Part Seven of The Giza Discovery
The Second Coming of the Antichrist
By Peter Goodgame
"Raise yourself, O Osiris, first-born son of Geb, at whom the Two Enneads tremble... Your hand is taken by the Souls of On, your hand is grasped by Ra, your head is raised by the Two Enneads, and they have set you, O Osiris, at the head of the Conclave of the Souls of On. Live, live and raise yourself!"
The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Utterance 532"I am Yesterday and I am Today; and I have the power to be born a second time!"
Egyptian Book of the Dead (Theban Recension), statement of Osiris, chapter lxiv
Introduction
The Giza Discovery series, of which this is the final Part, began with a statement from Egyptian antiquities director Zahi Hawass, in Part One, that a hidden tomb exists within the Great Pyramid of Giza.
This tomb is expected by many to be the tomb of Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the Underworld, who was believed to have been the very first to undergo the mummification process after death. Before we continue with the analysis of what exactly the discovery of this ancient corpse will mean for the world spiritually, which is of primary importance to each and every individual on the planet, we must first summarize our series and explain the step-by-step process that has brought us to this point.
The Giza Necropolis was designed and built as a great memorial dedicated to the god Osiris, the legendary king of Egypt, who brought religion, writing, a system of laws, and other innovations necessary for civilization to
the Egyptians, and afterwards to the world. The mythology surrounding the life and death of Osiris and his resurrection on "the other side" as the Lord of the Underworld was covered in Part Two. Osiris became the divine figure at the heart of Egyptian religion and his cult was memorialized by the Giza Necropolis that was built in the Fourth Dynasty (c.2600-2500 BC). Several generations later the theology of the Osiris cult was codified by the Pyramid Texts that were inscribed on the walls of a complex built at Saqqara a few miles from Giza during the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (C.2350-2150 BC). With these late manifestations of the Osiris cult it becomes likely that the origins of the cult, and the actual life of the historical Osiris, can be found not more than a few hundred years before the construction of the Great Pyramid, rather than originating thousands of years earlier as many Egyptologists assume.
Part Three of our series examined Egyptian beliefs involving the death and "resurrection" of Osiris and how they affected the mythology and religions of the cultures that surrounded Egypt. What we discovered was that Osiris was the original "Dying and Rising God" from whom evolved the later "Dying and Rising" figures so prevalent throughout the pagan world, figures including, but certainly not limited to, Baal, Heracles, Adonis, Eshmun, Dumuzi and Dionysus. We also mentioned the fact that skeptics of Christianity have used the historical reality of a pre-Christian "Dying and Rising God" tradition as the basis for the allegation that Jesus Christ could not have been a historical figure, or that his life as presented in the New Testament is no more than a mythical re-introduction or re-packaging of the original Pagan "Dying God" tradition.
To uncover the truth behind the mysterious relationship between the Pagan "Dying God" and the Christian "Dying God" Part Four focused on discovering the historical origins of Dynastic Egypt from where the legend of Osiris evolved. The intent was to uncover the identity of the historical Osiris, which is the key to solving Mettinger's "Riddle of the Resurrection." What we found was that the origin of Dynastic Egypt can be traced directly back to Mesopotamia to a time period shortly after the Deluge mentioned in ancient Sumerian and Hebrew texts.
In Part Five we analyzed Paganism in general and concluded that its primary basis was "Spirit Worship," in addition to its less important aspects of "Ancestor Worship" and "Nature Worship." To understand this belief system, which was once accepted and practiced throughout the world, we turned to Mesopotamia and to the culture of ancient Sumer that was the first to record, on cuneiform tablets, a knowledge of human origins and an understanding of the Human-Divine relationship. The Sumerians believed that humankind had been created by the gods, from whom we received all of the accoutrements and innovations of civilization, including religion. The most powerful god worshiped by the Sumerians was known as Enlil, while the most loved god was known as Enki, who was portrayed as mankind's steadfast champion.
There are many parallels between Hebrew and Sumerian accounts but there are also subtle differences that appear to be related to perspective. For instance, the Sumerians have memories of a "Cain and Abel" type of struggle, but they place the "Cain" figure in the positive role. The Sumerians glorify the building of the first city, Enki's city of Eridu, whereas the Hebrews hold to a negative, or at least neutral, description of this event. The Sumerians celebrate the descent of the gods and their interaction with humanity, but the Hebrews lament the descent of the fallen angels who corrupted mankind to the point that God decided to bring the Flood.
In examining the myths of ancient Sumer we found that throughout the world the Hebrew scriptures, more than any of the Pagan traditions, give accounts of man's early origins that most closely parallel the Sumerian accounts, even though the book of Genesis was written hundreds of years after the Sumerian culture had ceased to exist. These similar accounts converge on the story of a great conqueror who was involved in the building of a tower or temple located in Enki's city of Eridu. The Hebrews knew this conqueror as N-M-R-D (Nimrod) the Hunter, whereas the Sumerians knew him as N-M-R-kar (Enmer-the Hunter). Hebrew tradition holds that his actions led to the linguistic division of the nations, while the Sumerian epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta also speaks of the emergence of a variety of tongues, along with the end of monotheistic worship of Enlil.
Part Five was concluded by presenting evidence that the invading "Falcon Tribe" that took over Egypt, which came from Mesopotamia, was a faction or group that worshiped the god Enki and was closely related to Enmerkar the Sumerian conqueror. Enmerkar became known as Osiris, and when he died his followers mummified his corpse and buried it in Egypt. The Giza Necropolis was later built to honor his memory and to hold his body, and it was designed according to the layout of the constellation Orion, the Great Hunter in the sky. The historical Osiris is therefore none other than the Biblical Nimrod. The Hebrews accused him of being a great rebel who acted against the will of God, whereas the Sumerians glorified him as a great leader and champion of the god Enki. The Egyptians glorified him as well and deified him as the Ruler of the Underworld, in whom they placed their faith in a blessed afterlife.
The adversarial relationship between Enlil and Enki that is portrayed in Sumerian myth was analyzed in Part Six. The conclusion was reached, with support from several modern-day researchers, that the Enlil-Enki conflict appears in the Hebrew tradition as the conflict between Jehovah (YHWH) and Satan. The answer to the problem of perspective, when comparing the similar accounts given by the Hebrews and Sumerians, is simply that the Hebrews viewed things from Jehovah's perspective, whereas the Sumerians viewed things from Enki's perspective. In fact, all of the cultures of the ancient world inherited the "Enki perspective," which was caused by the strange "disappearance" of YHWH/Enlil from human affairs, combined with Enki's control over the very art of writing which gave him the opportunity to "dominate and deceive" through propaganda.
The perceived triumph of Enki, known as Kronos to the Greeks, and the disappearance of YHWH/Enlil from the Pagan world, is explained by the spiritual change that took place within the divine-human relationship at the Tower of Babel event. The Old Testament and extra-Biblical Hebrew texts explain that the division of the nations occurred at this time and, alongside the linguistic division, there was also a spiritual division in which God gave the nations of the world over to the authority of the seventy top-ranking fallen angels. Nimrod's empire was destroyed and divided, and Nimrod himself was slain as a human sacrifice that allowed the pagan "Age of the Gods" to begin.
Part Six continued with an examination of pagan and occult beliefs that involve the worship of these very same beings, and how these seventy or seventy-two gods are perceived within occult traditions including Hermeticism, Gnosticism, the Kabbalah and the Freemasons. All of these traditions include expectations of the return of the gods which, according to Hermetic texts, will involve Egypt—specifically the Great Pyramid of Giza. Secret Societies such as the Rosicrucians, the Golden Dawn and the Freemasons have always looked to Egypt, and the Freemasons in particular hold Osiris in high regard through their ritual representation of him as Hiram Abiff. The death of Osiris came as a result of a conspiracy of the "gods," and the evidence shows that the reappearance of the "gods" somehow involves Osiris as well.
We concluded Part Six by exploring how this epic conflict of "God against the gods" is resolved according to Judeo-Christian eschatology. Many years after the division of the nations into the hands of the "gods," Jehovah chose His own nation, Israel, through which to bring about the redemption of mankind. Jesus of Nazareth, the "Dying and Rising God" predicted within the Hebrew tradition, who claimed to be the Messiah and the "Son of Man" who would receive the nations as His possession, was the culmination of this redemptive process. Jesus Christ can and should be understood purely through the Hebrew tradition because He was the unique product of Hebrew prophecy. The similarities that exist between the Judeo-Christian "Dying God" and the Pagan "Dying God" should be examined only with the understanding that mirror opposites, if viewed superficially, only appear to be the same. Their antithetical relationship will be made clear by the end of the study.
The apocalyptic events at the end of the age that will precede the transfer of sovereignty from the "gods" into the hands of the "Son of God" are explained in the Book of Revelation. The central figure of the Apocalypse who plays a role opposite that of Jesus Christ is the Beast, or Anti-Christ. The book of Revelation explains that this figure will be revived to rule for a brief period of time during which Satan and the fallen angels will appear on the earth after being thrown down from heaven. The "gods" will indeed return, but the Bible predicts that their visit will be very brief.
This seventh and final addition to The Giza Discovery series will explain how Biblical apocalyptic prophecy, as well as numerous Occult expectations, point undeniably to the resurrection of Osiris. The Biblical prediction is that his reign will be short and end in destruction and the victory of Jesus Christ and His saints, while Occult predictions maintain that the return of Osiris will bring forth a New Age where mankind will live in peace and harmony in a state of divine bliss. Once again the Word of God as given in the Bible contradicts the flattering promises and whispered urgings received from the spirits. It is up to each one of us to decide which of them is lying.
The Beast
The great Adversary of God and Man is first described in the book of Revelation in chapter twelve, which begins with a description of Israel, the single nation chosen by God (in contrast to the original seventy ruled by the fallen angels) that is represented as a Woman who gives birth to the Savior of the world:
"A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.
She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him... woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." (Revelation 12:1-9,12)Satan is described as a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his seven heads. An explanation is not given for the heads and horns within this particular passage, but they can be understood by turning to chapters thirteen and seventeen of Revelation, and to Revelation's Old Testament counterpart—the book of Daniel. First we will turn to Revelation 13:
"And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority." (Revelation 13:1-2)
In this passage we see a picture of Satan the dragon, but then the Beast emerges from the sea and we find that the Beast is now shown with the seven heads and ten horns of Satan, this time with the ten horns wearing crowns. The Beast that comes out of the sea represents two things: at first it represents the final great Kingdom that will have authority over the entire world by the end of the Apocalypse, but in other passages it represents the great King that rules over this kingdom who is more commonly known as the Antichrist. The Beast is a Kingdom, yet also a King. The Kingdom aspect of the Beast is explained by turning to the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel.
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion... And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear... After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard... After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast--terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns." (Daniel 7:2-7)
Daniel's fourth kingdom, the Beast with ten horns that is able to crush and devour everything in its path, is the same as the Beast with seven heads and ten horns described in Revelation 13, which is also described as resembling a leopard, with feet like a bear and the mouth of a lion. In other words, the Beast is a global kingdom that has absorbed, or is made up of, Daniel's three earlier beast-kingdoms (whose identities are unimportant for now). After viewing the terrible Beast Daniel turns his attention to the horns:
"[The fourth Beast] was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully...
Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time)." (Daniel 7:7-8,11-12)After witnessing these terrible events Daniel the prophet was very troubled. While still in vision he turned to one of the angels that was next to him in heaven and asked the meaning of the terrible Beast and the little horn that spoke out against God:
"He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.' " (Daniel 7:23-26)
From Daniel we learn that the ten horns of the Beast in Revelation 13 are actually ten kings that rule over the Kingdom aspect of the Beast. They are kings that rule simultaneously over the final end-times global empire. Now we return to Revelation 13 and come to a very crucial but enigmatic reference to the seven heads of the Beast:
"One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast." (Revelation 13:3)
The seven heads of the Beast are not explained by Daniel, but they are explained in Revelation chapter seventeen, which we will turn to shortly. For now simply keep in mind the fact that this is the first statement that implies the resurrection of the Antichrist. He is shown with a fatal wound, but then his wound is healed and the whole world is astonished. A similar description of the appearance of a fatal wound is given in Revelation 5:6 of Jesus Christ,
"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne..."
After the healing of the Beast's fatal "head wound" the book of Revelation continues with a description of the career of the Beast. The transition from the Kingdom aspect of the Beast to the King aspect of the Beast comes when the Beast is "given a mouth." From that point on the descriptions of the Beast apply to the individual, the Antichrist, who is described in Daniel as the blasphemous "little horn."
"Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?'
The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints." (Revelation 13:4-10)The Beast is a Kingdom as well as a King. He is both the New World Order and the Antichrist that rules over it, who achieves power with the help of ten great kings who also rule over this empire. They give the Antichrist his political power, but much of his religious power and authority comes from another figure who is introduced as the second Beast. Revelation 19:20 refers to him as the False Prophet, and his role is explained in Revelation 13 where we continue:
"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed." (Revelation 13:11-15)
In the passage above we find the second and third references to the resurrection of the Antichrist. He is dead, yet he will be alive once again, which will cause the whole world to be "astonished" and to follow him in awe (13:3). Now we turn to Revelation 17 which will provide even more answers for the meaning of the Beast and his ten horns, and of his seven heads, one of which is healed of a fatal wound.
"One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.'
Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished." (Revelation 17:1-6)The identity of the "Great Prostitute" is not the subject we are studying, so we will focus on the scarlet Beast and his seven heads and ten horns, which are immediately explained by the angel:
"Then the angel said to me: 'Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come. This calls for a mind with wisdom.
The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.
The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.' " (Revelation 17:7-14)The angel goes down the list and explains first the Beast, then the heads, then the horns, and lastly the woman, which is another subject. Regarding the Beast, the angel's explanation strongly implies that he is speaking of the "King" aspect of the Beast, rather than the "Kingdom" aspect. In other words, his descriptions apply directly to the Antichrist himself.
Within his description the angel states twice that the Beast "once was, now is not, and yet will come." He also explains that the point of origin from which the Beast "will come" is "the Abyss." Furthermore, when the Beast does come, and is "seen," the inhabitants of the world who are not saved will be "astonished." This is the very same response that is given in Revelation 13:3 when the world is "astonished" when they see that the Beast's fatal wound is healed. When we connect the "healing" of the fatal wound with an initial "appearance" from the Abyss, we can see how they both predict the resurrection of the Antichrist. His dead body is on the earth, while his soul is in Hell (the Abyss), but one day his soul will come out of the Abyss and his body and soul will be reunited and he will live again, much to the astonishment of the inhabitants of the earth.
This understanding is reinforced by the angel's description of the seven heads. There are actually two interpretations given by the angel for understanding the seven heads. The first is connected with the woman, which we can avoid for now, while the second gives the explanation that we seek. The angel simply says that "the seven heads are seven kings." Furthermore, in contrast to the ten horns of the Beast, which are ten kings who rule simultaneously over a single kingdom at the end, the seven heads of the Beast are seven kings who rule sequentially, one after the other, throughout history. The angel explains their sequential order:
"Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while."
This explanation must be understood from its first century AD context. In other words, at the time that this vision was received by the Apostle John five of these kings had already passed away, one of them presently existed, and one was yet in the future. The angel then explains to John how the Beast relates to these seven kings:
"The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction."
At first the explanation that the Beast is an eighth king might appear to be confusing, because Revelation 13 clearly shows that he is one of the seven heads—specifically the head that is healed of a fatal wound. However the angel confirms that he is one of the seven when he proceeds to say very clearly that he "belongs to the seven." The problem is solved when we realize that there are only seven kings but there are eight appearances of these kings. Six of them appear once, but one of them appears twice and rules as a king twice. The angel is telling us that it is the Beast who appears twice when he keeps repeating that the Beast "once was, now is not, and yet will come."
When we look at the appearances of these kings we see that five were in the past, one was in the first century AD, and two are predicted for the future, which are the seventh and eighth appearances. Of these future kings the seventh rules "for a little while," while the eighth and final king is the Beast or Antichrist who will rule during the Apocalypse.
Regarding the first appearance of the Beast, the angel explains that the Beast "once was," which connects the Beast with the first five kings who "have fallen." This means that the Beast must have been one of the first five kings that had already passed away by the first century AD. The Beast ruled as one of these kings in the past and he will return again to rule as the eighth king in the future.
It will be the second coming of the Antichrist.
The Seven Kings of Satan
We will now attempt to identify the Seven Kings of Satan as they have appeared throughout history. That they are Satanic is evident by the fact that they are initially presented as the seven heads of the dragon in Revelation 12, who is identified as Satan the "serpent of old" in verse nine. They can also be identified by their antagonistic relationship to the God of Israel because in Revelation 13:2 they are said to have "blasphemous names." They serve Satan and they oppose God and the people who serve Him.
In Daniel 12:1 there is a passage that may help to explain the time frame that we are dealing with in our search for these seven kings. The passage refers to the "time of distress" associated with the apocalypse and the end of the age. Once again, it is an angel that gives Daniel the message, and he says,
"There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then."
The beginning of nations, as we explained in Part Six, was associated with the Tower of Babel event. It was a separation based on language, but it also involved the handing over of these seventy nations into the hands of the seventy top-ranking fallen angels. This event marked a spiritual transition, and the earth and its nations were given into the spiritual authority of the fallen angels and to Satan their most powerful leader. Daniel was told that the Apocalypse would be the most terrible time of distress from "the beginning of nations" until the end of the Age. In Matthew 24:21 Jesus Himself makes a similar statement,
"For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again."
The word that is translated as "world" is the Greek word kosmos. In the Gospel of John (12:31-32) after predicting His own death, Jesus explained what the "end of the world" would involve: "Now is the time for judgment on this world (kosmos); now the prince of this world (kosmos) will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." In John 16:11 Jesus looked forward to the effects of His death and explained that "the prince of this kosmos now stands condemned."
The disciples wondered about the events that would happen at the time of the end and they asked Jesus (Matthew 24:3), "Tell us, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age (Aion)?" After His death and resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven, leaving His disciples with encouraging words (Matthew 28:30), "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Aion)." Concerning the nature of this present Aion, or Age, the Apostle Paul refers to Satan as the "God of this Aion" (2 Corinthians 4:4), saying that he is the deceiver that keeps unbelievers from accepting the Gospel.
This current Age is the Age during which the fallen angels (the Kosmokrators), led by Satan their prince, rule over a fallen earth that is inhabited by fallen human beings. It began as a result of the Tower of Babel and it will end with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, who will either reward or punish all human beings and the fallen angels, and cleanse and renovate the earth.
NimrodThis Age began because of the conquests and rebellious actions of Nimrod, and so it makes perfect sense to conclude that Nimrod should be identified as the very first of Satan's seven kings. He ruthlessly conquered the known world, he attempted to rebuild the city of Eridu, the pre-flood capital of the god Enki, and he also began to build the Tower of Babel as a means to resist the divine command to spread out and "fill the earth." He is the first of the seven kings, and he will also be the last to appear when he comes again and rules as the eighth king. The Antichrist is the "first and the last" to rule over this particular fallen Age, but Jesus Christ is the "First and the Last" of all Creation, and the Ruler of all Ages to come.
The first of Satan's seven kings is the most important to identify, but thankfully he is also the easiest to identify. We will continue identifying the other six kings, but with them the facts are not always so clear and one or two of the names may be based on conjecture and logical speculation. Our final list will be complete but it may not be 100% accurate, because much more scholarship on this subject can and should be done.
Pharaoh of EgyptThe second king is most likely either the king of Egypt that attempted to kill all male Hebrew children born at the time of the birth of Moses, or perhaps rather the Pharaoh who resisted Moses at the time of the Exodus who was drowned in the Red Sea. An Egyptian identity for the second king makes sense because it was in the land of Egypt that Satan was able to perfect his own religion and create his most lasting empire, and it was in Egypt where the body of Nimrod, known to the Egyptians as Osiris, was laid to rest.
Biblical scholars have explored the idea that the Ten Plagues that forced Pharaoh to release the Hebrews were structured as Divine repudiations of the ten primary Egyptian gods, with the final plague of the death of the first-born aimed against the cult of Osiris, the cult most-closely associated with the Egyptian monarchy itself. This possibility is supported by the fact that Osiris is repeatedly identified as the "first-born son of Geb" throughout the Egyptian Pyramid Texts. In Egyptian myth the god Geb was understood to represent the earth, which is odd because in every other pagan culture the earth is worshiped in feminine form as the Mother Goddess. In Plutarch's retelling of the legend of Isis and Osiris Plutarch identifies Geb as Kronos, who was in turn understood by classical scholars to be the Greek form of the Mesopotamian god Enki, whose name meant "Lord of the Earth."
The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (c.90-30 BC) gives an account of pillars that were found in Arabia that were erected as memorials to Isis and Osiris. He writes that the pillar of Osiris contained the following inscription (which also provides evidence that Osiris was the legendary conqueror Nimrod):
"My father is Kronos, the youngest of all the gods.
I am Osiris the king, who led my army all over the earth
to the uninhabited districts of India and those that lie to the North,
to the source of the river Ister, yea, everywhere, even to the Ocean.
I am the eldest son of Kronos.
Child of the noble and beautiful egg, I was born an offspring congenital with day.
No place is there in the whole world, whereinto I have not been,
conferring on all the benefits whereof I have been the inventor." [1]It is very ironic then, that it was from Egypt that the small and insignificant tribe of the twelve sons of Jacob was able to emerge as the Nation of Israel, symbolized in Revelation as the Woman who gave birth to the first-born Son of the Creator of the universe, through whom the world has been redeemed.
Sennacherib of AssyriaThe third Satanic king on our list, who must certainly be included somewhere, is King Sennacherib of Assyria. The story of his campaign against King Hezekiah and against Jerusalem is given in 2 Kings 18-19, 2 Chronicles 32, and Isaiah 36-37. It is an amazing story of the effectiveness of prayer and of the mercy, justice and power of God. When King Hezekiah resisted Sennacherib's demands Sennacherib responded through his messengers with ridicule and blasphemy against the God of Israel. King Hezekiah responded to Sennacherib's insults by going to the Temple to pray, and after hearing Hezekiah's prayers God responded through the prophet Isaiah. The story unfolds in Isaiah 37:
"Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,' this is the word the LORD has spoken against him:
'The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests...'
But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came...'
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
'He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,' declares the LORD. 'I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!'
Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there."King Sennacherib returned to Ninevah where he went to the temple of the god Nisroch to find out what had gone wrong. While he was worshiping there he was murdered in cold blood by two of his own sons. The possibility that Sennacherib was one of Satan's seven kings is supported by Isaiah's description of him in chapter fourteen:
"On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
'How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression. All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing. Even the pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon exult over you and say, "Now that you have been laid low, no woodsman comes to cut us down."
The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones—all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us."
All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit." (Isaiah 14:3-15)Biblical scholars agree that this passage refers to Sennacherib who conquered and ruled Babylon. This conclusion is supported by the statement of Sennacherib in Isaiah 37 in which he boasts of plundering the forests of Lebanon, which connects with the taunts against Sennacherib in Isaiah 14 from those very same forests. However the most provocative portion of Isaiah 14 is where the text transitions seamlessly from a description of the human king to a description of a figure that can only be Satan, or Lucifer, as some texts say. This transition only makes sense once it is understood that Satan himself became manifested on earth through Sennacherib. In other words, Sennacherib was possessed by Satan and should be viewed as one of the seven kings of Satan.
Ithobaal II of TyreThe fourth king of Satan is the King of Tyre, the powerful Phoenician city-state that dominated trade in the Mediterranean. This king, who was most likely Ithobaal II, was accused of pride and blasphemy by the prophet Ezekiel:
"The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas." But you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god...
Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god, I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor...
Will you then say, "I am a god," in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.'
'...This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God... You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.'" (Ezekiel 28:1-19)This passage is very similar to Isaiah's description of Sennacherib in that it also contains a description of a human king that transitions into a description of Satan, who was the perfectly-created guardian angel of the Garden of Eden, who fell from his exalted position because of his pride. Like the case of Sennacherib, these references imply that Ithobaal II, the King of Tyre, was possessed and controlled by Satan.
Tyre's relationship with Israel was friendly under King Hiram during the reign of Solomon, but after that it degenerated quickly. The prophet Amos accused Tyre of taking Israelites as slaves and selling them to neighboring kingdoms, and of breaking their "covenant of brotherhood" (Amos 1:9-10). The relationship finally reached its lowest point during the time of Ezekiel who predicted God's judgment upon Tyre (Ezekiel 26-28), which was fulfilled by the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the Great. Ithobaal II was eventually executed by Nebuchadnezzar after being captured and brought to Babylon.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
The fifth of Satan's seven kings can only be King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. His career was predicted in Daniel 11:21-35, where he is described as a contemptible and vile person, scheming and deceitful, psychotic and possibly insane, who would focus his rage against the Jews, against God, and against Jerusalem and the holy temple.
Antiochus obtained his throne in Syria by conspiring against the rightful heir and by flattering powerful allies. After he took power he waged war against Ptolemy VI of Egypt, and after striking a treaty with Ptolemy he brought his army into Palestine. He received word that the Jews were rejoicing because of false reports of his death, so he attacked Jerusalem, killing 40,000 and capturing another 40,000 as slaves. He reinstalled his puppet Menelaus as the Jewish high priest who continued Antiochus' plan to Hellenize the Jews. After another unsuccessful campaign into Egypt Antiochus sent 22,000 troops into Jerusalem to aid Menelaus and to eradicate traditional Jewish worship. His forces attacked Jerusalem on the Sabbath and massacred many worshipers. Antiochus then entered the Temple and consecrated it to Jupiter (Zeus), setting up an idol and sacrificing a pig on the altar. He passed a law that outlawed the Jewish religion, and he killed and tortured the violators that were caught.
The career of Antiochus is typical of Satan's kings. He was one of the greatest blasphemers against the God of Israel, and he minted coins that pictured himself with the inscription "Antiochus the Great, God Manifest." He committed the greatest outrage possible against the Lord when he violated His sanctuary and erected a pagan idol within, followed by the sacrifice of an unclean beast on the altar. These acts were an "abomination" against the Lord that will be matched by the Antichrist when he sets up the "abomination of desolation" predicted by Jesus (Matthew 24:15), Paul (2 Thessalonians 2), and Revelation 13. Daniel's description of Antiochus is similar to those given by Isaiah and Ezekiel for Sennacherib and Ithobaal II, because once again we find a passage that transitions from descriptions of the king into descriptions of another figure. In the case of Daniel, the descriptions of Antiochus lead directly into prophecies of the end-times Antichrist, beginning with Daniel 11:36.The end came for Antiochus after his retinue was ambushed while plundering the temple of a goddess in Persia. Some accounts say that he was violently slain, while others say he died of a stomach ailment while in retreat. Given the trend followed by these kings it seems more likely that he died violently. In any case Antiochus must certainly be counted as one of Satan's seven kings, and he completes our list of the first five that were predicted in Revelation 17:10 to "have fallen" at the time that the vision of Revelation was received.
Nero Caesar
The sixth was a king that ruled at the very same time that John's vision was received. To identify this king we must enter the scholarly debate on when exactly the book of Revelation was written. The modern consensus is that it was written near the end of the first century around 95 AD, but an older tradition holds that it was written around 64-68 AD during the Roman reign of the infamous Nero Caesar. The reasons for accepting such an early date for the writing of Revelation are numerous:
- The Church Father Clement of Alexandria asserted that all revelation ceased under Nero's reign.
- The Muratorian canon (c. 170 AD) has John completing Revelation before Paul had written to seven different churches (Paul finished these writings in 67-68 AD).
- The Church Father Tertullian placed John's banishment to Patmos at the same time as Peter and Paul's martyrdom (67-68 AD).
- The Church Father Epiphanius (315-403 AD) twice stated that Revelation was written under Nero.
- The Syriac version of Revelation (6th century AD) begins with the heading, "written in Patmos, whither John was sent by Nero Caesar."
- The Byzantine scholar Arethas, from the 9th century wrote, "When the Evangelist received these oracles, the destruction in which the Jews were involved was not yet inflicted by the Romans [70 AD]." [2]The early date for the writing of Revelation is used by some scholars to support the absurd Preterist interpretation of Bible prophecy. An early date for the book of Revelation may support Preterist arguments, but it hardly proves them, and it can work just as well with literal and futurist interpretations of Revelation.
When we examine the life of Nero we find all of the elements necessary to include him on the list of Satan's seven kings, and we uncover a tale of sex, violence, scandal and murder, that far exceeds anything an HBO script-writer could imagine.
Nero was born in 37 AD. His father was a wealthy Roman citizen and his mother, Agrippina, was the sister of the Emperor Caligula. Nero's father died when he was three and at this time, out of a very reasonable fear of his sister, Caligula confiscated their wealth and banished Nero and Agrippina to a tiny island. After Caligula died and Claudius became Emperor of Rome Nero and his mother were freed and Agrippina quickly married another wealthy Roman, who died shortly thereafter, leaving another fortune to Agrippina. After Emperor Claudius executed his wife for scolding him in public he fell under the spell of Agrippina, whom he married and made Empress of Rome in 48 AD, which he lived (or rather died) to regret.
After becoming Empress, Agrippina manipulated Claudius into making Nero his legal heir, against the claims of his own son Britannicus. Nero's position as heir to the throne was solidified when he married Octavia, the Emperor's daughter (Nero's legal sister). From this point the days of Claudius were numbered, and he died by assassination in 54 AD, from poisoning, which made Nero the Emperor of Rome.
As a young man Nero was tutored by the homosexual philosopher Seneca, who was actually one of the more rational Roman thinkers of his day. In the first few years of Nero's reign it was Seneca who actually controlled the affairs of the Empire and he did an adequate job, despite the fact that he became a hated enemy of Agrippina. This time, however, the game was up for Agrippina, and Nero had his own mother executed in 59 AD. However, the stress in dealing with Nero became too much for Seneca, who retired as Nero's advisor in 62 AD. From that point on the affairs of the Empire steadily degenerated. Nero went through a string of male and female lovers and focused on pursuing his entertainment career, imagining himself to be a great singer, poet and actor.
In 64 AD Nero moved forward on a plan to rebuild a section of the old city of Rome, and to rename it Neronia in honor of himself. A fire was set to aid in the demolition and to remove the unwanted occupants, but this fire soon raged out of control, destroying three and damaging seven of Rome's fourteen districts. The fire was then blamed on the community of Christians that lived in Rome, and Nero found it convenient to vent his rage on the young sect that he passionately hated. The Roman historian Tacitus was a young eyewitness and he later recorded what happened in Book XV of his Annals,
"Therefore, to stop the rumor [that he had set Rome on fire], he [Emperor Nero] falsely charged with guilt, and punished with the most fearful tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were [generally] hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius, but the pernicious superstition - repressed for a time, broke out yet again, not only through Judea, - where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and disgraceful flow from all quarters, as to a common receptacle, and where they are encouraged. Accordingly first those were arrested who confessed they were Christians; next on their information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much on the charge of burning the city, as of "hating the human race."
In their very deaths they were made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights. Nero offered his own garden players for the spectacle, and exhibited a Circensian game, indiscriminately mingling with the common people in the dress of a charioteer, or else standing in his chariot. For this cause a feeling of compassion arose towards the sufferers, though guilty and deserving of exemplary capital punishment, because they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but were victims of the ferocity of one man."Nero's reign was unique simply for the extent of his persecution of Christians. In 67 AD he executed Peter, and he even went so far as to execute Paul, a Roman citizen. Politically, Nero's prestige was quickly expended. In 65 AD he faced down a political conspiracy that included his former mentor Seneca, and by 68 AD Nero faced a revolt that came from his generals in the provinces and from the Roman Senate. On June 9, after being abandoned by his guards and his palace attendants, Nero retreated from the soldiers that had been sent to arrest him and he fled to his room where he committed suicide.
Nero exhibited all of the traits and characteristics of a Satanically-possessed individual. He was arrogant and prideful, as well as paranoid and psychotic, and his rage, frustration, and cruelty was directed at God and the people of God. His actions focused on short-term goals and were ultimately destructive, both for himself and for Rome. Nero's suicidal fate was basically the same as that suffered by Pharaoh of Egypt, who brought himself into the parted Red Sea, and the same as the final king on our list who we turn to next.
Adolf Hitler
After the persecution under Emperor Nero Christianity steadily gained power in Rome, despite scattered persecution and antagonism from various Emperors. Eventually Christianity became the official religion of Rome under Constantine in the fourth century, and the faith spread from its home in the Near East to become the dominant religion in Europe, Africa, and eventually throughout the world. Since that time Christianity has been the most powerful spiritual force on the planet, and during that time, up until the twentieth century, a significant threat to that power was never manifested in the life of a single man.
The seventh and final king is explained in Revelation as the king who "has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while." He was a king that would appear sometime in the future, and then his authority would last for only a short time. He would be the precursor of the Antichrist himself, and he would exhibit the very same traits as previous Satanic kings, such as pride, rage, paranoia, cruelty, and a passionate hatred of God and the people of God.
This predicted figure came to power in Germany in the 1930s and he ruled over a short-lived Empire the like of which had not been seen in Europe for almost two thousand years. Here is how one biographer introduces Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich:
"Why did a civilised nation of the twentieth century abruptly revert to barbarism? How could a shabby ex-dropout, so manifestly third-rate in all matters of the intellect, have achieved such unparalleled power? Why did the Germans come to venerate Hitler as a god? Why do he and his associates, Himmler, Goering, and Goebbels, still exert a mystique that is so conspicuously absent when we study Mussolini, Ciano and Starace, or Stalin, Molotov and Beria? Why does one feel that the Third Reich stood for a radically different kind of civilisation? Most fascinating of all, what drove Hitler, what motivated him, what went on in his mind that resulted in consequences of such magnitude?" [3]
According to this biographer, the answer to what drove Hitler can be found by examining Hitler's relationship with the occult and his involvement in the dark arts of sorcery and spirit-possession. The author is qualified to explore this relationship because he is the late Gerald Suster, a former disciple of Golden Dawn adept Israel Regardie, who was himself the personal disciple and secretary of Aleister Crowley.
Suster's biography is entitled Hitler: Black Magician and it documents Hitler's involvement with groups and individuals who used pagan rituals to contact the spirit world. One of Hitler's closest friends was a man by the name of Dietrich Eckart and he is a primary figure (according to Suster, Peter Levenda and Trevor Ravenscroft) involved in grooming Hitler for his Satanic role. Eckart's influence over Hitler is proven by Hitler's dedication that appears at the very end of Mein Kampf:
"And I want also to reckon among [Nazi heroes] that man, who, as one of the best, by words and by thoughts and finally by deeds, dedicated his life to the awakening of his, of our nation: Dietrich Eckart."
Dietrich Eckart was a popular German author, poet, and editor of an influential newspaper. He was well connected with the financial world and he was a high-level initiate in the occult world. One of the greatest influences upon his life was the Gnostic mystic Helena Blavatsky, whose anti-Christian and anti-Semitic teachings came to permeate the Third Reich, as Levenda explains:
"It should be remembered that Blavatsky's works—notably Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine—appear to be the result of prodigious scholarship and were extremely convincing in their day. The rationale behind many later Nazi projects can be traced back...to ideas first popularized by Blavatsky. A caste system of races, the importance of ancient alphabets (notably the runes), the superiority of the Aryans (a white race with its origins in the Himalayas), an "initiated" version of of astrology and astronomy, the cosmic truths coded within pagan myths ... all of these and more can be found both in Blavatsky and in the Nazi Party itself, specifically in the ideology of its Dark Creature, the SS. It was, after all, Blavatsky who pointed out the supreme occult significance of the swastika." [4]
Eckart died in 1923, but for the three years previous to his death he was "Hitler's constant companion and the man who helped propel him into the public spotlight."[5] On his death bed Eckart penned the following words to a friend, which go far to explain the spiritual source of Hitler's brief success:
"Follow Hitler! He will dance, but it is I who have called the tune. I have initiated him into the 'Secret Doctrine,' opened his centers in vision and given him the means to communicate with the Powers. Do not mourn for me: I shall have influenced history more than any other German." [6]
Identifying Adolf Hitler as the seventh manifestation of the seven-headed dragon of the Apocalypse should not be viewed as questionable or controversial whatsoever. Hitler certainly exhibited the personal characteristics of a Satanically driven and possessed individual, and his passionate hatred of the Jews is very well documented. Unfortunately, the Christian Church in Germany was too timid and too deceived to challenge Hitler directly, but there were many individual Christians who did, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who paid for his dedication to Christ with his life. Despite the fact that the organized Church in Germany worked with the Nazi Party, Hitler's ultimate goal was to destroy Christianity. Suster offers the following quotes from Hitler to that effect:
"The religions are all alike, no matter what they call themselves. They have no future - certainly none for the Germans... Whether it is the Old Testament or the New it's all the same old Jewish swindle... One is either a German or a Christian. You cannot be both... We need free men who feel and know that God is in themselves... The Ten Commandments have lost their validity... Our peasants have not forgotten their true religion. It still lives... The peasant will be told what the Church has destroyed for him: the whole secret knowledge of nature, of the divine, the shapeless, the daemonic... We shall wash off the Christian veneer and bring out a religion peculiar to our race...through the peasantry we shall really be able to destroy Christianity because there is in them a true religion rooted in nature and blood." [7]
The First Seal of the Apocalypse
In the book of Revelation the breaking of the first Seal of the seven-sealed Scroll brings forth a figure that many Bible scholars have identified as the Antichrist. However, in the book Red Moon Rising - the Rapture and the Timeline of the Apocalypse the conclusion is reached that this figure is better understood as symbolizing the brief career of Satan's seventh king—Adolf Hitler, rather than the eighth king who will "come up out of the Abyss":
"I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest." (Revelation 6:1-2)
This figure wears a crown, as do the seven kings of Satan in Revelation 12:3, he holds a weapon, and his primary purpose is that of conquest. The possibility that this figure represents Hitler is reinforced by what comes with the opening of the second Seal, which can easily be viewed as referring to World War II:
"When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come!' Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword." (Revelation 6:3-4)
A reasonable conjecture is that perhaps the "large sword" may represent the emergence of atomic weaponry, which was first used in World War II. Jesus Christ refers to such an unprecedented global conflict between kingdoms and nations (Matthew 24:7) as the first "birth-pang" that would precede the Apocalypse. The return of Israel to their land prior to the apocalyptic Day of the Lord was also predicted by Old Testament prophets (for instance Ezekiel 38). Examined from this perspective Hitler and World War II were both eschatologically important because Hitler attempted to exterminate the Jews but the end result was the re-establishment of the Nation of Israel in their own land in 1948.
Seven Kings Summary
This completes our list and our initial analysis of the seven kings of Satan:
"Five have fallen"
1. Nimrod
2. Pharaoh of Egypt
3. Sennacherib of Assyria
4. Ithobaal II of Tyre
5. Antiochus IV Epiphanes"One is"
6. Nero Caesar"The other has not yet come"
7. Adolf Hitler
The Antichrist "once was, now is not, and yet will come"
8. Nimrod
The appearance of the eighth king will be the re-appearance of the first king:"The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven..."
"He will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction"
The Biblical Nimrod was known to the ancient Egyptians as Osiris, the Lord of the Abyss:Pyramid Texts, Utterance 577, Osiris and the king become one in the Netherworld [8]
"Osiris appears, the Sceptre is pure, the Lord of Right is exalted at the First of the Year, even he the Lord of the Year... 'Here comes the Dweller in the Abyss,' says Atum. 'We have come,' say they, say the gods to you, O Osiris... The sky has conceived him, the dawn has borne him... You bear up the sky with your right side, possessing life; you live because the gods have ordered that you shall live... You support the earth with your left side, possessing dominion; you live, you live, because the gods have ordered that you shall live."
Pyramid Texts, Utterance 512, The king's son to his dead father identified as Osiris
"Raise yourself, my father... Traverse the sky, make your abode in the Field of Offerings among the gods... Sit upon your iron throne, take your mace and your sceptre, that you may lead those who are in the Abyss, give orders to the gods, and set a spirit in its spirit-state... O my father, raise yourself, go in your spirit-state."Osiris will rise again, which is a fact that explains why the corpse of Osiris was mummified in the first place and why it became secured in a complex as magnificent and long-lasting as the Necropolis of Giza. It also explains why Osiris and other manifestations of the Dying God myth took central positions in Pagan religion in all of its different cultural expressions.
The Division of the Nations
One of the most important foundations of this study is the "division of the nations" that occurred as a result of the Tower of Babel event described in the book of Genesis. This event was discussed briefly in Part Six, but it deserves a much closer look. The division of the nations involved a spiritual division as well as a linguistic division, with the nations being handed over by God to the authority of a renegade faction of His angelic host.
The decisions that were made by God as a result of the Tower of Babel event need to be understood in a "Divine Council" context [9]. The Divine Council is simply the meeting place where God sits in council among the "sons of God," who are the angelic host. The "sons of God" are created beings who have been given the freedom and responsibility of Free Will, and the majority of them use their free will to love God and to serve Him faithfully. However, there is a minority faction of the "sons of God" whose members have used their free will to disobey God, who can be viewed as having defected from the family of God. The leader of this rebellious faction is known as Lucifer or Satan in the Bible, and as Enki to the Sumerians. The events that led to his defection, and his subsequent rise to his current temporary position as the "Lord of the Earth," are intimately connected with the history of mankind and with humanity's fall from grace. Satan's actions in fact helped to create the historical basis for the Christian doctrine of Original Sin.
The "Divine Council" is the meeting place where God discusses various aspects of governing, ordering and maintaining Creation with the angelic host. He listens to his family and receives suggestions and then He makes decisions and gives orders. This is the context from which to understand the several cases of divine "plurals" found in the book of Genesis. For instance:
The Creation of Man:
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:26-27The Tower of Babel:
"But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.' " Genesis 11:5-7God was faced with certain decisions and He resolved them while in the presence of His "sons" (which are absolutely not references to the Trinity [10]). A proper understanding of the Divine Council is absolutely essential for understanding the spiritual battle taking place right now that ultimately involves possession of the earth. After the division of the nations God stepped to the side, so to speak, and allowed Satan and the fallen angels to rule over their nations as they wished, yet he also called them into His council periodically to review how they were exercising their authority. This understanding is supported by several passages in the Old Testament:
Satan Tests Job:
"One day the angels [literal Hebrew - b'nai Elohim or "sons of God"] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the LORD, 'From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.' " Job 1:6-7God Judges the "Gods":
"God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the gods: 'How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? ... Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, 'You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.' But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.' Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance." Psalm 82After the division of the nations God allowed the fallen angels to rule as they wished over all of the pagan nations of the world, but it was a different story as far as Israel was concerned. God ruled over Israel directly. He chose Abraham, He brought Israel out of Egypt, and He made sure that His nation was victorious in its struggle to live in the Promised Land that was given to them. Sometimes He even used pagan nations and the fallen angels to carry out His will regarding Israel. The former case is true regarding the Babylonian captivity, in which God used Babylon to punish Israel for their sins, and in the case of Persia where God used Cyrus to defeat Babylon, allowing the Jews to return back to their Land. Cyrus is even called a "Messiah" (anointed one) by God, which is a title of honor given to Cyrus even though God says of Cyrus that "you do not acknowledge me" (Isaiah 45). The latter case, of God allowing fallen angels to carry out His will, is described in a story of God's dealings with the wicked Israelite King Ahab:
Deceiving King Ahab:
"Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing on his right and on his left. And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' 'By what means?' the LORD asked. 'I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.' " 2 Chronicles 18:18-21God's judgment was that King Ahab would be killed, and then He allowed a "lying spirit" to make it come to pass. The concept of the Divine Council also helps to explain the blasphemous pretensions of Lucifer himself, which are given in Isaiah 14:12-14:
"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star (Lucifer), son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' "
Lucifer wanted to usurp God's position as the Most High and be recognized and worshiped as the leader of the Divine Council. To secure this position, at least as far as human perceptions were concerned, after the division of the nations Satan worked to eliminate any memory of the Creator while at the same time he used the memory of Nimrod to shake up the perceived hierarchy of the pantheon and gain leadership by another name. Before we examine how this happened we must first take a hypothetical look at how the "division of the nations" might have appeared from a "Divine Council" perspective.
According to the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve were originally created to rule over the entire earth (Genesis 1:28) in a state of conditional immortality. They lost their immortality because of the successful deception perpetrated by Satan who was apparently jealous of Adam and Eve's position. Adam and Eve may have lost their authority over the earth at this time as well, but the texts are not clear. What we do know is that after the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden a number of the fallen angels descended to the earth (Genesis 6) and interacted with the descendents of Cain, sexually, technologically and spiritually. The pre-Flood world may have been an era of a sort of co-rulership over the earth, with God working through the line of Seth on one side and Satan and the fallen angels working through the line of Cain on the other. Eventually, because of mankind's wickedness that originated with the fallen angels, humanity and the earth degraded to a point that God decided to destroy almost all of humanity through the Flood of Noah.
After the Flood humanity and the fallen angels both faced a fresh start and God announced a covenant and a blessing upon the family of Noah. They were told to "be fruitful and multiply" and to "spread out and fill the earth." They were also warned not to commit the crime of murder, with God saying, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man" (Genesis 9:6). Three generations later Nimrod created a vast empire that was to a large extent built on bloodshed. And then, after establishing himself in Mesopotamia in Eridu, the pre-flood capital of Enki, Nimrod began to build a Tower for the expressed purpose to avoid being "scattered abroad over the face of the earth" (Genesis 11:4). Biblical accounts do not mention fallen angelic interaction with humanity at this time, but we can assume that such interaction was probably focused upon the line of Noah's son Ham, who sinned and then suffered a rebuke and a curse upon his son Canaan.
Eventually the successes of Nimrod, in his empire building and his monument building, and in his success in gaining supporters from all the different tribes of the earth, forced God to again make a change in the way that humanity and the earth was governed. The earth had essentially reverted to its pre-Flood status, but God had promised that He would never destroy the world in such a manner again, so a different solution had to be arrived at. This decision was made undoubtedly within the Divine Council, with God discussing the issue with the "sons of God" and then coming to a conclusion and stating it in their presence. In Genesis 11:7 when God says "Come let us go down..." the text is implying that the decision to divide the nations was a decision that involved all of the parties concerned: God, Satan, and the fallen angels. The results of this decision can be understood as follows, based on the information that we have uncovered in this study so far.
The most important decision was that God would give the nations of the world over to the authority of the fallen angels. The number seventy is intimately associated with this event because seventy is the traditional number of top-ranking fallen "sons of God" present at this particular Divine Council. Seventy is also the traditional number of languages that were created as a result, and seventy is the number of descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth listed in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. Through this genealogical, linguistic and spiritual division, God ensured that mankind would remain divided while He stepped to the side and gave the fallen angels their chance to rule over mankind virtually unhindered.
During the "Age of the Fallen Angels" God would keep His interference in human affairs to a minimum, except that He would be allowed to exercise a right to establish His own nation at a time of His own choosing. This nation was Israel and it was through Israel that God worked to bring salvation and humanity's liberation from the authority of the fallen angels. God took only one nation, while Satan and the fallen "sons of God" were given seventy.
Satan's situation, both before and after the division of the nations, must also be examined. Before the division Satan appears to have been in a very comfortable and secure position. His prodigy was Nimrod, and through him Satan had effectively achieved dominance over virtually the entire world and re-established his pre-flood headquarters of Eridu, the location of the Tower of Babel. Yet Satan must have known that this situation would not be allowed to last for long. Why did Satan agree to the break-up of Nimrod's empire and the sacrifice of Nimrod himself? Well, with God's promise to remove Himself from the scene Satan must have known that he could easily reestablish himself as the dominant figure in a world ruled by a multitude of fallen angels, given the fact that he himself was the most powerful member of the group. Satan must have realized that this was actually the only way for him to realize his dream of becoming "like the Most High" by ruling over his very own counterfeit "Divine Council" made up entirely of fallen angels.
To sweeten the deal even more, so to speak, there was also the clause in the agreement that allowed for Satan to manifest himself upon the earth seven more times, through seven individuals, with the first and the last of the eight manifestations of these seven kings coming through the very figure, Nimrod, that brought Satan a global empire in the first place. Satan accepted the division of the nations because he knew that he would emerge as the "Lord of the Earth" and because he knew that in the end both Nimrod and his global empire would be resurrected. Ultimately, of course, Satan and Nimrod would face judgment and destruction but on this question the Great Deceiver and Father of Lies has been able to deceive even himself.
The ancient religious texts of Egypt provide several tantalizing references to Osiris that may connect him with the agreement reached between God and Satan after the division of the nations regarding the fate of Nimrod:
"I am the Radiant One, brother of the Radiant Goddess, Osiris the brother of Isis; my son and his mother Isis have saved me from my enemies who would harm me. Bonds are on their arms, their hands and their feet, because of what they have done evilly against me. I am Osiris, the first-born of the company of the gods, eldest of the gods, heir of my father Geb; I am Osiris, Lord of persons, alive of breast, strong of hinder-parts, stiff of phalus, who is within the boundary of the common folk. I am Orion who treads his land, who precedes the stars of the sky which are on the body of my mother Nut, who conceived me at her desire and bore me at her will. I am Anubis on the Day of the Centipede, I am the Bull who presides over the field. I am Osiris, for whom his father and mother sealed an agreement on that day of carrying out the great slaughter; Geb is my father and Nut is my mother, I am Horus the Elder on the Day of Accession, I am Anubis of Sepa, I am the Lord of All, I am Osiris." (Egyptian Book of the Dead, Theban Recension, chapter 69) [11]
The "great slaughter," if viewed from the context of the division of the nations, could possibly be a reference to the execution of Nimrod and the subsequent dismantling and destruction of his great global empire. The text states that on this day the father and mother of Osiris "sealed an agreement" concerning Osiris, but who they sealed it with, and what the agreement involved, is unfortunately not explained.
The father of Osiris according to all Egyptian sources is the god Geb the "earth god," and the mother of Osiris is Nut the "sky goddess." In quote [1] above the Greek historian Diodorus Siculous equates Geb with the ancient Greek god Kronos, who was the father of Zeus. The Babylonian historian Berossos in turn equates Kronos in his writings with the old Sumerian god Enki, whom we have identified as Satan. As Samuel Noah Kramer shows in his authoritative study Myths of Enki, the Crafty God, Enki was well known for his intelligence, his wisdom, and his clever wit in finding solutions to difficult problems. Enki was also an "earth god" in that his name meant "Lord Earth," or "Lord of the Earth." Consider then this Egyptian description of Geb from the Pyramid Texts (c.2300 BC), while keeping in mind Satan's position of authority over the world after the division of the nations:
Utterance 592, Geb is invoked on the king's behalf
"O Geb, son of Shu, this is Osiris the king; may your mother's heart quiver over you in your name of Geb, for you are the eldest son of Shu, his first-born.
O Geb, this is Osiris the King; care for him, make complete [what appertains to him], for you are the sole great god. Atum has given you his heritage, he has given you the assembled Ennead, and Atum himself is with them, whom his eldest twin children joined to you; he sees you powerful, with your heart proud and yourself able in your name of 'Clever Mouth', chiefest of the gods, you standing on the earth that you may govern at the head of the Ennead. Your fathers and your mothers are pre-eminent among them, for you are mightier than any god. You shall come to Osiris the King that you may protect him from his foe.
O Geb, clever mouth, chiefest of the gods, Osiris the King is your son; may you nourish your son with it, may your son be made hale by means of it, for you are lord of the entire land.
May you have power over the Ennead and all the gods, may you have power and drive away all ill from this Osiris the King; may you not allow it to come again against him in your name of Horus who does not repeat his work, for you are the essence of all the gods. Fetch them to yourself, take them, nourish them, nourish [Osiris] the King, for you are a god having power over all the gods. The eye has issued from your head as the Upper Egyptian crown Great-of-magic; the eye has issued from your head as the Lower Egyptian crown Great-of-magic; Horus has served you and has loved you, you having appeared as King of Upper and Lower Egypt and having power over all the gods and spirits." [12]In the text above Shu is identified as Geb's father, while Atum is the god who gives Geb his authority. The Heliopolitan cosmogeny identifies Atum as the father of Shu and thus the great-grandfather of Osiris. The Memphite cosmogeny also identifies Atum as the father or creator of the gods. The important point to note is that in the Egyptian story the divine line of succession is peaceful and harmonious.
On the other hand, in the earliest mythical literature of Sumer the situation is very different. The Sumerians, despite their obvious influence from the spirit world, were not able to forget the true Creator, YHWH, but they were led to apparently split his personality up and lose touch with Him after the division of the nations. The 'Creator' aspect of YHWH, with His residence in heaven, became personified as the primordial god Anu, a far-removed and heavenly figure who fathered the first generation of gods. The more personal aspect of YHWH, the one that the Sumerians probably remembered through an oral tradition, became known as Enlil who was worshiped at his cult center of Nippur. Anu was the father of the two brothers Enlil and Enki, and within this second generation the disputes were never-ending. What we can see is that by being represented as the brother of Enlil, Satan (Enki) was able to secure a position equal with YHWH (Enlil). As we have shown, the Sumerian accounts of these divine disputes obviously favored Enki, while the later Hebrew accounts favor the god YHWH who equates well with Enlil in many ways, as covered in Part Six.
In Egyptian mythology the pantheon of the gods is presented as a unified happy family for a number of generations. From Atum, to Shu, to Geb, there is harmony in the universe. The first divine dispute does not erupt until the generation after Geb, and it involves two of his sons, Osiris and Set. According to the story, after Osiris had civilized Egypt he journeyed throughout the world with his army and succeeded in conquering and/or civilizing wherever he went. After he came back to Egypt his brother Set invited him to a banquet or feast, and by deception, with the participation of seventy-two fellow conspirators, Set succeeded in murdering Osiris.
In Part Six we saw how the number seventy was intimately related to the early Osiris cult, and we also explained how the number came to be changed, probably for astrological reasons, to seventy-two. With this in mind, and with our understanding of the division of the nations into the hands of the seventy fallen angels, the presence of Osiris at a "banquet" in the company of seventy-two other attendees, which resulted in his death, can be seen as a veiled representation of the seventy "sons of God" meeting with God to come to a decision regarding Nimrod's empire. As we have shown, the final decision was that Nimrod would be executed, that God would step back from the scene, and that the seventy fallen angels, as well as Satan, would be given power to rule over the earth. Therefore the "banquet" that Osiris attended was none other than the Divine Council, and the seventy-two conspirators who agreed to the death of Nimrod is an esoteric reference to the seventy "sons of God" who agreed to the execution of Nimrod.
Set, the brother of Osiris, who created the plan to kill Osiris in the first place, may in fact be a very narrow representation of YHWH, at least as far as His role in this single event of mandating and/or carrying out the death of Nimrod/Osiris is concerned. Recall again that in Sumerian myth Enlil was portrayed as the brother of Enki, who were the first protagonists in the Sumerian divine disputes, so the first Egyptian divine dispute between the brothers Osiris and Set may be viewed as another manifestation of the ongoing dispute between God and Satan. However, this correlation cannot be taken too far because Set developed traits and characteristics in Egyptian religion that had absolutely nothing to do with YHWH, and the cult of Set was most certainly managed by a fallen malevolent spirit. The correlation between YHWH and Set is applicable only as far as this one single event at the division of the nations is concerned, but it should be kept in mind as we examine the dispute between Osiris and Set as described in a Pyramid Text:
Utterance 477, Osiris is raised from the dead
"The sky reels, the earth quakes, Horus comes, Thoth appears, they raise Osiris from upon his side and make him stand up in front of the Two Enneads. Remember, Seth, and put in your heart this word which Geb spoke, this threat which the gods made against you in the Mansion of the Prince in On because you threw Osiris to the earth, when you said, O Seth: 'I have never done this to him', so that you might have power thereby, having been saved, and that you might prevail over Horus; when you said, O Seth: 'It was he who attacked me', when there came into being this his name of 'Earth-attacker': when you said, O Seth: 'It was he who kicked me', when there came into being his name of Orion, long of leg and lengthy of stride, who presides over Upper Egypt.
Raise yourself, O Osiris, for Seth has raised himself, he has heard the threat of the gods who spoke about the god's father [Geb?]. Isis has your arm, O Osiris; Nephthys has your hand, so go between them. The sky is given to you, the earth is given to you, and the Field of Rushes, the Mounds of Horus, and the Mounds of Seth; the towns are given to you and the nomes assembled for you by Atum, and he who speaks about it is Geb." [13]In this passage we find that Set is being threatened by Geb and by the other gods. Set is accused of having thrown Osiris down, and of having attacked him, but Set responds by saying "It was he who attacked me!" Then we are told that one of the names of Osiris, in addition to "Orion," is "Earth-attacker," and Set repeats his defense that he acted against Osiris in self-defense saying, "It was he who kicked me!"
If Set is indeed a "personification," in this single instance, of the will of YHWH, specifically regarding the execution of Nimrod, then this Pyramid Text can be viewed as evidence to that effect. Nimrod was indeed an "Earth-attacker," and he broke God's covenant with humanity as he expanded his empire by bloodshed. From this perspective Nimrod was the offender, and God's decision to kill Nimrod and divide his empire was necessary to save humanity and allow time for the redemption process for humanity to be fulfilled. However, it must be kept in mind that the decision to kill Nimrod and to divide his empire was also agreed upon by the seventy fallen angels, because they were the benefactors of Nimrod's death in that they were able to gain authority over the nations of the earth as a result.
The Myth of DionysusThe link between the death of Nimrod, the division of the nations, and the Osiris myth can be confirmed by turning to Greek mythology associated with the god Dionysus. According to nearly all of the ancient Greek historians, including Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Plutarch, Dionysus and Osiris were simply two names for the same original god. [14]
The Greeks became familiar with Dionysus at a late date, after their pantheon of Olympian gods headed by Zeus had already been established, and Dionysus was first inherited from contact with the Phoenicians as well as the Phrygians, who knew him by many names, including strange names such as Zagreos, Sabazios, Epaphus and Euboleos. In these myths, which became the heart of the Orphic, Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries of Greece and Rome, the death of Dionysus is explained as having come at the hands of the Titans, who were a group of gods eventually defeated by Zeus.[15] The Orphic Hymns explain that Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Persephone:
"[Persephone] mother of Eubouleos [Dionysos], sonorous, divine, and many-formed, the parent of the vine." (Orphic Hymn 29 to Persephone)
"Eubouleos, whom the leaves of vines adorn, of Zeus and Persephoneia occultly born in beds ineffable." (Orphic Hymn 30 to Dionysos)
"[Dionysos-Zagreos] from Zeus' high counsels nursed by Persephoneia, and born the dread of all the powers divine." (Orphic Hymn 46 to Licnitus)
Pausanius was a Greek writer who lived in the 2nd century AD, and in his Guide to Greece he refers to the conflict between Dionysus and the Titans:
"The stories told of Dionysos by the people of Patrai, that he was reared in Mesatis and incurred there all sorts of perils through the plots of the Titanes." (7.19.4)
"From Homer the name of the Titanes was taken by Onomakritos, who in the orgies he composed for Dionysos made the Titanes the authors of the god's sufferings." (8.37.1)
The Greek geographer Strabo from the first century BC also mentions the strange cult of Dionysos in his book Geography:
"Sabazios also belongs to the Phrygian group and in a way is the child of the Mother [Rhea], since he too transmitted the rites of Dionysos." (10.3.15)
"Just as in all other respects the Athenians continued to be hospitable to things foreign, so also in their worship of the gods; for they welcomed so many of the foreign rites ... the Phrygian [rites of Rhea-Khybele] [were mentioned] by Demosthenes, when he casts the reproach upon Aeskhines' mother and Aeskhines himself that he was with her when she conducted initiations, that he joined her in leading the Dionysiac march..." (10.3.18)
Diodorus Siculus was another Greek historian who lived in the first century BC, and in his Library of History he mentions the myths of Dionysos numerous times:
"...there was born of Zeus and Persephone a Dionysos who is called by some Sabazios and whose birth and sacrifices and honours are celebrated at night and in secret, because of the disgraceful conduct which is the consequence of the gatherings. They state also that he excelled in sagacity and was the first to attempt the yoking of oxen and by their aid the sowing of the seed, this being the reason why they also represent him as wearing a horn." (4.4.1)
"This god [Dionysos-Zagreos] was born in Krete, men say, of Zeus and Persephone, and Orpheus has handed down the tradition in the initiatory rites that he was torn in pieces by the Titanes." (5.75.4)
"But the Aigyptians in their myths about Priapos say that in ancient times the Titanes formed a conspiracy against Osiris and slew him, and then, taking his body and dividing it into equal parts among themselves, slipped them secretly out of the house, but this organ alone they threw into the river, since no one of them was willing to take it with him. But Isis tracked down the murderers of her husband [or son in the Greek version], and after slaying the Titanes and fashioning the several pieces of his body into the shape of a human figure, she gave them to the priests with orders that they pay Osiris the honours of a god..." (4.6.1)
References to a lost phallus can be found in a number of pagan Dying God myths. In Part Three we mentioned the myths of the god Eshmun of Sidon, known to the Greeks as the healing god Asclepius, who reputedly cut off his own genitals with an axe before he was captured by the goddess Astronoe. In Anatolia there was a similar story of the god Attis, who was also pursued by a goddess, and who was also driven to castrate himself. The myth of Attis is also very closely related to the myth of Adonis the Phoenician god of Byblos, who was closely connected with both the Sumerian god Tammuz and Osiris. Both Adonis and Attis were described as hunters, and Adonis died after being mortally wounded while hunting a boar. All of these mythical gods thus appear to be closely related, and all of them can be described as "dying and rising" gods because the theme of death and rebirth is at the heart of each of their cults.
The Latin writer Gaius Julius Hyginus (c. 64 BC - 17 AD) offers his own explanation of how the murder of the Dying God was related to an attempt by a faction of the gods to take over the divine pantheon:
"After Juno [Hera] saw that Epaphus [Dionysos], born of a concubine, ruled such a great kingdom, she saw to it that he should be killed while hunting, and encouraged the Titanes to drive Jove [Zeus] from the kingdom and restore it to Saturn [Kronos]. When they tried to mount to heaven, Jove with the help of Minerva, Apollo, and Diana, cast them headlong into Tartarus." (Fabulae 150)
Plutarch's myth of Osiris has the death of Osiris coming at the hands of Set in collusion with seventy-two other conspirators. From the connections between Osiris and Dionysus we can see that these seventy-two "conspirators" were understood to be gods themselves, specifically the Titans, according to the Greeks. What we can see is that these mythical traditions are simply degenerated recollections of the historical circumstances surrounding the death of Nimrod, the division of the nations to the seventy fallen angels, and the subsequent disappearance of God from the scene as He allowed these malevolent spiritual forces to take over and rule the earth as they wished. The Greeks portrayed the killers of Dionysos/Osiris as gods who were then defeated by Zeus and thrown into Tartarus, but we know that these gods were not defeated and that the death of Nimrod allowed for them to establish their position as the Kosmokrators (world powers) referred to by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:12.
The death of Nimrod and the spiritual division of humanity led to the quick establishment of Paganism worldwide as a religion in which human beings existed in bondage and servitude to the gods. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ liberated humanity from this spiritual system, but today there is a worldwide movement to turn back to it, to welcome the return of the "gods", and to willingly submit ourselves and our sons and daughters to the authority of the deceiving spirits that stand behind it. It is up to us to resist this movement, to turn to the true Messiah, and to preach His saving Gospel against this "gospel of destruction" that is steadily gaining momentum.
Messiahs of Life or Death
The strange relationship that exists between the dying and rising god found in different forms throughout the pagan world, and the dying and rising God who brought forth Christianity, is best explained as a relationship of mirror opposites. Up until now this relationship has only been addressed by researchers who believed they had found in it evidence that Jesus did not exist, or evidence that the 'historical Jesus' was far different than the miracle-working Messiah portrayed in the Gospels. They have argued that the "Jesus Myth" is simply a clever repackaging of the pagan myth in which figures such as Osiris, Adonis, Dionysus, Mithras, or Krishna, played the central role. What we have shown so far in this series is that these pagan saviors can all be traced back to the historical Nimrod, whereas the historical Jesus stands alone, with a separate identity and a separate and unique message of salvation for all humanity.
When an image is held up to a mirror there are, of course, many similarities that can be identified. Often if the two images are glanced at quickly and superficially the viewer may immediately conclude that the images are the same. However, this conclusion is false, because what is seen in a mirror is actually the exact opposite of the original. Such is the case with the myths that developed in connection with Nimrod and their relationship with the story of Jesus of Nazareth as found in the Gospels. Similarities between the two figures definitely do exist, but these similarities should only serve to highlight the differences between the messages that are associated with the two Messiahs. One of these Messiahs offers a message of hope and redemption based on hard truth that is not geared to appeal to our selfish pride, while the other offers a similar promise, but with a different appeal and a different method to gain that promise. In the letters of the Apostle John we find that this second figure is referred to as the "Antichrist" :
"Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared." (1 John 2:18)
In his letter John explains that an "antichrist" is one who denies either God the Father or Jesus Christ the Son, yet John also points to a singular figure who "is coming." This future Antichrist is identified in the book of Revelation as the Beast who comes out of the Abyss.
The definition of the word "Antichrist" is given in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. It is composed of two words: the prefix "anti" which means "opposite," "instead of," or "in place of," and is "often used in composition to denote substitution;" and the word "Christos" which means "anointed, i.e. the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus." From this definition we can see that the Antichrist will not be a figure who openly attacks Jesus, or who espouses hatre