In other words, you should have no obligation of debt to anyone that is not according to Biblical principles.

The United States of America has an incredible national debt and I believe that the greed behind this debt, along with pride and the covetous sins of our forefathers, were the particular openings for the attack on September 11, 2001 and continue to be an opening. 

President Bush’s belief that America is the shaping force in the world, whether it is to establish democracies in other nations or to lead economically, is a falsehood embraced by Americans overall.  However, this way of thinking is arrogant and has proven to be deceptive.  America as a nation and Americans as individuals are being shaken financially because of their own self-delusions, greed, usury, extortion, deception and unjust gains.  America, as a nation, has been humbled before the other nations who are now taking advantage of the economic crisis to establish their own global authority over that of America.    

Washington, DC, Ancient Nineveh and the Iraq War

As detailed in other articles, George Washington and other contemporary Freemasons were so intrigued with the spirituality of ancient civilizations that they wanted to make a spiritual connection between these civilizations of antiquity and America.  This ideology has been interwoven into the spiritual fabric of America using ideograms and iconography, the same methods used by ancient civilizations. 

In Biblical times, ancient Nineveh, like Washington, DC, was also represented by the picture of a fish inside the enclosure of a city.  According to The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia, “The name of Nineveh is written Ninua and Nina in the cuneiform inscriptions.  A popular etymology connected it with the Assyrian nunu, ‘fish,’ at a very early date, since the name is ideographically represented by the picture of a fish inside the enclosure of a city”. [38]  Thus, the symbol of the fish can be understood as a “spiritual point of contact” between ancient Nineveh and Washington, D.C. – again, not in the way President Washington envisioned. 

Spiritual points of contact are connected by “cords of sin” that are the result of man’s sins.  These cords of sin are spiritual cords that the enemy is able to use to ensnare and bind up individuals or a nation.

Proverbs 5 [22] His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

Proverbs 5 [22] His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked man, And he shall be held with the cords of his sin.  (Amplified Bible)

When the sins of a nation are filled to the brim, these sins can be understood as the “cart rope” that the Prophet Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 5:18.  In other words, the calamities that America is now facing are due to an accumulation of sins – not just one sin.   

Isaiah 5 [18] Woe to those who draw [calamity] with cords of iniquity and falsehood, who bring punishment to themselves with a cart rope of wickedness. (Amplified Bible)

In Jeremiah 48:32, Jeremiah describes the physical spread of vines, but he is also speaking about the spiritual spreading of the vines.  As it relates to America, the vine represents the spiritual influence of the pagan cities of antiquity that our Founding Fathers were influenced by and embraced.  These vines of influence that make up the spiritual cords that our Founding Fathers used to reach across the sea to connect America to the ancient cities of antiquity are the influence of the Antichrist spirit.  They have yet to be severed and are the cords through which the Antichrist spirit is operating.   

Jeremiah 48 [32] O vines of Sibmah, I weep for you more than the weeping of Jazer [over its ruins and wasted vineyards].  Your tendrils [of influence] have gone over the sea, reaching even to Jazer.  The destroyer has fallen upon your summer fruit harvest and your [season’s] crops of grapes.  (Amplified Bible)

The spiritual consequence of these vines described by Jeremiah is that the destroyer will fall upon their harvest.  This is exactly what we are witnessing here in America with the war in Iraq.  The connection, of course, is that Iraq is the location of ancient Nineveh and is why the enemy was able to operate through the spiritual cords that join America to ancient Nineveh. 

It was in Mosul, present day Nineveh, that American soldiers killed Saddam Hussein’s two sons, Odai and Qusai, in 2003.  Many Americans, as well as Iraqis, celebrated their deaths.  However, other sons were killed in Mosul as well; sons of Americans and Americans were not celebrating the death of their sons as many Iraqis were.  Not surprisingly, Mosul has proven to be one of the more difficult and challenging combat zones for Americans fighting in Iraq.    

The spiritual vines the prophet Jeremiah spoke of continues to reach across the sea connecting America to the ancient city of Nineveh: 

“In 2005, the State Department and Sister Cities International announced that the Philadelphia IVC would be linked with Mosul in its Partners for Peace Program… IVC provided humanitarian aid and brought members of Mosul’s City Council to Philadelphia to learn about state and local government in a democracy.” [39]

Sister cities or “town twinning” was a concept begun abroad and was embraced by Americans under President Dwight Eisenhower.  The idea was to pair an American city with an international city to spread America’s political influence abroad as well as learning about the varying cultures of international communities. 

There is a spiritual aspect behind the twinning of two international sites.  Twinning indicates that the two cities are to be closely related, joined or connected in ways that will bring them together in a close relationship.  In other words, they are to be “twined” or “twisted” together.  Twined comes from the root word “twin” and indicates that at least two (twin) of something are twisted together to form the twine.  For example, Philadelphia and Mosul are twisted together to form one string of twine or spiritually speaking, a spiritual cord or vine that reaches across the sea.

However, our Founding Fathers also meant for the vines (spiritual cords) to serve another purpose.  It is through these spiritual vines that Satan is operating to bring to fruition the words spoken by James Wilson on September 11, 1787 when he prophesied to the Pennsylvania legislature, “…that the new federal government would ‘lay a foundation for erecting temples of liberty in every part of the earth.’”

President Bush and his administration were adamant in their attempts to erect a temple of liberty in Iraq.  At the expense of many lives, their foreheads were set like flint in their goal to replace Saddam Hussein’s form of government with America’s form of democracy and liberty.  All this was in the hopes that the influence of democracy, like a vine, would spread throughout Iraq and continue to spread throughout the rest of the Middle East. 

However, these spiritual chords work both ways.  For example, the influence of Islam has indeed reached the shores of America.  Islam is now an accepted religion in America and its spiritual roots are rapidly spreading throughout all of America. 

Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure:  The sins of idolatry and paganism added to the sins of our forefathers.  Fill up, then, the measure of your father’s sins to the brim so that nothing may be wanting to a full measure.  President Bush may have made history by publicly acknowledging Islam in his inaugural address, but he certainly was not the first United States President to have spiritual cords linking America to the Middle East countries with their Antichrist beliefs.  Nonetheless, it seems that the sins of President Bush were the sins that filled the brim and tipped the scales for America.  This opened the door for the Antichrist spirits behind Islam to attack America in 2001 and prompted America in March of 2003 to decide to invade Iraq, thus entering into what has proven to be a very costly invasion, both economically and in lives lost. 

Spiritual Paths of Judgment

            The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 was allowed by the Lord along very specific spiritual paths.  Following are the Scriptural basis for these paths and a description of the “spiritual cords” along these paths.

The Lord Leveled and made a Straight Path for His Anger

Psalm 78 [49] He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. [50] He made a way to His anger; He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;

“He made a way” is also translated “He leveled and made a straight path for His anger”.  In other words, the “evil angels” could not attack at random – they could only travel and attack on the “straight path” that the Lord made.

The enemy was given access to specific paths because of the spiritual cords that were created as a result of the sins of America’s Founding Fathers.  The straight path or “spiritual lines” that the enemy had legal access to travel on when the terrorist attacked America on September 11^th was Path 11, Path 77 and Path 40.44. 

Path 11, 77 and 40.44

Conclusion

We know that Scripture reveals that if a nation repents of their sins, the Lord will forgive their sin and will heal their land (Leviticus 26:40-42 & 2 Chronicles 7:14-15).  Thankfully, after 400 years, America acknowledged her sins of slavery.  Barack Obama’s nomination as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate started bringing healing to America.  If as President he carries through on his campaign promise to bring American soldiers home from the war in Iraq that will bring even further healing to America.

Leviticus 26:38-42 reveals that because of the sins of their fathers, the Lord sent the Israelites into the land of their enemies.  I believe one of the reasons why America is involved in the war in Iraq goes all the way back to the sins of slavery in America.  Could the sins of our forefathers in our own Civil War explain why America is so entangled in the civil war going on in Iraq – the land of the heathen and America’s enemy? 

In wars of aggression such as World War II, America generally prevails.  However, in wars where America tries to establish a democratic form of government in countries involved in civil war, we largely fail.  Vietnam was a good example of this.  After Saddam Hussein was toppled in Iraq, the country fell into civil war and it is still in that condition.  While the final outcome of the Iraqi war is yet to be determined, it has the unmistakable signs of a failure similar to Vietnam. 

These same verses in Leviticus 26:38-42 also offer hope.  When we humble ourselves and confess our sins, the Lord will remember the land.  The sins of slavery have been confessed, and Barack Obama, an African American, may be the one to bring Americans home from the war in Iraq.  Time will tell and in due course, as the Lord allows events to unfold, we will gain more understanding into what He has already revealed. 

Hope in the Lord!

 As Christians, our hope is in the Lord – and there is hope for America!  Even though the Lord deals with the sins of a nation, Scripture declares that, “if they shall confess their sins and the sins of their forefathers and accept the punishment of their iniquity” then God will heal their land (Leviticus 26:39-42).  2 Chronicles 7:14 confirms this hope in the Lord:

2 Chronicles 7 [14] If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Isaiah 24:14 reveals that a righteous remnant will survive the economic crisis.  Even though the nation as a whole will bear the consequences of the sins of their fathers, there is provision for those of us who, on an individual basis, confess the sins of our forefathers and walk according to the precepts of God and not in the ways of those forefathers who were rebellious.  (Ezekiel 18, Ezekiel 33) 

Interestingly, America is in a situation where on one hand, the sins of our forefathers have been acknowledged, yet on the other hand, other sins have not been acknowledged.  While the sins of our English forefathers concerning slavery and Native American Indians were acknowledged in 2007 on the levels they were committed, personal, state, national and international, the same sins perpetrated by the Spanish Conquistadors have yet to be acknowledged on the national and international levels.  (See articles on Jamestown: America’s First English Colony, and The American Crusade)

When Knowledge Becomes Pleasant to the Soul

Whatever a country reaps, whether curses or blessings, depends upon whether they acknowledge sins or not.  Whatever a country reaps is also dependent on the specific sins they do or do not acknowledge.  Other national sins, such as greed and idolatry, have not been acknowledged.  Because the Lord deals with the sins of a nation as they reach their full measure, each in its own proper time, and because those sins have not been acknowledged, America’s enemies have entered into our gates.

The government rests on the shoulders of the Lord (Isaiah 9).  He established all governments (Romans 13); therefore, should He not discipline those nations when they trespass that very law that is written on everyone’s heart (Romans 2)?

Psalm 94 [10]  He who disciplines and instructs the nations, shall He not punish, He Who teaches man knowledge?

Should America not be disciplined for their covetous practices and merchandising, trafficking that leads to violence or elevating Islam, atheism and other religions to the level of Christianity?  God being a righteous God cannot ignore those nations who violate His commands.  He will judge according to that very law that His government rests on!   Those nations as well as individuals who believe that the Lord will ignore their sins will come to understand that this way of thinking is futile and nothing other than vanity (Psalm 94:7-11).    

Yes, America is reaping from what we as a nation have sown.  However, it is also important to understand that part of God’s chastening is to teach man knowledge.  In other words, part of God’s chastening is designed to bring individual Americans as well as the nation itself into correction – and that is a worthwhile lesson.  Although chastening never seems pleasant at the time, it is the teaching and the correction that the Lord wants America as a nation to make that is meaningful and it is the knowledge of why God is chastening America that is pleasant to the soul (Proverbs 2:10).

The Enemy Will Enter Into the Gates of America Again

The measure of our forefather’s sins are rapidly filling up to the brim and when the full measure is reached – America’s gates are going to be open to a possible devastating “ground invasion” by the terrorists Americans so fear.

Lamentations 4 [11] The Lord hath accomplished his fury; He hath poured out His fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.  [12] The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. (emphasis added)

Again, just as the kings of the earth and inhabitants of the world in Lamentations mistakenly believed that the gates of Jerusalem were fortified against any possible attack from the enemy – Americans as well as people around the world were astonished when America’s enemies entered into the gates of America and successfully attacked our country on September 11, 2001.  How much more so their astonishment when America is once again attacked? 

To their own detriment and to the detriment of all Americans, our lawmakers have led Americans to believe that because of all the security measures they as lawmakers are taking that another terrorist attack on America will be prevented.  However, you cannot fight a spiritual battle with the carnal weapons of a politician.  Rather, of all Americans, it is the lawmaker’s continuance of sins that are filling up the brim to its full measure that will open our gates to the terrorist once more to successfully attack America in what may be a devastating ground invasion. 

© Gwen Thomas, 2001, 2003, Revised July, 2009

Appendix A – Text of President Obama’s June 4, 2009 Cairo Speech

(Emphasis has been added to key points)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Cairo, Egypt)

________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               June 4, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON A NEW BEGINNING

Cairo University
Cairo, Egypt

1:10 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you very much.  Good afternoon.  I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions.  For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning; and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement.  And together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress.  I'm grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt.  And I'm also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country:  Assalaamu alaykum. (Applause.)

We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world -- tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate.  The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars.  More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations.  Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims.  The attacks of September 11, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights.  All this has bred more fear and more mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity.  And this cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition.  Instead, they overlap, and share common principles -- principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight.  I know there's been a lot of publicity about this speech, but no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have this afternoon all the complex questions that brought us to this point.  But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly to each other the things we hold in our hearts and that too often are said only behind closed doors.  There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.  As the Holy Koran  tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth."  (Applause.)  That is what I will try to do today -- to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Now part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience.  I'm a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims.   As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and at the fall of dusk.  As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam.  It was Islam -- at places like Al-Azhar -- that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment.  It was innovation in Muslim communities -- (applause) -- it was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed.  Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation.  And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.  (Applause.)

I also know that Islam has always been a part of America's story.  The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco.  In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President, John Adams, wrote, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims."  And since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States.  They have fought in our wars, they have served in our government, they have stood for civil rights, they have started businesses, they have taught at our universities, they've excelled in our sports arenas, they've won Nobel Prizes, built our tallest building, and lit the Olympic Torch.  And when the first Muslim American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Koran that one of our Founding Fathers -- Thomas Jefferson -- kept in his personal library.  (Applause.)

So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed.  That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't.  And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. (Applause.)

But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America.  (Applause.)  Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.  The United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known.  We were born out of revolution against an empire.  We were founded upon the ideal that all are created equal, and we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words -- within our borders, and around the world.  We are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept:  E pluribus unum -- "Out of many, one."  

Now, much has been made of the fact that an African American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected President.  (Applause.)  But my personal story is not so unique.  The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores -- and that includes nearly 7 million American Muslims in our country today who, by the way, enjoy incomes and educational levels that are higher than the American average.  (Applause.)

Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion.  That is why there is a mosque in every state in our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders.  That's why the United States government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it.  (Applause.)

So let there be no doubt:  Islam is a part of America.  And I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion, or station in life, all of us share common aspirations -- to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God.  These things we share.  This is the hope of all humanity.

Of course, recognizing our common humanity is only the beginning of our task.  Words alone cannot meet the needs of our people.  These needs will be met only if we act boldly in the years ahead; and if we understand that the challenges we face are shared, and our failure to meet them will hurt us all.