We ended last time with a brief study of the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) contrasted with the mystery of godliness. We showed that the mystery of godliness had to do with accepting Jesus Christ as King, believing in Him, and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The mystery of godliness is, in essence, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

On the other side, the mystery of lawlessness involves the rejection of Jesus Christ as King, NOT believing in Him, and refusing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It was manifested in the earth in Jesus’ day by those who rejected Jesus Christ, usurped His throne, and (in effect) made themselves gods in the old temple of Jerusalem.

They were assisted in their design by Judas, the man of perdition (John 17:12). He was Jesus’ friend (Matt. 26:50) and was a man from the town of Hebron, which means “friendship.” The old name for Hebron was Kiriath-Arba. Judas “Iscariot” means Ish-Keriath, that is, a “man from Keriath.” Even as we read of Jesus of Nazareth, we also read of Judas of Keriath, or Hebron.

Absalom’s conspiracy against David began in Hebron (2 Sam. 15:9-12). That is where Ahithophel met him.

Two Usurpings and Two Betrayals

When Jesus Christ came the first time, the priests did not agree with the way He would rule, so they crucified Him and usurped His throne. It was the same in the days of King David when Absalom usurped the throne. This is made plain in 2 Samuel 15:1-6.

Jesus came the first time of the tribe of Judah and of the seed of David in order to have the lawful right to the throne of the House of Israel. This right had been given to the tribe of Judah, as we read in 1 Chron. 5:1, 2,

¹ Now the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel for he was the first-born, but because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. ² Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came the leader [nagiyd, “leader, ruler, prince, captain”], yet the birthright belonged to Joseph.

In Christ’s first coming, the contention between Jesus and the priests centered around the issue of who was to rule the Kingdom. The priests, in crucifying Jesus, usurped the throne of Judah (David).

In Christ’s second coming, we find ourselves facing the same kind of usurping, but this time the central issue is the birthright of Joseph. The same people who usurped the throne of David in 33 A.D. have (in 1948) usurped the birthright of Joseph. They did this by taking for themselves the birthright name, “Israel,” which had been given to Joseph. Again, this was done with the help of certain Christians, who acted the part of Judas.

The angel had given Jacob the name of Israel in Gen. 32:28. Jacob-Israel later passed this name to the sons of Joseph in Gen. 48:16, saying,

¹⁶ The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. "

This is why, many years later when the ten tribes revolted from the rule of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, the northern ten tribes retained the name “Israel,” while the southern nation had to take upon itself the name of the dominant tribe, “Judah.” The southern tribes did not have the lawful right to name themselves “Israel,” even though they possessed the lineage that would lead to the Messiah.

Even in Jesus’ day, the nation was called “Judea,” which is simply a later derivative of Judah. But in 1948 the Jews decided to usurp the birthright name given to the sons of Joseph. They did so to let the world know that they were the inheritors of the birthright, and that the ten lost tribes were lost forever.

Thus we see that the Jews have twice usurped what is not theirs—first the throne of David (Judah), and secondly the birthright of Joseph. In both cases, they were able to accomplish this with the help of those who were believers, first Judas, and later the Christians who played the part of Judas in the past century.

This is not written to condemn those who have done so, but to cause them to repent, lest they feel so remorseful later that they commit suicide, even as Ahithophel and Judas did in biblical days. The biblical pattern made it a certainty that some Christians today would have to play the part of Judas again. It is our purpose to bring warning, so that fewer Christians would unwittingly betray Christ in His second manifestation.

The Great “Apostasy”

In our last issue we quoted from 2 Thess. 2 in regard to the man of sin and the son of perdition. We now will show the meaning of verse 3 in the context of the day of Christ.

³ Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the day of Christ] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

It is commonly taught that there will be a great apostasy before Christ comes, where men will forsake Christ. This has certain taken place already, as most people will agree. However, this is not what the apostle is telling us. The word “apostasy” is from the Greek word apostasia, which means “the act of forsaking, withdrawing, leaving, or casting out.” This word is used only one other time in the New Testament, Acts 21:21, which says,

²¹ and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses [to cast out Moses], telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

This verse is not speaking about apostasizing Moses, but rather casting Moses aside. In the same way, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians that the day of Christ will not come until the casting away takes place. The question is, Who or What is to be cast away, or cast aside??

Another form of the word is apostasion, which means “divorcement,” or the legal act of casting out, or putting away with divorce papers. Apostasion appears 3 times in the New Testament: Matthew 5:31, 19:7, and Mark 10:4.

Who is to be Cast Out?

In Galatians 4:22-30, Paul gives us the answer to who is to be cast aside. It is “Hagar,” which is the old Jerusalem and its temple, priesthood, covenant, and sacrifices.

²⁵ Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

It is clear from this that Hagar prophesied of the old Jerusalem and not the New Jerusalem. It is also clear that the old Jerusalem was given the first opportunity to bring forth the heirs of the promise—that is, the promised seed.

²⁷ For it is written, "Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; for more are the children of the desolate than of the one who has a husband."

The “barren woman” is Sarah, for in Gen. 16:2, she said to her husband, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children.” For this reason, she gave Hagar to her husband in order to bear children through her. This is why Hagar’s son, Ishmael, was born first.

After 13 years, however, the angel of the Lord told Abraham that he would have a son through Sarah. Sarah laughed (Gen. 18:12). Whatever her reason for laughing, it became prophetic of rejoicing at the prospect of having a son of her own who would be the heir. Her descendants, both physical and spiritual, would become more numerous than the descendants of Hagar.

Paul then continues with his explanation of the allegory of Hagar and Sarah in Galatians 4.

²⁸ And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.

As we have shown previously, this refers to those of the old Jerusalem persecuting those of the New Jerusalem. Paul himself, in his earlier life, was one of the persecutors of the early Church during the time he had adhered to the religion of the old temple in Jerusalem. Yet his conversion changed him from the Ishmael company to the Isaac company. This was a spiritual change, not a genealogical change.

Then Paul concludes the allegory by quoting from Genesis 21:10,

³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman."

The Greek word translated “cast out” is ekballo, which means literally to “throw out or cast out.” It is similar in meaning to apostasia that is used in 2 Thess. 2:3.

So let us now put all this together and summarize what Paul is telling us in 2 Thess. 2:3-10. I will paraphrase it according to my understanding:

Let no one deceive you into thinking that the day of Christ has already occurred or is close at hand. That day will not come except first the old Jerusalem be cast out as Hagar, and that man of sin (Absalom and the priests) be exposed for who he is, along with the betrayer, the son of perdition (Ahithophel and Judas), who oppose the rightful Heir and exalt themselves above God and Christ who is to be worshipped. These usurpers sit in the temple of God and enthrone themselves as if they were God, claiming rulership of the earth as the Messiah.

Remember when I told you these things when I was with you? And now you know what it is that hinders the day of Christ from coming, for this usurper will be exposed at the proper time. This mystery of lawlessness is now at work, a mystery (secret) because it has not yet been unveiled for the world to see. God is the one who has allowed this and currently hinders or prevents this from being exposed—until it comes time to remove the veil.

Then will that wicked body of usurpers be unveiled, and the Lord will consume them by blowing upon them and will destroy, nullify, and make of no effect, the city and its temple with the shining forth of His presence. His presence is along with, or at the same time as, the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deception of unrighteousness in those who will perish in this destruction of Jerusalem. They will perish because they believed not the truth (of Jesus being the Messiah) that they might be saved.

The Rothschild “Messiah”

Mayer Amschel Bauer was a Jew in the late 1700’s who became wealthy in the banking business. He had five sons and sent each of them to different European cities to set up banking and business offices. Before he died, he set up a family trust in 1810, of which the most capable descendant would be chairman. The first chairman was Nathan Rothschild of London.

It soon became apparent that they desired to use their wealth to re-establish a Jewish state in the old land of Judea, and they began the long task of gaining influence and power to accomplish that goal. In fact, one of the terms of the family trust was that no one could be involved who should convert to Christianity. He must descend from the original Rothschild, and he must always remain a Jew.

In the 1800’s this family became so powerful that they soon began to call their chairman the King of the Jews, and often referred to their family as “our royal family.” Their official biography, written by Niall Ferguson and published in 1998, says on page 8:

“In this sense, phrases like ‘Kings of the Jews’ which contemporaries applied to them contained an important element of truth. That was exactly the way the Rothschilds saw and conducted themselves—as phrases like ‘our royal family’ in their letters show—and the way they were treated by many other less wealthy Jews.”

Niall Ferguson writes about Nathan Rothschild on page 21 of his book:

“His wealth was in fact intended for a higher purpose: ‘to avenge the wrongs of Israel’ by securing ‘the re-establishment of Judah’s kingdom—the rebuilding of thy towers, Oh! Jerusalem!’ and ‘the restoration of Judea to our ancient race’.”

Nathan Rothschild died in 1836, more than a century before the family goal was accomplished. The Israeli state was formed in 1948, primarily due to their money and influence. Of course, we acknowledge the sovereignty of God in this as well, for the fig tree had to bring forth more leaves in order to fulfill Jesus’ prophecy in Matt. 24:32. Even so, this historic event did not just happen by itself.

The Niles Weekly Register reported as early as 1835-1836 (proudly quoted in Ferguson’s book, p. 257):

“The Rothschilds are the wonders of modern banking. . . We see the descendants of Judah, after a persecution of two thousand years, peering above kings, rising higher than emperors, and holding a whole continent in the hollow of their hands. The Rothschilds govern a Christian world. Not a cabinet moves without their advice. They stretch their hand, with equal ease, from Petersburg to Vienna, from Vienna to Paris, from Paris to London, from London to Washington. Baron Rothschild, the head of the house, is the true king of Judah, the prince of the captivity, the Messiah so long looked for by this extraordinary people. He holds the keys of peace or war, blessing or cursing . . . They are the brokers and counsellors of the kings of Europe and of the republican chiefs of America. What more can they desire?”

It is the belief in upper Jewish circles that in order to qualify as their messiah, a man must be able to prove some descent from Judah and David, and secondly, he must help establish the Jewish state. So they believe that one of the Rothschild descendants will be the Jewish messiah.

This is what Christians today have been supporting, not quite understanding that they have been manipulated behind the scenes by powerful men with intentions that are anything but Christian.

This deception was made possible first because the tribes of Joseph-Israel were “lost,” even as Joseph himself was “lost,” as the book of Genesis tells us. God is the One who engineered this plan to fulfill His purposes.

Secondly, this deception was possible because Christians have been convinced that the Jews are Israel. The fact is that the name “Israel” was given to Jacob (Gen. 32:28), and Jacob later gave this birthright name to the sons of Joseph (Gen. 48:16). The name was NOT given to Judah, from whom the Jews trace their descent. Thus, when the Jews laid claim to the national name of “Israel” in 1948, they usurped this name unlawfully. They did this in order to make Christians believe they were fulfilling the prophecies regarding the rebirth of the lost House of Israel.

Thirdly, this deception has been possible because Christians have not understood the difference between the old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem.

And so we see this same prophetic pattern operating in the world today. In Jesus’ day the chief priests and rulers of the Jews put the Messiah to death in order to usurp the throne of David that rightfully belonged to Jesus. In 1948 their descendants usurped the birthright name of Israel. After all, what good is it to usurp the throne of David without having the birthright as well?

But God is using this to work out His own purpose. The Rothschilds and others are only unwitting pawns in a much larger game than even they can understand.

They think they are working to bring forth their own Jewish messiah in the person of a Rothschild. To do so, they have attempted to fulfill Bible prophecy as they understand it. They do not realize that all they have done is to fulfill Jesus’ prophetic statements about the cursed fig tree bringing forth more leaves (Matt. 24:32). And they certainly do not realize that all they have done is set up their own people for the final tribulation and destruction of Jerusalem as prophesied in Jeremiah 19:11.

The people are fanatical enough to fight to the bitter end, even as they did in Jeremiah’s day and again in 70-73 A.D. And Christians have been deceived into thinking that God will come and save them before the final catastrophe.

Probably the most ironic thing of all is that Christian prophecy books today teach that only 144,000 Jews will be saved out of the many millions in the earth. In their zeal to hasten the return of Christ, they have supported and prodded the Jews into maintaining a hard-line position that they believe will lead to this tremendous slaughter of Jews.

This even makes Jewish leaders nervous, because they see that this Christian support as being “anti-semitic” at its root. They fully understand the Christian view that only 144,000 Jews will survive the inevitable war in the Middle East. They are uncomfortable with the support of the Christian community, but they accept it because the Jewish Zionists are committed to taking all of Palestine, but know they cannot do so without Christian popular support.

The Downward Spiral Toward Destruction

On September 13, 1993 Israeli Prime Minister Perez and Palestinian Chairman Yassar Arafat signed a peace accord laying forth a 7-year plan. By the Hebrew calendar, it was signed on the 29^th day of Elul (the biblical sixth month).

This peace accord was destroyed precisely 7 years after it was signed. The 29^th of Elul in the year 2000 fell on Sept. 29, the day that the new intifada began, after Ariel Sharon paid his provocative visit to the Temple Mount, destroying what was left of the peace accord.

These events did not take us by surprise, because the sign of the end of peace had occurred two months earlier on July 25, 2000. That is the day the peace talks ended at Camp David, deadlocked over the status of Jerusalem. On the same day the Concorde Airliner crashed shortly after take-off in Paris. It was the crash of “concord,” which means Peace. We took this as a sign of peace crashing after trying hard to “get off the ground.”

On the 414^th day from the crash of the Concorde, Sept. 11, 2001, came America’s “Day of Terror,” when the two airliners were deliberately crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The timing of this event is significant, because it follows the pattern of “cursed time,” represented by the number 414. (See my book, Secrets of Time, where the meaning of this time cycle is discussed thoroughly.) It is also noteworthy that both incidents involved airliners.

Another time cycle that is particularly relevant to the Attack on America occurred on July 11, 2001. Twenty years ago the Lord gave the revelation: “July is like September.” So every year we have kept track of events in July to obtain clues to the events of September. Over the years we have noticed that the spiritual events occurring in July come into the world as earthly events in September.

In July 2001 we found ourselves in very intense spiritual warfare. The warfare began small, then became personal attacks (spiritual) on July 9 and 10. Then on July 11 we saw America itself attacked. In my notes for July 11, I wrote: “Personal attack now moves to America.”

More than a dozen of us were actively involved in this spiritual warfare. We wondered how this might manifest in September. Now we know. The spiritual attack we saw on July 11 came into the world on September 11. The news media even called it an “Attack on America.”

A full explanation of the significance of this attack is too lengthy to include in this short bulletin. The 414-day cycle from the end of the peace talks last year makes it clear that the real effects of this attack will be felt in Jerusalem in the days ahead. I believe that this deed will goad America into a military response. The situation will continue to slide downward until someone sends a nuclear missile that destroys Jerusalem. Now is the time for Christians who believe His words to flee (Luke 21:20-22).