Nov 12, 2011

Jerusalem's problem with human sacrifice is the stated reason for her final demise, according to Jeremiah 19. This is how Jerusalem was changed from the City of Peace to the City of Blood (Ez. 22:2; 24:6, 9; Nahum 3:1).

It was for this reason God forsook that city as He had previously forsaken Shiloh (Jer. 7:12-14). When God forsook Shiloh, He never went back to that city. So also with Jerusalem, for He has now chosen to place His name in a new place called The New Jerusalem. This city is made up of people who are genuine temples of God. So His name is now in their foreheads (Rev. 22:4).

Jerusalem's offense was that they performed human sacrifice in the valley of Ben-hinnom ("son of Hinnom") just outside the walls of Jerusalem. This location, then, became a metaphor for divine judgment upon Jerusalem, for even as they had done to the innocent in that place, so also would God cast that city into gehenna. That is why Jeremiah was led to break the earthen jar in that place (Jer. 19:10, 11). The Wycliffe Bible Commentary says about these verses:

"No way was known for mending a broken bottle; it was discarded and a new one obtained; so Jerusalem would be rejected, her time of repentance having passed."

I believe that the prayer campaign in November 2001 is many layered, and one of those layers includes the final destruction of Jerusalem on account of the literal human sacrifice performed in ancient times.

Yet there are more layers to consider. The 13 Mayan priests carrying crystal skulls across America show us that our own country is facing the same danger that has already been established in regard to Jerusalem. The difference is that God has raised up overcomers in America to plead her case and to take steps to protect the nation by the spiritual authority granted to them through past intercession.

Hence, I know that the "Gateway Ceremony" in Los Angeles did not succeed in creating a spiritual portal through which the ancient god of the Mayans could enter. Human sacrifice remains outlawed in this country.

In 2001 none of us knew how the prayer campaign would manifest in the earth ten years later. We did know, however, that it was directly connected to the establishment of Universal Reconciliation in the earth, because this teaching is the virtual opposite of the common teaching on hell and gehenna.

In other words, the ancient spirit of human sacrifice, where people are required to appease gods or pay the penalty for sin through human sacrifice, has its modern correlation in hell-fire teaching.

It was prophesied from the beginning that the Messiah would be born of a Virgin and would be the Sacrifice for sin. In fact, it was written in the stars (constellations), which was the original Bible before the Word took written form. Virgo spoke of Christ's birth from a Virgin. Centaur spoke of His dual character as both the Son of God and the Son of Man. Aries spoke of His Sacrifice, and the Southern Cross prophesied His crucifixion.

Aquarius prophesied the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh. Leo the Lion prophesied of His coming as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

The point is that the truth was known in ancient times. Psalm 19 shows how the truth was given to all men through the gospel in the stars. Nonetheless, men corrupted the truth, some by claiming to be the Messiah themselves, and others by misunderstanding its meaning. There is a constellation in Sagittarius called Ara, the altar of fire. There is another in Leo called Crater, which is the "cup of wrath."

These depict the judgments of God upon the unrighteous. They also carry over into the Old Testament sacrifices for sin, which God Himself established. Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the sacrifices of the Old Testament, and so all the lambs, bulls, and goats ever sacrificed on those altars were types and shadows of Jesus Christ Himself.

Yet when we see the Messiah paying the full penalty for sin, we find Him dying on a cross, rather than being offered up on a literal altar of sacrifice. His DEATH paid the full penalty for sin, for Paul tells us, "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Jesus did not have to burn in hell for eternity to pay the penalty for sin. He only had to be dead until the third day.

So all of the human sacrifice to Baal and Moloch stemmed from a misunderstanding of the Truth that God had established from the beginning. In their religions, before a woman could get married, she was required to go to the asherah ("groves") to have sexual relations with a priest as part of a "purification" ceremony. Often, she became pregnant by that priest. The priest was considered the representative of their god. Hence, the woman's first-born son was a "son of god" and was then sacrificed to Baal or Moloch.

They did not understand that Jesus Christ was the true Son of God who was to be sacrificed to God to pay the full penalty for sin. Neither did they understand that the Son of God was to be crucified, not burned to death. The Cross fulfilled the requirement because the "fire" of God was only a metaphor in Scripture. The burnt offerings were a metaphor signifying the burning up of "the flesh" as we are made "living sacrifices" to God. These are the equivalent of being "crucified with Christ."

The fire is the divine nature which burns up the flesh. Hence, the "baptism of fire" is an inundation of divine fire in our lives, designed to consume sin, flesh and dross. It is also how we identify with Jesus Christ in His death on the cross. God never considered the fire to be literal as a penalty for sin. The literal fulfillment was the cross. Fire was the metaphor for the cross to show that it is the divine presence that consumes all flesh and pays the full penalty for sin.

Yet men seem to be strangely attracted to the idea of increasing the penalty for sin far beyond the divine requirement. That is the origin of human sacrifice. It found its way into Church theology by the third century A.D., mainly through the Latin theologians like Tertullian, and later through Augustine. The Greek Christian theologians usually understood the fire to be a metaphor, calling it the "wise fire."

In the end, the Roman church found a compromise. The eternal hell was reserved for all non-Catholic sinners; while a temporary "purgatory" was reserved for Catholic sinners.

In the beginning, however, it was not taught in this way. The vast majority of the early Christian leaders taught that God would ultimately reconcile all mankind. The lake of fire was a temporary "purgatory," which was designed to cause sinners to repent. This is plain history that many of today's theologians try to hide from Christians. Yet I have written of this in my small booklet, A Short History of Universal Reconciliation, as well as in Creation's Jubilee and Volume 4 of Lessons from Church History.

The modern teaching of fire as an eternal penalty for sin is the "Christian" form of human sacrifice. Their theology justified burning people at the stake for many centuries. If God will burn sinners in hell forever, they reasoned, then we are justified in sending them there in a similar fashion.

In our prayer campaign in 2001, we appealed to the Divine Court that the people of the earth would see the Truth of Universal Reconciliation and would reject the idea of human sacrifice bound up in the doctrine of eternal torture in fire. 1 John 2:2 says,

"And He Himself is the expiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."

This is the second part of a series titled "Ten-Year Patterns Being Repeated Now." To view all parts, click the link below.

Ten-Year Patterns Being Repeated Now