We the People of the United States of America
The Preamble of the Constitution begins, “We the People of the United States”. Our Founding Fathers, “men of reason” from the Age of Enlightenment who drafted and ratified the U.S. Constitution, identified themselves in the Preamble to the Constitution as “We the People”. It was at that point in time that two social classes in America were “legally” sanctioned: those of the ilk who drafted and ratified the Constitution and those who were excluded from the process.
The popular interpretation of “We the People” is inclusive, meaning all the people of the country. However, the correct interpretation is exclusive; excluded were slaves, Native Americans, poor whites and women. The Constitution was written only for those people who sought to “lord over” all the people – the Nicolaitans of America.
The Nicolaitans of America were the “enlightened minority” of colonial and revolutionary times and are the “elites” of today. Whether then or now, they were influenced by the Nicolaitan spirit, one of the ruling principalities over the United States. The Nicolaitan spirit operates through those who hold to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and is one of the principalities that significantly influenced the authors when drafting the U.S. Constitution. At the very foundation of America, even though they were out of sight, Satan, principalities and the demonic were behind the scenes influencing America’s Founding Fathers at all levels of government.
The Nicolaitan spirit lords over all except the enlightened minority and its influence predominates even today in issues such as race relations, economic class distinctions and other such contemporary problems. We can see the operation of the Nicolaitan spirit most vividly in its statement in the iconography of the U.S. Capitol and how it has oppressed those of African descent in America, first in the visible form of slavery and then with the invisible shackles of race discrimination, even affecting the 2008 presidential campaign.
The Nicolaitan spirit continues to lord over African Americans through discrimination and racism, continually harassing and hindering them from fully enjoying true equality in America. However, in the midst of all this, there is evidence that the Nicolaitan spirit is being judged along with its followers and will eventually be completely under God’s foot.
Background
To understand how this spirit could have a bearing on America, as well as how America’s Founding Fathers were specifically influenced by the Nicolaitan spirit when drafting the Constitution, we need to turn to Scripture for insight concerning man’s relationship to the spiritual realm. To begin with, we need to understand several Biblical principals: the principle of “Double Reference & Accountability”, reasoning apart from the Lord and the Nicolaitan spirit (the doctrine and deeds of the Nicolaitans).
The Principle of Double Reference and Accountability
The principle of double reference and accountability refers to a situation that occurs simultaneously in the natural and the spiritual realms. While the natural realm is visible, the spiritual realm is not. Nonetheless, those in the natural realm – either knowingly or unknowingly – are influenced by the satanic in the spiritual realm. That’s why Paul told the Ephesians that our battle is not against people, but against those in the spiritual realm and to fight this spiritual battle, we need to put on spiritual armor – the Armor of God (Eph 6:10-12).
In many situations when people acted in response to the prompting or provoking of those in the spiritual realm confederated with Satan, the Lord dealt with both simultaneously. For example, when Satan deceived Eve, he hid (invisible to Eve) behind the serpent (visible to Eve) to achieve his goal, which was to tempt Eve and ultimately Adam to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, when the Lord spoke to the serpent – the main rebuke was directed at Satan (Gen 3:14-15).
The principle of double reference and accountability was demonstrated by judgment pronounced on the serpent and Satan simultaneously. For the serpent who allowed Satan to operate through him, “upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life”, and for Satan, “and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; I shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:14-15). In Revelation 12:9 & 20:2, Satan is identified as that “old serpent”. Therefore, we know this passage is addressed not only to the physical creature, but to a spiritual being as well.
In another example of this principle, Jesus rebuked Peter (the visible), and at the same time, He rebuked Satan (invisible to Peter):
“Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matt 16:22-23, KJV, emphasis added)
As Jesus was being condemned by the chief priests and elders – Judas simultaneously committed suicide. At the same time that Satan thought he had triumphed over Jesus when he was crucified on the cross – it was Jesus who triumphed over Satan (Colossians 2:15).
Satan has to operate through the natural environment as he did in the Garden of Eden or through man as he did with Peter or Judas. However, he cannot operate or exercise authority without the cooperation and willingness of man unless he can find a place in man (i.e., a spiritual opening because of sin), which he gains legal access to work through.
Reasoning Apart from the Lord
Reasoning apart from the Lord can be another spiritual opening for the satanic to operate. The Apostle Peter is a good example of how reasoning apart from God can be an opportunity for Satan to influence that person. There is no doubt that Peter loved Jesus with all his heart. When Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, “He said, Lord, you know all things; You know that I love You” (John 21:17, NIV). However, at times, Peter reasoned according to the ways of the world and not according to the ways of the Lord and Satan attempted to work through this stumbling block in Peter’s life to snare Jesus.
In the above example, Matt 16:23, when Jesus rebuked Peter and Satan simultaneously, this verse is also translated as follows:
“But Jesus turned away from Peter and said to him. Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.”(Matt 16:23, Amplified Bible)
The same incident as recorded in Mark is translated:
“But turning around [His back to Peter] and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have a mind intent on promoting what God wills, but what pleases men [you are not on God’s side, but that of men].”(Mark 8:33, Amplified Bible)
Satan attempted to work through Peter’s worldly mindset (you do not have a mind intent on promoting what God will, but what pleases me ) and use Peter as a stumbling block in Jesus’ path. Instead, Jesus bound Satan from interfering (Get behind Me, Satan!) and simultaneously rebuked Peter regarding his worldly mindset.
Satan also reasoned apart from God – his wisdom was corrupted by reason of his brightness. In turn, Satan works through men who corrupt their wisdom – arrogant men whose gods are their own intelligence and cleverness.
“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.” (Eze 28:17, KJV, emphasis added)
From their own personal writings as well as the visual form of communication they used throughout the United States Capitol described below, we know that America’s Founding Fathers were men who reasoned apart from God. It was this reasoning apart from God allowed Satan and other principalities to influence America’s Founding Fathers as well as find a place to establish strongholds over America.
The Nicolaitan Spirit in Scripture
There are only two direct references to the Nicolaitans in Scripture, both found in the Book of Revelation. In the first reference, a letter to the church in Ephesus, Jesus said,
“Yet this is to your credit: you hate the work of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” (Rev 2:6 NRSV)
Jesus was saying two things in this verse. First, he praised the Ephesian church for their strong position of intolerance towards the works (deeds or actions) of those embracing Nicolaitanism. Apparently, the Ephesians were united in their stand against the behavior and intent of the Nicolaitans and wouldn’t allow them to operate in their church. Second, Jesus explained why He was praising them: He hated this behavior. The deeds of the Nicolaitans were extremely displeasing to Him and so were any in His church who tolerated the actions of such people or the spirit operating behind them.
The praise given to the church in Ephesus can be contrasted to the second reference in Scripture to the Nicolaitans – the rebuke directed to the church in Pergamos:
“But I have a few things against you, because … you also have those hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” (Rev 2:14-15, NKJV)
Jesus condemned the open-mindedness of the church in Pergamos towards some of its members who held to or believed in the doctrine (teachings) of the Nicolaitans . He reiterated that He hated these teachings and didn’t want His flock to be following this false doctrine. So what can we conclude?
From these two churches, we can see that the Nicolaitans had both a doctrine and works or deeds based upon or as a result of that doctrine. We also know that Jesus was very strong in his reaction to the Nicolaitans: He hated both their doctrine and their deeds. Therefore, we can easily conclude that since the Nicolaitan doctrine was definitely not of the Lord, it must have come from worldly thinking and motives, from demonic influence or both. We can also conclude that their doctrine and deeds posed a serious threat to the Body of Christ, otherwise, why would Jesus find their doctrine and deeds so repugnant?
When combined with Christianity, this worldly knowledge produced varying forms of syncretism – the combining of non-Christian ideas or practices into Christian theology and worship. This syncretism became a new doctrine: part Christian and part worldly – the doctrine of the Nicolaitans – a doctrine that opposed Christianity.
It is easy to see that syncretism poses a consequential danger to Christians and Christian fellowships. By combining opposing beliefs, such as paganism or worldviews, into Christianity, two results can be observed. First, it weakens an individual’s walk with the Lord. Incorporating false doctrine into Christianity absolutely cannot strengthen a person’s walk – the ways of false religions and the world are always inferior to the perfect ways of the Lord and thus, can only serve to damage an individual’s walk. Second, syncretistic beliefs and practices misrepresent Christianity to be unbeliever and unbelieving world. The ways of Christ are polluted and defiled by syncretism thereby distorting and weakening the gospel message.
In Scripture, names always have meanings. Much can be gleaned from the Nicolaitan name, including an understanding of the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Nicolaitan is a compound Greek word comprised of niko or nikao, meaning conquer, overcome, prevail, or get the victory, and laos, meaning people. In other words, it means to triumph over the common people or laity. The Greek name of this conquering or victorious spirit operating behind the Nicolaitans was Nike, also known to many as Victory.
Overall, the objective of the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and the Nicolaitan spirit is to weaken both the Church and individual members of the Church, thereby gaining victory over the people in the church, lording it over them in the process. This is why Jesus was so adamant about hating both their doctrine and deeds. Their doctrine, deeds and the spirit operating behind them were at war with the Lord and He wanted His Church to stand unflinchingly against them. We can summarize the doctrine and the deeds of the Nicolaitans as follows (examples of the spirit in operation are described in later sections):
Doctrine
· Combining worldly ideas and practices (man-made tradition, pagan
principles, etc.) with Christian theology and worship
Objectives
· Gain victory over Christians by weakening their walk with the Lord
· Gain victory over the Church by weakening and perverting the Gospel message and bring the Church into disrepute
· Gain victory over Christians who do not embrace the doctrine of the Nicolaitans as well as unbelievers by operating through those who do
hold to the Nicolaitan doctrine.
Practices or Deeds
· Interpreting Christianity and Christian principles using the Nicolaitan doctrine rather than the Bible
· Using feigned (deceptive) words to teach the Nicolaitan doctrine to Church the Church and unbelievers
· Use feigned words to lord over and enslave others
· Using the Nicolaitan doctrine to justify unbiblical practices, in the Church or society thus bring Christianity into disrepute
· Slandering spiritual Christians and churches who disagree with the Nicolaitan doctrine
The Nicolaitans were not victorious over those in the church in Ephesus because the church was intolerant of their deeds. They hated the works of the Nicolaitans and consequently, their doctrine could never take hold. Conversely, the Nicolaitans were victorious over those Christians in the church in Pergamos gaining a foothold with those who either tolerated or embraced their false doctrine (not all of those in the church in Pergamos accepted their doctrine). The Lord told the church in Pergamos to repent; otherwise, He would come and personally fight against them!
With these Biblical principles in mind, we can now look at how the Nicolaitan spirit has influenced America to lord it over others. First is to identify the dominance of this spirit in the thinking of America’s Founding Fathers, which can be found spelled out for us in the iconography of the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. Capitol Iconography – The Apotheosis
America’s Founding Fathers relied a great deal on iconography – a visual form of communication – to reveal their true ideology to other elitists concerning America while concealing those same beliefs from the general public. It’s significant that Washington and Jefferson are the two men who are honored as having proposed and approved the design of the United States Capitol as well as the theme that was encoded in the Capitol’s iconography.
The subject matter Washington and Jefferson chose reveals their belief in the pagan gods of antiquity and their relationship to man – a theme that was carefully guarded and carried out even after their deaths. The Capitol’s iconography conveys the idea that pagan deities were involved at all levels of America’s government. The portrayal of America’s historical figures alongside these pagan deities conveys the idea that these were men of outstanding ability and intelligence – men of brilliance.
The Book of Acts (Acts 14:8-18) records an incident of healing in the city of Lystra by the Apostle Paul and the reactions of the citizenry. When Paul healed a man who had been a cripple from birth, the men of Lystra thought that Jupiter and Mercury had come down to earth in the likeness of the Apostle Paul and Barnabas.[1] This, of course, grieved both of them.
This same belief of the men of Lystra of the ancient gods coming to earth and interacting with men can be found in the Apotheosis of Washington – an allegorical painting inside the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. This painting portrays Washington as the human representative of Jupiter[2] and Robert Morris, financier of the Revolutionary War, receiving money from the pagan god Mercury.[3]
The Capitol’s iconography reveals that America’s Founding Fathers – like the men of Lystra – believed that the pagan gods Jupiter and Mercury were involved in the everyday affairs of men. Also, like those in Lystra, the Lord has blessed America in spite of her idolatry. Even though GOD will judge a nation, including America, He desires mercy over judgment.
The notion that Washington was the earthly representative of Jupiter was also conveyed in the Patriae Pater, one of the two most famous pictures of America’s first President (see article titled Freemasons are most Religious). In a panel in the south wing of the Capitol, Washington is portrayed taking an oath in front of the god Jupiter.[4] Scripture reveals that God forbade people from going into covenants with pagan deities – nonetheless they did. Like those that Scripture speaks of, the Capitol’s iconography reveals that Washington went into a covenant with the god Jupiter.
“And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.” (Judges 8:33, KJV)
The Hebrew, “Baal-berith” means “lord of the covenant” and Baal Berith was the pagan god that men invoked to preside over their contracts, covenants and agreements with other men. The covenant could also have been between men and the deity himself. Among the Persian gods of antiquity – Baal Berith was known or identified as the god, Mithra, and many of Mithra’s attributes were combined with those of Jupiter. Someone dedicated to this deity was known as a “Mithredath” (Ezra 2:8). Similar to Jupiter, Mithra was a military deity, as well as a god of covenants. Therefore, the Roman military readily combined many of Mithra’s attributes with those of Jupiter.
When Mithra was invoked as lord of the covenant, he was portrayed seated on a rainbow. This is exactly what we find in the Apotheosis of Washington. George Washington, like Mithra, is portrayed as a military deity and is seated on a rainbow. Therefore, we know that Washington was not only the earthly representative of Jupiter, but that of Mithra as well. (see picture below)
It was a common practice in antiquity that when a pagan deity from one country was embraced by another country, that new country would add symbols to the deity’s existing attributes that specifically expressed the beliefs held by the people of that country. Likewise, America’s Founding Fathers fused American symbols into the attributes of the pagan deities of antiquity to express the ideology of America. In other words, the pagan deities of antiquity were simply Americanized.
For example, as shown below in a section taken from the Apotheosis of Washington, George Washington is portrayed sitting on a rainbow as the earthly representative two military deities: the Roman god Jupiter and the Iranian god Mithra. Washington is dressed in the robes of a god from the waist down, yet from the waist up, he is shown wearing his American military uniform. To his right, Liberty, the Americanized version of Minerva, is holding a copy of the United States Constitution.
With that understanding, we can further interpret the symbolism of the Apotheosis of Washington. The main focus of the Apotheosis of Washington, as shown above, is Washington portrayed as Jupiter with Liberty seated to his right and the main subject of this paper – the goddess Victory – seated to his left. All three of these representations depict the Americanized version of the three deities worshipped on Capitoline Hill in Rome: Jupiter, Minerva and Juno. The portrayal of this Americanized triad of deities supports the choice of Capitoline Hill and its symbolism as the namesake of America’s Capitol Hill.
Just as Washington is a composite of more than one deity, Liberty and Victory are also composites. When we examine the blend of the various deities incorporated into one image, we find the attributes of Minerva and Juno, the very two goddesses who alongside Jupiter make up the Capitoline Triad worshipped on Capitoline Hill in Rome. For example, seated to the right of Washington (Jupiter) is Liberty who is also known as Freedom. Liberty is America’s version of an intermingling of ancient pagan gods and goddesses, with the main emphasis on the attributes of Minerva, the Roman version of the Greek Athena, a war deity and goddess of wisdom.
Victory, Fame and the Nicolaitan Spirit
The deity on Washington’s left is especially important: the goddess Victory. Like the other two deities on the rainbow, Victory is a composite of more than one deity and is known by other names, such as the Greek goddess, Nike, and the Roman goddess, Fama, which is translated into English as Fame. As we will see, the Nicolaitan spirit is another name for Victory.
The goddess Victory is an aggressor and “delights” in leading nations into war. Worse, she delights in war for the sake of war. Interestingly, this is exactly the view many nations have of America: an aggressor and a nation who delights in war. It is one thing to defend your country, but it is quite different as an aggressor to invade another country. America is well-known to justify invading other countries, often with justifications based more on rumors rather than facts.
The goddess, Fame (a.k.a. Victory), is known for two specific attributes: reputation and rumors. Fame operates by spreading “rumors” specifically “rumors of war”. Those she likes, she will seek to ensure they have a good reputation; however, those she dislikes she will spread rumors and gossip to destroy their reputation.
An example of Fame (Victory/Nicolaitan spirit) in operation is the invasion of Iraq in 2003. America invaded Iraq based on the belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, only to find that this belief was based on “rumors”. Former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson in a New York Times Op-Ed article entitled, “What I Didn’t Find in Africa”,[5] refuted the claims of the White House that Iraq was purchasing uranium from Niger for the purposes of making weapons of mass destruction. Wilson accused President Bush of deliberately misleading the American public about the relationship between Saddam Hussein and the President of Niger.
Those associated with the White House tried to ruin Wilson’s reputation. According to Wilson, for purely political motives and in retribution, Administration Officials leaked to the public the fact that his wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was a covert CIA agent. This leak not only placed her life in danger, but many others as well. As a result, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former Assistant to President Bush and Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney, was convicted for his role in the leak of obstructing justice. The distinguishing marks of Fame in all this are unmistakable.
Victory’s Branch and Women
The branch held by Victory in her right hand is significant. A branch is a well-known symbol of victory, but the branch is also a symbol of the goddess Juno, Jupiter’s wife, when Juno is portrayed in her role as the “branch bearer”. Given that Juno was one of the three deities worshipped on Capitoline Hill, it makes sense that the branch also represents Juno and that she too has been incorporated into the personification of Victory. Victory’s branch also symbolizes the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve ate and as a result, sorrow and death entered the world.
The combination of Victory and the branch that she is holding reveals that a Nicolaitan spirit was operating over America in some very interesting ways. Keeping in mind that the word Nicolaitan means to “lord over” others as well as be “victorious over” others – we can clearly see the influence of this spirit over America was more than just being victorious in war. Our Founding Fathers as well as many other Americans were slave owners. Obviously, slave owners lorded over those they enslaved and were victorious over them as well.
America’s Founding Fathers also lorded over women, including their wives. America’s Founding Fathers, including George Washington, denied women the right to vote because according to them, women were not as intelligent as men and consequently, were not able to properly reason.
This fallacy of inferiority was rejected by many women. However, an equally misleading notion was the fallacy held by some of these same women who wrongly taught that women were superior to men in intelligence. This was the prevailing view of one of the leading women’s rights advocates and outspoken abolitionists prior to the Civil War, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Stanton based her opinion on her interpretation of the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis when Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and in turn, handed some of the fruit to Adam. Stanton believed that Satan directly approached Eve because he recognized her thirst for knowledge while Adam was content with things that concerned the Garden of Eden. Stanton totally disregarded the fact that Eve was deceived by Satan and that the issue at hand was man’s disobedience to God – not Adam’s intelligence. After all, God gave Adam the ability to name the animals as well as Eve. What is interesting is that even though Stanton was an abolitionist, she nonetheless believed that she and other educated white women were also superior to slaves.
Remembering that the Apotheosis of Washington was completed at the end of the Civil War, the branch in Victory’s hand definitely conveys the mood of many women at that particular time. The branch symbolized victory and lording over all those they felt were inferior to them intellectually, both men and slaves in general.
Part of the composite of Victory is the goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter. Jupiter in the Apotheosis is George Washington as he is the human representative of Jupiter. Victory then, in her role as Juno, would be symbolic of Washington’s wife. It is important to note that Victory (Juno) is seated to Washington’s left and slightly below him – symbolizing her inferiority to her husband!
It is in Victory’s role as the wife that the branch takes on a profound significance for both the male and the female. Victory, with the added attributes of Eve, reminds us that it was the woman who was deceived into believing that if she ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that she would gain wisdom. After eating the forbidden fruit, she offered some to her husband Adam. Yet, the wisdom that she and Adam gained only led to sorrow and death. Therefore, even though Washington and other men needed their wives, to accept knowledge from them would only bring them sorrow and death.
Both Liberty and Victory were worshipped as goddesses of wisdom, but it was the nature and source of their wisdom that determined their relationship to America’s Founding Fathers as shown through symbolism in the Apotheosis. Minerva (Liberty) in mythology is “the mind” of Jupiter (Washington), and for that reason, he values her wisdom. On the other hand, the branch bearer (Victory/Juno/wife) would be a reminder to Jupiter (Washington) that the goddess to his left was prone to deception and therefore prone to mislead men. Again, this was the attitude of America’s Founding Fathers who believed that women were inferior to men because they lacked the intelligence and ability to reason and for that reason denied women the right to vote.
It’s also important to note that Minerva’s gender was both male and female, thus Liberty/Freedom is a fusion of both male and female deities. In other words, those who sought her wisdom were not seeking wisdom solely from a female deity. Therefore, it is understandable that Minerva is seated to the right of Washington, which is considered the place of honor, while Victory on the left and slightly below Washington indicating her inferiority. At the same time that Washington extends the right hand of honor towards Minerva, he points his right foot towards Victory – again indicating her inferiority.
Minerva is portrayed holding a copy of the Constitution in the Apotheosis. She is also portrayed on other monuments in Washington, DC as dictating the Constitution to our Founding Fathers. This is natural given that she was considered to be the “mind of a god”. With fondness, she gazes towards Washington; on the other hand, Victory looks away from Washington.
Seated next to Washington and slightly below him indicates that Victory understands the headship of a man. However, holding the branch of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and blowing her trumpet in victory while looking away from Washington, Victory sends the message that she will continue to seek knowledge apart from man and from God in her quest to be victorious over others – including men. This was not only the spirit behind the women’s movement, it was also the spirit operating behind Elizabeth Cady Stanton who believed that Eve was superior to Adam and also believed that educated white women were superior to undereducated black men.
There is even an interesting parallel to all this in modern times. As Hillary Clinton was campaigning for the 2008 Presidential nomination for the Democratic Party, many of her supporters compared her to Juno – one of the manifestations of Victory.[6] Similar to Juno, the wife of Jupiter, Clinton was married to America’s former president Bill Clinton (a type of Jupiter).
The Constitution and Slavery
Satan was never able to find a place in Jesus. As Jesus said to His disciples,
“I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on ME. [He has nothing in common with ME; there is nothing in ME that belongs to him, and he has no power over ME.]” (John 14:30, Amplified Bible)
However, Satan did find a place with America’s Founding Fathers, men who reasoned apart from God. This gave Satan and the principalities the right to operate in the spiritual realm and influence our Founding Fathers concerning the affairs of America.
The Constitution of the United States was written from the perspective of men who viewed themselves as America’s “enlightened” – “men of reason”. Today we would describe these same men as the “elites” of America. These men represented America’s cream of the crop and included lawyers, men who were influential to America’s economy and military men who were conquerors. They were “masters”, men who reasoned that they could “lord it over others”. Many were America’s slave owners – men insensitive to the freedom of other men. They were men who reasoned that Native Americans, slaves, poor whites and women were all incapable of reasoning.
The Constitution was drafted to protect the personal interests, economic interests and social class of these men and their offspring – not those over whom they lorded. Our Founding Fathers were men who professed a desire for freedom and equality – yet at the same time, they ruled as dictators. Whether America’s new form of government was a republic or a democracy, America’s slaves, Indians, women and poor would have called it a dictatorship.
Heart Issues
The Constitution today is the result of an evolution of changes, which are reflected in today’s society. However, the Constitution is also viewed as a document that is ageless and unchanging and that is also reflected in today’s society. For example, slavery was abolished by an amendment to the Constitution, yet, significant racial issues still exist in America. Why? Because slavery was an issue of the heart – not just an issue of law – and the heart issue was never addressed.
Scripture reveals that the New Covenant was written on the heart and that’s why in His teachings, Jesus dealt with the heart. For example, He taught that if you have anger in your heart, you have committed murder and if you have lust in your heart, then you have committed adultery. (Matt 5:21-22, 27-28) Similarly, if someone still had the concept of slavery and racism in their heart after the end of the Civil War, then those attitudes of the heart passed down through the generations would continue to manifest in the natural realm through one means or another.
James Madison, the man honored as the “Father of the Constitution”, like many of America’s other Founding Fathers was a slave owner. He and the other Founding Fathers who were slave owners were in a position to set the example for all Americans by freeing their slaves. Yet when drafting the Constitution, these men who had the power and authority to abolish slavery, instead sanctioned the institution of slavery as is evident in Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution:
“… No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.”
America’s Founding Fathers never dealt with their own heart issues concerning slavery. Rather, their hearts became hardened, just as Pharaoh’s heart in Scripture became hardened. Like, Pharaoh, God gave America’s Founding Fathers the opportunity to let those they enslaved go free. Yet, instead of establishing laws to protect people against slavery, the Founding Fathers sanctioned slavery, firmly establishing the institution under the new government called the United States. The American Constitution reveals the hearts of our Founding Fathers and their true character: men enslaved to slavery.
Ironically, slave owners, including and especially many of our Founding Fathers, were enslaved to slavery! As our Founding Fathers were writing “liberty” for all men, many of these drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were slave owners, depriving their slaves of the very liberty they so cherished. What they didn’t realize was that according to Scripture, the enslavement went both ways. As the Apostle Peter said,
“They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement – for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved.” (2 Peter 2:19, Amplified Bible, emphasis added)
In other words, whatever we submit to will be enslaving to us. For example, when we submit to sin, we become enslaved to sin (John 8:34, Rom 6:16). When the slave owners submitted to the concept of slavery, they quickly became enslaved themselves. With the economic model they had adopted, the slave owners could not survive without their cheap labor. They were totally dependent upon them to make money and maintain their standard of living; without the slaves, their plantations and farms would not be profitable or sustainable.
In Old Testament times, the Israelites were guilty of selling their brethren as slaves to outsiders. The Lord, speaking through the Prophet Joel, told the Israelites that He would retaliate by turning the very ones they enslaved against them. In effect, He was going to use the weapon they had used, slavery, against them:
“Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem you have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders. Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them, and will return your retaliation upon your own head.” (Joel 3:6-7, NKJV)
This was another aspect of the enslavement of the slave owners. During colonial times and up to the Civil War, the slave population in America steadily increased until the African slaves often outnumbered the general population in large portions of the South. This produced considerable angst on the part of the slave owners and the population in general, fearing slave rebellion and retribution in kind. It required constant vigilance and extra work to ensure that the slaves kept their place (lording it over them), while all the time, fear lorded over the enslavers.
While the shackles of the slaves were visible – the shackles that bound the slave owners were invisible – nonetheless both were in bondage. What slave owners and others who embraced the worldly doctrine of the Nicolaitans did not understand, is that when they acquiesced to this spirit, they gave the spirit the authority to lord it over them as well. The slave owners were indeed enslaved to slavery and the Nicolaitan spirit was victorious over both the African slave and slave owner alike, but obviously not in the same way.
America continues to reap from what our Founding Fathers sowed into the spiritual realm (Gal 6:7) – the sanctioning of men lording over other men. Even though African Americans were set free of their Masters who lorded over them, they were not completely set free of the Nicolaitan spirit who still has legal access over America. This spirit’s line of attack is to continue lording over African Americans through discrimination and bigotry until it is dislodged from the heavenlies. As we will see, the influence of the Nicolaitan spirit’s stronghold over America has been weakened and it is only a matter of time before it is brought down.
However, keeping in mind the principle of double reference and accountability, we know that the visible (people) as well as the invisible (the Nicolaitan spirit) needs to be addressed. In other words, not all discrimination or bigotry is due to the influence of a principality. If discrimination is in someone’s heart, then the heart issue needs to be dealt with. Unless influenced by the Nicolaitan spirit, someone who has discrimination in their heart will not necessarily want to lord over someone else. They can be prejudiced without acting upon their prejudices. To determine whether a principality is operating behind someone or not would have to come by revelation from the Lord and a correct understanding would be necessary to determine how to approach the situation.
President Lincoln and the Nicolaitan Spirit
Even President Lincoln came under the influence of the Nicolaitan spirit. Abraham Lincoln is considered by many to be one of the greatest presidents of the United States and the liberator of slaves during the American Civil War. Yet his public and personal views on slavery were in stark contrast to much of history’s judgment of his accomplishments.
Lincoln, in public addresses and private letters, considered saving the Union to be the top priority of the war. Even though he was personally against slavery, he made it clear that he really didn’t care if abolition was part of the solution to save the Union. For example, in Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, then editor of the New York Tribune, dated August 22, 1862, he went on record that the Union, not slavery, was his top priority; therefore, he could go either way concerning the abolition of slavery.[7] While it’s true that he was the president that ended slavery, Lincoln’s own personal letters show his insensitivity to African Americans and a side to him that history would rather remain obscured.
Publically, Lincoln addressed a delegation of free black leaders that he had invited to the White House on August 14, 1862. In the address, Lincoln shared his thoughts on black people in America. Speaking plainly, Lincoln blamed them for the civil war[8] and warned them that even when the slaves were set free, they would never share equality with white people.[9] Since he viewed all blacks to be inferior to the white race, colonization of “free Negroes” in Central America (where they could work in coal mines) was considered preferable to integration into mainstream society (colonization was an idea shared by many others of the time).[10] This address must have been a shock for those in attendance. Lincoln’s insensitivity and true feelings towards the black race in America were there for everyone to see.
The Apostle Paul said that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual realm (Eph 6:12). However, President Lincoln did not fight the battle in the spiritual realm, he fought it in the natural realm. Even though Lincoln viewed himself as a modern day Moses, Lincoln approached the issue of slavery from the mindset of a civil lawyer, his life long occupation. His strategy: to study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible and then learn what appears to be wise and right – the strategy of a lawyer.
Like our Founding Fathers, Lincoln never dealt with the narrow-mindedness in his own heart concerning slavery. Rather than view slavery as a heart issue, President Lincoln relied on force to end slavery. After the Civil War, masters freed their slaves because they were forced by law and former slaves were “integrated” into white society by force. However, many white people still had slavery and racism in their hearts. Because the heart issue was never dealt with, racism remains a heart issue today.
The Church Age and Slavery – Paul’s Letter to Philemon
On the other hand, when dealing with the issue of a runaway slave, the Apostle Paul approached the mindset and heart attitude of the slave owner. Paul stated that he is our example as Jesus Christ was his example. It is Paul’s example and how he dealt with the issue of slavery that Lincoln should have followed. If Lincoln had followed the example of the Apostle Paul, the tremendous loss of life in the Civil War would not have been necessary and the outcome quite different (see President Lincoln and the Sin of Presumption).
Paul wrote one of the most beautiful letters recorded in Scripture – the letter to his dear friend, Philemon. Paul wrote to inform Philemon that Onesimus, his runaway slave, was in his company and was now a believer, a brother in Jesus Christ. Paul expressed his love for Onesimus by referring to him as his son (Phn 1:10) and informed Philemon that Onesimus was returning to him no longer a slave, but better than a slave, urging him to receive Onesimus as he would receive Paul himself. Paul wanted Philemon to view Onesimus as an equal to both he and Philemon – as a man and as a brother in Christ Jesus:
“Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.” (Phn 1:15-16, NIV, emphasis added)
We know from Scripture that Paul’s advice to anyone in slavery was for them to gain their freedom if the opportunity availed itself.
“Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. But if you are able to gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.” (1Cor 7:21, Amplified Bible)
It is important to note that Paul did not start an uprising or condemn the use of force to set Onesimus or other slaves free – nor did he go to the civil government. Rather, Paul dealt with Philemon’s heart. He appealed to the emotions of a Christian slave owner to change his mindset concerning his slave. Furthermore, Paul was confident that Philemon would do even more than he asked. Paul’s desire was that Philemon would provide the opportunity for Onesimus to be set free.
“Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.” (Phn 1:21, KJV, emphasis added)
New Testament Teachings on Slavery
President Lincoln’s belief in the superiority of one race over another was only a reflection of the Founding Father’s mindset. However, contrary to President’s Lincoln’s mindset, Scripture reveals there is to be equality between all Christians, regardless of a person’s circumstances:
“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:27-28, KJV, emphasis added)
Many of the slave owners in America justified slavery based on selected Scriptures. However, Scripture interprets Scripture; therefore, the higher way would have been to view Christian slaves as the Apostle Paul did – as fellow believers and as human beings – better yet, to set them free. Furthermore, whether the salve was a Christian or not, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. In other words, a Christian slave owner should have set all their slaves free regardless of whether they were believers or not.
Realizing that not all salve owners were Christians, Scripture still seemed to be the prevailing justification or excuse for retaining the institution of slavery. Nonetheless, if Paul’s approach had been taken, it is probable that slavery would have died out on its own.
What was also missing for Christians in general, especially Christian slave owners, was a change of thinking. As Paul wrote the Romans:
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom 12:2, KJV)
Paul was saying, “Stop” – change all mindsets that are not in agreement with the word of God. In addition to a wrong heart attitude, America’s Christian slave owners had yet to renew their minds according to the word of God as slavery was not in agreement with Paul’s teachings.
Because the attitudes of the heart and the mindset of America’s slave owners were never dealt with on a corporate or personal level, we still have racism today. America’s slaves were set free by the Civil War, but “lording over” someone with force to end slavery cannot and will not change the heart or the mind concerning slavery – it only leaves an opening for the Nicolaitan spirit to continue to operate.
The Nicolaitan spirit does not discriminate as to who is being lorded over, whether it was slave masters who lorded over slaves or those who lorded it over the slave owners to set the slaves free. Paul understood this. He did not want Philemon to be conformed to the world’s acceptance of slavery – rather he wanted Philemon to change his heart, be transformed by the renewing of his mind and set Onesimus free. That’s why when writing to Philemon, Paul never used force or demanded that Philemon set Onesimus free. Paul realized that Philemon needed to understand what God’s will was concerning the relationship between a Christian slave owner and a slave in order that he could act accordingly. Then Philemon could make a conscious decision voluntarily to free Onesimus.
“But it has been my wish to do nothing about it without first consulting you and getting your consent, in order that your benevolence might not seem to be the result of compulsion or pressure but might be voluntary [on your part].” (Phn 1:14, Amplified Bible)
The Civil War ended slavery, but it did not change the attitudes of the heart or the mind that one race is superior to another – only obedience to the Word of God can change either. Whether it was unbelievers or Christians who misused Scripture to justify lording over the African slaves and Native American Indians, it was the Nicolaitan spirit that was operating behind them.
Once allowed in the Church, the goal of this spirit was to have victory over God’s people, which could be accomplished in a variety of ways. This spirit will also manifest in a way that brings shame to the Church, as was the case with those Christians who misused Scripture to justify slavery. That in itself is another way this spirit lorded it over God’s people and His Church.
The Nicolaitan Spirit and the 2008 Presidential Campaign
Present day manifestations of the Nicolaitan spirit in operation are apparent in the on-going attacks against the two Democratic candidates vying for the Democratic Presidential nomination: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (for a more detailed account of this, see the article entitled, The Spiritual Dimensions of the 2008 Presidential Campaign). During the campaign, the accusations leveled at each candidate for their opponent’s camp were as follows:
1. Race
a. If Sen. Obama wins the nomination, it’s because he’s an African American.
b. On the other hand, if he loses it’s because he’s an African America.
2. Gender
a. If Sen. Clinton is elected it’s because she’s a woman.
b. On the other hand, if she loses it’s because she’s a woman.
3. Obama is accused of being “sexist” while Clinton is accused of being “racist”
Even though both Senators Clinton and Obama are politically qualified to be President, this particular campaign is more about race and gender than their political qualifications. Why? Because the American Constitution was not written with either African Americans or women in mind – “We the People” never included them. On the other hand, the Constitution was written for someone like Sen. John McCain who is white, a military hero and a politician. Not surprisingly, McCain’s focus is on presenting himself as “McCain the War Hero and Patriot”.
What is surprising is that the racial attacks on Obama have come from within the Democratic Party – from the Clinton camp. Hillary Clinton and her husband have been persistent in their destructive racial attacks upon Obama. These attacks have been divisive for both the Democratic Party and America as a whole. At times, they have started the racial fire and let others add fuel, while at other times they have simply added fuel to comments initiated by others.
Since Satan can no longer enslave African Americans with th visible shackles of slavery, his line of attack is to enslave them with the invisible shackles of “feigned words”. It is through feigned words that Hillary Clinton has consistently attempted to shackle her opponent, Barack Obama.
“And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” (2 Peter 2:3, KJV, emphasis added)
(Note: “make merchandise of you” means to deal with you as a slave).
Race verses gender is not new to America, nor is gender verses gender. It is a Biblical principle that there is nothing new under the sun and what has been will be again. The same spirits that influenced Elizabeth Cady Stanton can be seen operating in the political arena’s on-going spiritual battle between race and gender in the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Even though Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a leading abolitionist before and during the Civil war, she was willing to shackle freed slaves with the invisible shackles of slavery (i.e., racism) if it meant that her own personal agenda for women’s rights took backstage to the rights of African American men.
“One hundred forty-three years ago, women’s suffrage advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton faced a conundrum: With the Civil War over, Stanton had to decide whether to support the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, which enabled black men to vote – at a time when white women such as herself still did not have that right. Stanton decided to oppose the amendments: ‘As the celestial gate to civil rights is slowly moving on its hinges, it becomes a serious question whether we had better stand aside and see Sambo walk into the kingdom first.’ ”[11] (emphasis added)
As mentioned previously, Stanton believed that in the Genesis account of Adam and Eve, Eve was above Adam in intelligence. In other words, Stanton’s position was not just a matter of equality of the sexes, it was a matter of superiority. Stanton was outraged that African American men would be able to vote first as she believed them to be “uneducated”. To her, the intellect of white women was not being recognized and acknowledged as superior to that of uneducated black men. This was more than Stanton could bear; therefore, she opposed the 14th & 15th amendments to the Constitution. Stanton’s attitude was if women can’t have the right to vote, then neither should the African American – and that’s arrogance.
The similarities of this to the 2008 presidential campaign are striking. Hillary Clinton’s attitude was that until the Democratic Party forced her to endorse Obama, she wouldn’t. Her behavior sent the message that if she couldn’t be President – then neither should the African American (Obama). She was willing to destroy the Democratic Party as well as Barack Obama’s opportunity to make history and win the general election, and like Stanton, that is an arrogant attitude. As chronicled in The Washington Post:
“From the beginning, Hillary Clinton has campaigned as if the Democratic nomination were hers by divine right. That’s why she is falling short – and that’s why she should be persuaded to quit now, rather than later, before her majestic sense of entitlement splits the party along racial lines. If that sounds harsh, look at the argument she made Wednesday, in an interview with USA Today, as to why she should be the nominee instead of Barack Obama. She cited an Associated Press article ‘that found how Senator Obama’s support … among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again. I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on.’ …Here’s what she’s really saying to party leaders: There’s no way that white people are going to vote for the black guy. Come November, you’ll be sorry. … Assuming that Obama is the eventual nominee, he will have some work to do in reuniting the party. But there’s no reason to think he won’t succeed – unless Clinton drives a wedge between important elements of the party’s historical coalition. … Clinton’s sin isn’t racism, it’s arrogance. From the beginning, the Clinton campaign has refused to consider the possibility that Obama’s success was more than a fad. This was supposed to be Clinton’s year, and if Obama was winning primaries, there had to be some reason that had nothing to do with merit. It was because he was black, … This new business about white voters is just the latest story the Clinton campaign is telling itself about the usurper named Obama. ‘It’s still early,’ Clinton said Wednesday, vowing to fight on. At some level, she seems to believe the nomination is hers. Somebody had better tell the truth before she burns the house down.”[12] (emphasis added)
The Constitution Today
It may surprise some that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the top-ranking African American in the Bush administration, understands the reality that “We the People” and “All the People” are not one and the same:
“Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday Barack Obama’s emergence as the first black American to win a major party’s presidential nomination was a landmark for equal rights after more than two centuries of struggle. … ‘It’s a country that has overcome many, many, now years, decades of, actually a couple of centuries, of trying to make good on its principles,’ Rice said. ‘And I think that what we’re seeing is, an extraordinary expression of the fact that ‘we the people,’ is beginning to mean all of us,’ she added, referring to the opening line of the U.S. Constitution.”[13] (emphasis added)
While African Americans are celebrating their victory that “we the people” is beginning to include them, many Muslims are feeling just the opposite.
“Barack Obama’s campaign apologized Wednesday after a report that campaign volunteers in Detroit had shooed two Muslim women wearing head scares out of camera range at a rally earlier this week. According to the Web site Politico, the women were told they could not sit behind the podium where Obama was speaking, to prevent them from appearing in photographs and television footage with the candidate. Obama has battled false allegations that he is a Muslim, and the two women, both Obama supporters, told Politico they were deeply disillusioned by the incident.”[14]
Doesn’t “We the People” include Muslims? If so, then why does Barack Obama feel the need to distance himself from his Muslim heritage? In reality, Obama is reacting to American’s fear of Muslims. This is just another example of the reality that “we the people” does not include “all the people”.
The Constitution is a covenant and covenants have a spiritual aspect to them. All parties involved are obligated to keep a covenant into which they enter. Because “all the people” as well as “we the people” still embrace the Constitution as drafted and ratified, all Americans are still bound by the original intent of the Constitution of those who drafted and ratified that Constitution.
In the case of the American Constitution, which was a product of the Age of Enlightenment written by “men of enlightenment”, it is these men and those who ratified the Constitution that define who “We the People” are. In other words, because the African Americans, Native American Indians, poor whites and women were excluded because they were inferior races, savages, inferior citizens or those incapable of reasoning, they were not included in “We the People” – and they still are not. Men may want to “reason” otherwise, however, one cannot change events in the spiritual realm through reasoning! Our weapons are not of this world; we do not wage war as the world does! (2Cor 10:3-4)
This doesn’t mean that the above groups are aware that what they are experiencing is due to any spiritual consequences. However, this type of a situation can be understood according to the principle of Double Reference and Accountability (as explained in the above section with the title).
Just as Satan incited David to take a census of his army (1Chr 21:1) and tempted Judas to betray Jesus (Luke 22:3-6), he continues to influence others within our government, as well as people in general. Even though our Founding Fathers considered themselves to be enlightened men, if they had consulted either the Native American Indians or the slaves, they would have been truly “enlightened”! Native American Indians and slaves would have correctly explained to the Founding Fathers that they were not savages or property, but were people just like them – men and women who were capable of reasoning.
The slaves would have also made it clear that Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution was an injustice and inequality directed against every enslaved. This unjust provision provided a legal basis for a salve owner to be able to retrieve a runaway slave from a free state.
“No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.”
If consulted, slaves would have explained that many of them who ran away, did so because, like their masters who lorded over them, they too wanted the “blessings of liberty” that the Founding Fathers referred to in the Preamble to the Constitution. They would have explained that many of them ran away because they were trying to find family and loved ones that their masters had sold to slave owners in other states. They too were capable of feelings, they too suffered, and they agonized at the loss of those they loved and that loved them. Finally, those slaves who were Christians would have explained to those masters who wanted to lord over them – Master Washington and Master Jefferson – that Jesus Christ was the only true “Master” and “Lord” of their lives.
The Weakening of the Nicolaitan Spirit over America
Men die, but principalities (spirits) don’t die. The same spirits that were invoked by our Founding Fathers still have legal access over America. Just as President Lincoln came under the influence of the Nicolaitan spirit, America continues to be attacked by this spirit whose desire is to lord over and oppress people.
Scripture clearly reveals that spirits, like those that operate behind the pagan gods portrayed in the Apotheosis of Washington, rule over geographical areas and have human representatives (Jer 49:1-3; 48:7 and Judges 11:23-24). We know from Scripture (Dan 10:13-21) that these geographical principalities are high in rank and are opposed to the Lord and His people, even hindering answers to prayer. However, Scripture also reveals that these gods will be judged:
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” (Ex 12:12, KJV, emphasis added)
When the Lord judges a principality, He will also judge those in the natural realm that allow that principality to operate through them (see the Principle of Double Reference and Accountability above). This was demonstrated in the first Passover when Yahweh judged the Egyptian gods and at the same time, judged Pharaoh and the Egyptian people by smiting their firstborn because they would not release God’s children from slavery.
On the other hand, those who are unknowingly or unwillingly under the spirit’s influence will no longer be oppressed by this principality. For example, when Yahweh judged the gods of Egypt, the Israelites were freed from Pharaoh simultaneously. In the case of America, as the Nicolaitan spirit is weakened, its ability to oppress people is weakened.
Israel’s Progression of Steps
After the Hebrews were released from slavery, they did not become the nation of Israel overnight. Their journey only began when they left Egypt. Their journey to becoming the nation of Israel was a progression and came after many battles and setbacks.
Understanding that Israel’s journey from slavery to becoming a nation was a progression helps us to understand that it is a progression for African Americans as well. The day is near that the stigma of slavery will no longer have a stronghold in America. However, just as the Israelites still had battles to fight even after entering the Promised Land, African Americans will still have battles to fight as well.
Sometimes the progression of the Israelites seemed that it was two steps forward and one step backwards – a progression that many African Americas may be able to identify with – looking somewhat like the following:
· Enslaved
· Crying out to the Lord
· Exodus – they were set free after much suffering and bloodshed
· Even before reaching the Promised Land there were many trials and battles including their own internal battles to deal with – hence forty years of wandering around in the wilderness
· Unbelief
· Grumbling
· Betrayal
· Deception
· Rebellion against their leaders
· Fear (the spy’s fear of the giants – spread to the entire community)
· Conquest
· Stage of the Judges
· After entering the Promised Land in spite of everything else there were still many battles to be fought – from within – as well as from those on the outside
· Deception (Gibeonites)
· Sin (Aiken’s sin affected the entire nation)
· Israel united as a nation
· Israel as a divided nation
· Captivity
· Return from captivity
· Discrimination
· Against all odds – Israel became a nation again in 1948
· More discrimination
· More battles and wars
· Yet, they remain a nation
· And – they still have battles from within and from outside
There were many different leaders over time in this progression of Israel’s history just as there have been many different leaders in the fight for African Americans. What seemed to have been impossible became a reality: the Hebrews became the nation of Israel, and they remain as the Nation of Israel – including many on-going battles. On-going battles need to be fought through prayer and I pray that the Lord will circumcise the hearts and minds of those who want to keep the battles on-going. Just like the Israelites, the day is coming that African Americans will find more and more equality in America, regardless of whatever on-going battles may come their way.
Our enemy wants us to focus on what we can see (the people), and not on what we cannot see (the principalities), and battle accordingly – only to be defeated. We need to keep in mind that any and all on-going battles must also be fought in the spiritual realm with God directing us. When we take our eyes off the Lord, we may find ourselves in situations such as righteous Joshua found himself in the Gibeonite deception or Aiken’s sin, which can hinder the spiritual progress of an entire nation. Certain parts of the journey will take a certain amount of time for the Lord to deal with whatever needs to be dealt with, as was obvious during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness before being allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Moses understood that whenever they began to move from one place to another, to do so safely meant that God must go ahead of them.
“And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.” (Num 10:35, KJV)
Likewise, on our way to the Promised Land, if we are to make spiritual progress, we are not to move until God rises up and scatters His enemies and goes before us, otherwise we may find ourselves taking two steps forward and one step back. Even after entering the Promised Land we must continue to wait upon the Lord and only fight the battles that He leads us to fight, otherwise we will only create unnecessary warfare.
However, once the Lord tells us that we are in a spiritual battle, then we should walk and not stand still in terror. We will then make spiritual progress because the Lord God is our strength, our personal bravery, and our invincible army:
“The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!” (Hab 3:19, Amplified Bible)
America’s Progression after Entering the Promised Land
Throughout their journey, on the way to the Promised Land and after entering the Promised Land, the Lord identified the both the gods and the nations that opposed Israel. Again, when the Lord judged a nation, He judged their gods as well. For example, when the Lord judged the Midianites He not only called Gideon to go to war with them (Judges 6:14, 16 and 7:9, 15, 17-2), but He also instructed Gideon to tear down their altars to Baal and the pagan goddess Asherah (Judges 6:25, 26). In spite of the fact that that the Israelites did not completely drive out the enemy because of disobedience, the Lord used their enemies to test Israel to see if they would learn to obey Him as well as teach them warfare in order to protect themselves (Judges 2:20-23; 3:14).
Since the end of slavery, America has continued to make spiritual progress on her journey, and similar to the Israelites, the Lord has identified principalities over America that have been weakened, but have yet to be dislodged. Just as the Lord used the enemy to teach the Israelites warfare, He has used the geographical principalities over America to teach us both the “wiles of the enemy” and how to battle spiritual warfare for His purposes to the glory of His Name (as well as protect ourselves).
For many years across America, Christians have been seeking God’s face, praying and confessing their sins and the sins of our forefathers and their role concerning the inhumane treatment of the Native American Indians and African Americans. The Lord is faithful to His Word. Because people at all levels, both personal and political, have acknowledged the evil and injustices of slavery and our injustices towards the Native American Indians, the Lord has arisen and scattered our enemies as smoke is driven away (Ps 68:2). According to Ephesians 6, we know that our battle is in the spiritual realm. Therefore, the enemy includes those in the spiritual realm as well as those in the natural realm that would seek to attack us through the spiritual openings of those particular sins. (See article on Jamestown)
Our Victory is in Jesus Christ who Triumphed over all Principalities and Powers (Col 2:15). When slavery ended in America, the Nicolaitan spirit was weakened. On June 3, 2008, Barack Obama, an African American, became the Democratic Party’s presumed nominee for president of the United States of America, evidence of further weakening of the Nicolaitan spirit over America.
God’s Timing: Long before Moses was born, the Lord had revealed to Abraham that his offspring would be in bondage for 400 hundred years (Gen 15:13-14 & Acts 7:6). Moses’ first attempt at freeing the Israelites from bondage, which resulted in the killing of an Egyptian (Ex 2:11-15), would have fallen short of the set time. However, at the appointed time, God sent Moses back (Acts 7:34) to deliver the Israelites and after 400 (Acts 7:6) or 430 years (Ex 12:40-41) of bondage Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.
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 (Gen 15:13-16). The term Amorite and Canaanite are one and the same and 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 that the sins of other nations would be full and complete at 400 years as well. 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].” (Matt 23:32, Amplified Bible)
We also 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 and for that reason Barack Obama is the presumed nominee for the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate and this in itself is bringing healing to America.
40 Years: The Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years. It is interesting that the first year an African American to be the presumed Democratic nominee for president coincides with the 40th year anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. The night before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, King told a rally at Mason Temple that God had allowed him to go up to the mountain: “And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” Although Mr. Obama’s presumed nomination is bringing healing to America, we need to keep in mind that even after the Israelites entered the Promised Land, there were still many battles to be fought – and these battles were not won overnight.
45 Years: It is also interesting that 45 years to the day that Reverend King gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, Barack Obama will officially accept the Democratic nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Colorado to run for president of the United States. Hillary Clinton lost to Barack Obama in her bid for the presidential nomination, yet in defeat, she proclaimed victory over Obama, trying to lord over him with feigned words. Even though Barack Obama won the nomination, he nonetheless graciously acknowledged Hillary Clinton and her historical achievements in the 2008 presidential campaign. However, Hillary Clinton would not – nor could she – acknowledge Barack Obama’s historic victory, because that meant she would be acknowledging his victory over her.
On the night she was defeated, rather than concede, Hillary Clinton continued in her attempts to be victorious over Obama and shackle him with “feigned words” (false cunning arguments).
“And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning) arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep.” (2 Peter 2:3, Amplified Bible) (emphasis added)
With veiled threats, she attempted to undermine Obama’s victory. She indicated that if Obama wanted the support of the 18 million that voted for her, then he needed to pick her as his running mate – otherwise they would stay home election day. To suggest that he needed her was to imply that he was weak. If she could not be president, or at least vice president, the message was that she was willing to destroy him.
Hillary Clinton Became a Slave to Victory: Scripture reveals that whatever we submit to will enslave us, and Hillary Clinton was enslaved to being victorious even if it meant lording over others. That is why she could not admit defeat on June 3, 2008.
“They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement – for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved.” (2 Peter 2:19, Amplified Bible)
What Hillary Clinton and others who embrace the worldly doctrine of the Nicolaitans do not understand is that when they acquiesce to this spirit, they give this spirit the authority to lord it over them as well. According to Scripture, the enslavement goes both ways. Hillary Clinton is enslaved to being “victorious” and “lording it over others” – yet the Nicolaitan spirit operating through her is victorious over both those she lords over as well as Mrs. Clinton herself, albeit not in the same way.
That is why Hillary Clinton only acknowledged Barak Obama’s victory when those who were in a position to lord over her did so, and demanded that she endorse Mr. Obama. Fearing a divided Democratic Party going into the general election, Hillary Clinton raised the ire of several high-powered Democrats after she refused to concede and acknowledge Obama’s historic achievements on the night he won, as explained in the
following article titled: “Clinton’s exit: When push came to shove”:
“… On Wednesday, Clinton was asking supporters to wait – it was unclear for what … but Rep. Charles B. Rangel, the blunt, 77-year-old dean of New York’s congressional delegation, had had enough. In public statements and on a crucial afternoon conference call, he told Clinton it was time to go. And Rangel, for reasons of state politics, personal history and race, is not a man Clinton could ignore. … On the call, Rangel was firm. He suggested holding an event where Clinton could endorse Obama. ‘That way we’re endorsing Barack through you,’ he told her.[15] (emphasis added)
Barack Obama was not the only one that Hillary Clinton felt she could lord over and enslave with feigned words. Even those who dared work for Obama or other Democratic candidates that campaigned against her were threatened with becoming unemployable in the nation’s Capitol. That is the power that Hillary Clinton felt she possessed! The following is from an article posted on Washingtonpost.com:
“…When Clinton first embarked upon her quest for the Democratic nomination, there was no sense that hers was a long-shot candidacy seeking to break through the proverbial glass ceiling. No, her candidacy was first and foremost the establishment/dynastic steamroller. The other Democratic candidates were deemed hapless underdogs. And remember those rumblings about whether staffers who dared to join other campaigns would ever again find gainful employment in Washington? [16] (emphasis added)
On Earth as in Heaven: As the Nicolaitan spirit becomes further weakened, the consequences of its weakening are becoming more and more apparent to Americans in the natural realm. The significance of this is already being realized by historians from a secular standpoint, as reported in The Washington Post on June 5, 2008:
“… ‘I think this will be in a class by itself,’ said John Hope Franklin, who at 93 is the dean of the American historians who think and write about race. Obama’s campaign ‘is the most radical, far-reaching, significant [undertaking] by any individual or group in our history,’ he said. ‘This strikes at the very heart of national ideology on race and the political patterns of this country’s history.’ Obama’s candidacy is ‘monumental,’ said Manning Marable, 58, professor of history at Columbia. ‘It can redeem American history from the specter of race that has plagued us for nearly 400 years.’ ‘Race is the original sin of American democracy, said William Chafe, 65, professor of history at Duke, so ‘this will be historic in a thousand ways.’ It could be, added Alan Brinkley of Columbia, ‘a very important event in the effort to put race to bed as an issue.’ These scholars were all talking about the phenomenon – unexpected for all of them – of a black man becoming a leading candidate for president in 2008. They agree that this is something big, even it if is too early to know just how big. And several of them agreed that is also something complicated. … Many of these scholars commented on their students’ excitement about Obama. … The enthusiasm of the students suggested that ‘the country has turned a corner,’ said Harvard Stikoff, professor of history at the University of New Hampshire.”[17] (emphasis added)
Notice the reference to “sin” and the timing of “400 years”.
Further Evidence of the Weakening of the Nicolaitan Spirit
We know from Scripture that the Lord has authority over a pagan god (principality) in the spiritual realm as well as that god’s earthly image. For example, when the Philistines captured the ark of God in battle, they took the ark into the temple of Dagon, their chief god (this story is found in 1 Sam, chapters 4-6). From ancient iconography, Dagon was represented as a type of fish deity, part man and part fish. When the ark was placed beside Dagon, the following events took place:
“And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.” (1Sam 5:3-5, KJV, emphasis added)
When the Lord toppled the visible representation of Dagon, it was understood that He was demonstrating his superiority over the supernatural spirit behind it. At the same time that this happened to the Dagon, the Lord was afflicting the Philistines with tumors. Dagon and his people were both being judged. Likewise, Isaiah prophesied that Babylon “has fallen and all the images of their gods lie shattered on the ground” (Isa 21:9). At the same time the people of Babylon were being judged by the Lord, He was also judging their gods, shattering them on the ground, just like Dagon.
The Nicolaitan Spirit in Greece
This same type of demonstration of authority recently transpired with the Nicolaitan spirit in Greece. The day before the welcoming ceremony at the White House for Queen Elizabeth on May 6, 2007 (See Article on Jamestown), the Lord quickened me to Psalm 68:1-2 and gave me the understanding that these verses were relevant to this ceremony. Just as in Biblical days, the Lord will use everyday examples to which people can relate to explain a Biblical principal and how what is occurring in the natural relates to what is occurring in the spiritual realm. In this particular situation, the manifestation of smoke (that was subsequently scattered by the wind) that came from the 21-canon salute to Queen Elizabeth was prophetic:
“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.” (Ps 68:1,2, KJV, emphasis added)
Just as Moses said “Let God arise and scatter His enemies” (Num 10:35, Ps 68:1), we say “Let God arise and scatter His enemies” from over America.
Subsequent events that occurred in Greece shortly after this White House ceremony were also spiritually linked to that ceremony, in particular, the smoke of the cannon salute. In the summer of 2007, Greece experienced a severe drought that was exacerbated by out-of-control fires throughout the countryside. Below is a picture and accompanying caption of one such fire that threatened a statue of antiquity:
“The winged statue of victory stands in front of smoke from fires in the village of ancient Olympia near the birthplace of the Olympic Games, in southwestern Greece on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007. A massive effort by firefighters, assisted by water-dropping aircraft and firetrucks, succeeded in keeping a raging blaze away from the 2,800-year-old site – the holiest sanctuary in ancient Greece. Three days of forest blazes throughout the country have left at least 57 people dead, authorities said Sunday. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)”[18] (emphasis added)
Just as with the above Biblical account of Dagon, this picture is symbolic and revealing of what is happening in the spiritual realm to this particular principality, Victory (also known as Nike). The pagan goddess is shown standing in front of the smoke and fire that is coming from the village of ancient Olympia directly behind her. She appears to be fleeing from the smoke and fire behind her and has a look of terror on her face, which are symbolic of two spiritual events. First, the principality is being driven away (weakened) and it is God who is doing the driving. Second, the Lord is bringing judgment upon not only the principality in the spiritual realm, but also upon those in the natural realm who worship this principality.
As Smoke is Driven Away, so Drive them Away
The smoke and fire in the picture are symbolic of the Lord driving away the enemy: “As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away” (Ps 68:2). The interpretation is that God has arisen and the Nicolaitan spirit behind the statue of Victory/Nike is actually fleeing from the Lord. As this spirit flees from God, it is also fleeing out of our way as well.
There is no doubt that God is fighting this battle for us. Joshua reminded the Israelites that the Lord had already fought for them in conquering the Promised Land. Concerning the remaining pagan inhabitants, Joshua said,
“The Lord your God Himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you. (Joshua 23:5, NIV, emphasis added)
The understanding that the Lord has given me is that as principalities flee from Him, they are fleeing out of the way of those who are listening to Him and obeying His commands (i.e., believers). Many who read this may recognize what the Lord is saying simply because He has given them the understanding of how this particular spirit has been oppressing them or someone they know. In obedience to the Lord, they have been standing opposite of this particular spirit and through that obedience, the Lord is driving the Nicolaitan spirit behind Nike/Victory out of their way so that they can move forward.
Idols that will go Mad with Terror
Jeremiah 50:38 will help us understand the symbolism of the expression of “terror” on the statue’s face and how that relates to Greece as well:
A drought on her waters!
They will dry up.
For it is a land of idols,
idols that will go mad with terror. (Jer 50:38, NIV, emphasis added)
“A sword and a drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols (objects of terror in which they foolishly trust).” (Jer 50:38, Amplified Bible)
The drought that Jeremiah referred to corresponds to the severe drought that Greece was experiencing at the time. Jeremiah also speaks about the “water that was dried up” due to the drought. This was exactly what happened in Greece prior to many of the fires, as reported in The Washington Post:
“In Greece, where 14 people have died this summer from heatstroke, officials on Tuesday declared a drought emergency on the Cyclades Island chain, which includes the resort islands of Santorini and Mykonos. Parts of Greece have been hit by blackouts this summer as demand for electricity soared but the rivers that run hydroelectric plants dried up.”[19] (emphasis added)
The wildfires affected over 50% of Greece and the drought was nationwide. The destruction was to a degree not experienced by those living in Greece before and left them feeling overwhelmed, helpless and in terror. The sword (destruction, wildfires, etc) and drought on the land in Jeremiah 50:38 was because their land was a land of idols and the people of Greece foolishly put their trust in the ancient gods of their forefathers and not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
True Victory in Jesus
The winged statue that the world recognizes as the earthly representation of the goddess Victory (Nike) is the visible object that craftsmen made to identify the principality operating behind the statue – the Nicolaitan spirit. Those who worshipped this goddess believed that it was through this particular deity that they would be victorious. However, one doesn’t have to worship this spirit for it to have victory over someone. When the Church at Pergamos held to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, they allowed this spirit to operate within their Church. Once allowed in the Church, the goal of this spirit was to have victory over God’s people.
Scripture reveals that the Lord will turn the enemy’s own weapons back upon him. Just as craftsmen meant for their statute to convey the attributes and manifestations of a deity, the Lord used the above image of Victory just as He used the image of the toppled statue of Dagon to reveal what was going on in the spiritual realm at that time. For those who worshipped pagan deities, the image of a deity was so closely tied to the spirit itself, that whether it was Dagon’s statue or the above image of Victory, the understanding is that the Lord was demonstrating his superiority over the supernatural spirit behind it. In the case of the fleeing Victory, the Lord is being victorious over this principality behind the pagan goddess of Victory.
Just as their were earthly manifestations in the days of Nebuchadnezzar and other pagans, the Lord gave the prophet Daniel the interpretation and understanding of those manifestations. It is with that understanding that we are to handle correctly this type of manifestation. For Christians, who have ears to hear and eyes to see, they will understand that the Lord is demonstrating His authority over this pagan god that false Church leaders have knowingly and other Church leaders have unknowingly allowed to operate within their churches thereby oppressing many within their congregations.
For several years, I have been praying that the Lord would push the enemy away from some Christians that I personally know who have been oppressed and harassed by this particular spirit. I believe the Lord is revealing that for many who have been oppressed by this spirit, the time has come that they will be set free and that they will have the victory over this spirit, not vice versa.
Satan perverted the truth of what it meant to be an overcomer. He deceived the pagans into believing that they could overcome others by worshiping a pagan goddess by the name Victory/Nike (meaning to gain victory and to overcome). However, our only true victory is in Christ Jesus:
“And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Col 2:15, KJV)
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He not only freed believers from sin, but he also made a public spectacle of all the principalities and powers in the spiritual realm and the earthly representations of gods and goddesses in the natural realm. As Christians we overcome through our belief in Jesus Christ:
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1John 5:4, KJV)
As the Lord dealt with the gods of Egypt, the Philistines and Babylon, He has judged the gods of America as well. He will continue to do so until they are completely under His foot. Amen!
© Gwen Thomas, June 2008
EPILOGUE
June 3, 2008: Barack Obama, an African American, became the Democratic Party’s presumed nominee for president of the United States of America and in doing so further weakened the Nicolaitan spirit. As mentioned above, Genesis 15 reveals that at the completion of a period of 400 years specific events are about to occur in a nation that are directly related to its 400 years of existence. Therefore, it is meaningful that Barack Obama’s nomination happened one year after America celebrated its 400th year anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. It is of the utmost significance that as part of that celebration, the sins of slavery were officially and publicly acknowledged at all levels of government in America (See article on Jamestown). For that reason, the door for an African American to become President of the United States was opened.
Bibliography
Halperin, Mark and Carney, James. “Still in It To Win It”. Time, 7 April 2008
Kaiser, Robert G. “A Run for the Ages?”, The Washington Post. 05 June 2008
Murray, Shailagh. “Muslim Supporters Told to Move at Event”, The Washington Post. 19 June 2008
New York Times Website. “What I Didn’t Find in Africa”, Joseph C. Wilson 4th. 6 July 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/opinion/06WILS.html?ex=1217995200&en=870c272ca97aaafb&ei=5070
Parish, Peter J. ed. Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Letters. London: Orion Publishing Group, 1993
Politico Website. “Clinton’s exit: When push came to shove”, Amie Parnes, Avi Zenilman and Ben Smith. 05 June 2008, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10886.html
Reuters Website, “Rice praises Obama win in Democratic race”, Susan Cornwell and Jeremy Pelofsky, 4 June 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSWAT00959020080604?virtualBrandChannel=10112
Robinson, Eugene. “The Card Clinton Is Playing”, The Washington Post. 9 May 2008
Scott, Pamela. Temple of Liberty. NY: Oxford University Press, 1995
Thomas, Benjamin P. Abraham Lincoln: A Biography. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952
Vedantam, Shankar. “When Disadvantages Collide”, The Washington Post. 2 June 2008
Washington Post Website, “Voters to Hillary: No, You Can’t”, Andres Martinez, 06 June 2008,
http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/detail.jsp?key=240699&rc=andres&p=0
Washington Post Website. “Fires Rage On Across Vast Swaths of Greece”, John F. L. Ross (caption of AP Photo/Petros Giannakourisand). 27 August 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082600246.html
Washington Post Website. “Europe’s Summer of Wild, Wild Weather”, John Ward Anderson. 2 August 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102347_pf.html
Wolanin, Barbara A. prepared under the direction of the Architect of the Capitol. Constantino Brumidi: Artist of the Capitol. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1998
Scripture quotations taken from The AMPLIFIED BIBLE, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Endnotes
[1]
“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He left not himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. (Acts 14:11-18, KJV, emphasis added)
[2] Barbara A. Wolanin, Constantino Brumidi: Artist of the Capitol, p.148
[4] Pamela Scott, Temple of Liberty, p.41
[5] New York Times Website. “What I Didn’t Find in Africa”, Joseph C. Wilson 4th. 6 July 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/opinion/06WILS.html?ex=1217995200&en=870c272ca97aaafb&ei=5070
[6] Mark Halperin and James Carney, “Still in It To Win It”, Time, 7 April 2008, p.26
[7] Peter J. Parish, Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Letters, p.214-215
Letter to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune. 22 August 1862:
“… I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be ‘the Union as it was.’ If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them… My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forebear because I do not believe it would to save the Union… I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. Yours”
[8] Ibid, p.213-214
“Address on Colonization to a Deputation of Free Blacks. 14 August 1862
… You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word we suffer on each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated…
Your race are suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race. You are cut off from many of the advantages which the other race enjoy. The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free, but on this broad continent, not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of ours. Go where you are treated the best, and the ban is still upon you.
I do not propose to discuss this, but to present it as a fact with which we have to deal. I cannot alter it if I would. It is a fact, about which we all think and feel alike, I and you. We look to our condition, owing to the existence of the two races on this continent. I need not recount to you the effects upon white men, growing out of the institution of slavery. I believe in its general evil effects on the white race. See our present condition – the country engaged in war! – our white men cutting one another’s throats, none knowing how far it will extend; and then consider what we know to be truth. But for your race among us there could not be war, although many men engaged on either side do not care for you one way or the other. Nevertheless, I repeat, without the institution of slavery and the colored race as a basis, the war could not have an existence.
It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated….” (emphasis added)
[10] Benjamin P. Thomas, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography, p.362
“Lincoln appealed to the free Negroes to make sacrifices for themselves and for mankind. In the Chiriqui region of Central America, near the Isthmus of Panama, in the Republic of New Granada, were rich coal mines, and ports on two oceans. Certain capitalists with investments in that region were willing to sponsor a venture. If the President could induce some intelligent Negroes to go there and make a start, others could be persuaded to follow them. The place might provide a new homeland for the Negro. The President promised to see that the migrants were fairly treated. In seeking to promote colonization Lincoln followed a policy deplored by abolitionist believers in Negro equality, but favored by liberal Southerners.” (emphasis added)
[11] Shankar Vedantam, “When Disadvantages Collide”, The Washington Post, 2 June 2008, p.A02
[12] Eugene Robinson, “The Card Clinton Is Playing”, The Washington Post, 9 May 2008, p.A27
[13] Reuters Website. “Rice praises Obama win in Democratic race”, Cornwell, Susan and Pelofsky, Jeremy. 4 June 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSWAT00959020080604?virtualBrandChannel=10112
[14] Shailagh Murray, “Muslim Supporters Told to Move at Event”, The Washington Post, 19 June 2008, p.A06
[15] Politico Website, “Clinton’s exit: When push came to shove”, Amie Parnes, Avi Zenilman and Ben Smith, 05 June 2008, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10886.html
[16] Washington Post Website, “Voters to Hillary: No, You Can’t”, Andres Martinez, 06 June 2008,
http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/detail.jsp?key=240699&rc=andres&p=0
[17] Robert G. Kaiser, “A Run for the Ages?”, The Washington Post, 05 June 2008, p.C01
[18] Washington Post Website, “Fires Rage On Across Vast Swaths of Greece”, John F. L. Ross (caption of AP Photo/Petros Giannakourisand), 27 August 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082600246.html
[19] Washington Post Website, “Europe’s Summer of Wild, Wild Weather”, John Ward Anderson, 2 August 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102347_pf.html
