IS THE WORLD READY FOR THE AGE OF GOLD?
For lo, the days are hast'ning on, By prophet bards foretold. When with the evercircling years Comes 'round the age of gold:
When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing.
- the Christmas Hymn, "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear"
With this article, I give you a glimpse behind the veil at the esoteric tradition of the Early Church.
Every civilization has what is called a "golden age", a time in the life of nations when a particular people reach their ascendancy in the world. It is usually a time of peace for its citizens achieved through the wisdom of its laws or the strength of its armies. Such times are marked by leaps in technology, a revival of the arts, and an interest in education. They are times of plenty when the needs of most of its citizens are met with minimal labor. In general the people are happy.
Golden ages end when the principles which created them are forgotten by the people. Or, if they occur through an accident of history, they end when events demonstrate a serious flaw in their first principles which prevent them from neutralizing outside enemies.
Our most documented civilization is, of course, Rome. Historians will usually tell us that Rome fell, not because of the invading barbarians, but because of corruption from within. After that point of agreement, historians depart from one another and differ as to what that "corruption" might have been. Christian historians see Rome's fall as a result of decadence. Secular historians see it as the fault of Christianity, which diminished the manliness of Rome's army and citizenry. That debate cannot be resolved unless the Biblical record is investigated to find a standard of success and failure for human civilization.
There is an Age of Gold described in the Bible. It occurred during the time of Solomon. It was a time when Israelite hegemony reached the limits promised to Abraham and when the number of his descendants became as many as "the sands by the seashore" [1]. It was a time of unmingled blessing and material prosperity for all Israelites [2]. Israel became the priest-nation of the earth where heads of state from all nations of the world came to hear the wisdom of Solomon and honor Solomon's God [3]. And the Jerusalem Temple became the only place where visible presence of God on Earth could be found[4].
The Golden Age of Solomon was an age of wisdom, balance, and harmony. It was an age of justice. It was also an age of sensuality when Israelites were "eating and drinking, and making merry" (1 Kings 4:20). Solomon is renown for his harem: seven hundred wives (daughters of kings) and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3). For this, pious commentators are resounding in their condemnation. But Solomon is never condemned for his polygamy in the Scriptures. Indeed, his harem was a fulfillment of his father's messianic prophecy:
Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
- Psalm 45:9 [5]
Solomon is rightly condemned because he practiced miscegenation with unbelievers that led him into idolatry (1 Kings 11:8). His unbelieving wives were his downfall, not his believing wives.
Solomon's Golden Age became the defining moment of Israelite history. It was then that all the promises made to the fathers were fulfilled. The message of later prophets would be the promise of its restoration by a worthy Davidic heir [6].
The message of the New Testament Church cannot be understood without this context. The claim by Jesus to be "the greater Solomon" (Matthew 12:42) was essential to the assertion by His followers that He was the true Messiah (Acts 2:36). It was their first message to the Jewish nation. Of course, from the perspective of later Christian doctrine, we understand that the mission of Jesus had to remedy the problem of sin in the heart of man. That was why Solomon's Golden Age failed. God's presence was confined to the Temple. In Jesus, it embraces all men through the Holy Spirit:
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
- Revelation 21:3
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
- Ezekiel 36:27
The Bible promises a future Age of Gold for the earth. It is called "the Millennium" by some theologians, "the new heaven and earth" by others. It is described specifically in the final chapters of John's book of Revelation. The established Church, especially after Constantine and Augustine, spiritualized these chapters [7]. It denied that there would be any future Golden Age on Earth. Rather, it believed the Golden Age was an inward psychological condition or eternal bliss in heaven. The belief in any literal fulfillment of these prophecies was viewed as carnal and beneath the higher spirituality of the Christian message.
That was not so during the first two centuries of the Church. Justin Martyr and Irenaeus are two examples of the "carnal" interpretation. It was a doctrine taught by the Desposyni [8]. Now granted, Justin and Irenaeus and the others were premillennialists. After the failure of the Bar Kochba rebellion, that was the viewpoint which prevailed among the Gentile churches. But even Justin admitted that there was another view which was considered orthodox [9]. That other view was postmillennialism: the belief in the current Messianic kingdom which requires the Church's participation in its prophetic fulfillment. Recent translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that this was the prevailing view among the Jamesian Christians at Jerusalem [10].
The spiritualizers represent the result of the Mahuzzim heresy in the Early Church. The Mahuzzim heresy was specifically identified by the prophet Daniel as the doctrine of the Antichrist which denies our humanity and its sensuality. Sometimes known as Manicheanism, Gnosticism, Platonism, etc. - it views the material world as something created by an evil deity and the flesh as inherently evil. In these systems escaping the body becomes man's salvation. That was why the Church taught celibacy and monasticism. And while the Church never surrendered the doctrine of the resurrection, it described the resurrected body as something less than truly physical. The Church has always had difficulty explaining why the physical resurrection is necessary. If, as it says, the spirit is the real you, why would a liberated spirit want to return to a fleshly body?
The lie of this deception is revealed in Christ's own resurrected body, which retained its previous bodily functions, yet had clear supernatural abilities, as well. In this respect the resurrected body bears resemblance to angels, which can pass from the material to the immaterial dimensions at will. This ability explains how certain angels were able to cohabitate with women prior to Noah's Flood and how they could eat food with Old Testament heroes (e.g. Abraham, Genesis 18).
It would serve Satan's wicked designs against the Creator to convince mankind, especially the Church, that the material world is evil and cannot be redeemed. The fact of the matter is just the opposite. The creation is good and the material world is man's natural habitat. That is why there is such a thing as demon possession. Lacking a human body, demons will settle for animals (Luke 8:33). They know that the physical body is a higher form of existence. Indeed, as the Druids taught, the material creation is a part of God's body itself, so to call it evil would be the same as calling God evil. The holiness of the material world is proven by Christ's own Incarnation and His eternal union with His corporeal body. Why would there be such a permanent bodily existence for Him and His followers if the physical world must be considered evil or a lower form of existence?
Yes, the material creation is fallen, but that is only because it is lacking a godly headship to exercise dominion over it. Separated from its head, the body perishes. So it is with the terrestrial universe. The remedy is not further abandonment of dominion - which ultimately leads to hell - but rather the restoration of the righteous to their place of rulership.
The Messianic Golden Age
What would this Messianic kingdom look like? Imagine the court of Solomon replicated in every locality over the entire Earth. That was the paradigm for Christian dominion during the New Testament era. The Apostles were the vanguard who would go to the Diaspora and start new churches among the Jews and Gentiles. Later, they would be joined by a representative of the Jerusalem Church who would settle among them as a Desposynic prince. This was how Christ's kingdom would overspread the earth [11].
The Gentile churches rejected the Desposyni later in the 2nd Century. They would embrace the Roman paradigm of Christian dominion. The result of their unfaithfulness was ten Imperial persecutions that gutted the Church's leadership and produced a State Church [12].
In the State Church we find the pinnacle of Mahhuzim doctrine. No longer is the Church the family of Jesus which is built through a sacramental process. Rather, it is an Imperial institution which is increased through the strong arm of the state. Through the threat of physical death instead of the promise of eternal life, people are coerced into becoming Christians. In this practice, we find the manifestation of the satanic doctrine. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus came to destroy him who had the power of death, "that is, the devil"(2:14). Now in an amazing twist, we find this very satanic principle revived and being used, ostensibly, to build the State Church. It is a complete inversion of values. The State Church is the Moloch Church whose supralapsarian God burns babies in a fiery hell for all of eternity [13].
The hideous fruits of this doctrine were the frequent Inquisitions during the Middle Ages, when heretics and all enemies of the State Church faced the rack and the stake. The systematic and perverse torture of the accused fits the profile of satanic ritualism [14].
The Desposynic church operated underground, sometimes within the established Church (in the monasteries), other times in other institutions, such as the Templars and the Masons. They were accused of witchcraft and their gatherings labeled as witch's covens. As is often the case, it is the accuser who is guilty of what he accuses another of doing. In America, the Salem Witch Trials stand as a lasting testimony of the evils of group hysteria based upon superstition. Yet in that unfortunate episode, it was the practicing witches who were protected by the magistrates. They received this protection because they promised to serve as informants for the state, an arrangement which resulted in the deaths of many innocent people.
Today, Evangelicals and mainline churches continue to serve the interests of a state religion. They throw out similar insults and accusations against those who bear witness to the truth. Labeling them as cults or New Agers is enough to doom any ministry. Rarely does it result in bodily harm [15], but it does remain an effective tool of Satan to neutralize ministries which seek to advance our Lord's kingdom.
In the light of such conditions in the Church, I would have to say that the world is not ready for the Age of Gold. It has yet to learn the doctrine of peace "and good will toward men". The leaders of our civilization pursue the demons of their own making in a vicious cycle of intrigue, blackmail, and murder. Our usury system has alienated half the globe and our unbiblical practice of prisons has created a generation of sexual predators. It is difficult to see how this can change any time soon. But we continue to pray,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Footnotes:
[1] 1 Kings 4:21; 2 Chronicles 9:26 (cf. Genesis 15:18) 1Kings 4:20; 2 Chronicles 1:9
[2] 1Kings 4:20; 10:27
[3] 1 Kings 4:29-34; 10:24; 2 Chronicles 9:23
[4] 1 Kings 8:11; 2 Chronicles 5:13-14
[5] In the Geneva Bible, the Bible of the Reformers, "honourable women" is here translated "honourable wives". The Hebrew word can be translated either way.
[6] "Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant." - 1 Kings 8:56. See also Isaiah 9:6,7 of the Messiah.
[7] This view is generally called "amillennialism". See Louis Berkhof's, History of Christian Doctrine
[8] Of the family of the Lord there were still living the grandchildren of Jude, who is said to have been the Lord's brother according to the flesh. Information was given that they belonged to the family of David, and they were brought to the Emperor Domitian by the Evocatus. For Domitian feared the coming of Christ as Herod also had feared it. And he asked them if they were descendants of David, and they confessed that they were. Then he asked them how much property they had, or how much money they owned. And both of them answered that they had only nine thousand denarii, half of which belonged to each of them; and this property did not consist of silver, but of a piece of land which contained only thirty-nine acres, and from which they raised their taxes and supported themselves by their own labor.
Then they showed their hands by continuous toil as evidence of their own labor. And when they were asked concerning Christ and his kingdom, of what sort it was and where and when it was to appear, they answered that it was not temporal nor an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly and angelic one, which would appear at the end of the world, when he should come in glory to judge the quick and the dead, and to give unto everyone according to his works.
Upon hearing this, Domitian did not pass judgment against them, but, despising them as of no account, he let them go, and by a decree put a stop to the persecution of the Church.
But when they were released they ruled the churches, because they were witnesses and were also relatives of the Lord."
- Eusebius as he quotes Hegesippus, Book III, Chap. XX
[9] [B]ut, on the other hand, I signified to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise. - Ante-Nicene Fathers v. 1, p. 239
[10] See Robert Eisenman's The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians and then Gabriele Boccaccini's, Beyond the Essene Hypothesis, both highly respected scholars in their fields of study, yet providing very divergent perspectives. Essentially, Messianic Judaism - revolving around James the Just and which encompassed a following amongst Enochian Jews, Essenes, and the Qumran community - taught a liturgical fulfillment of prophetic literature, i.e. that once the Church (the House of Israel) fulfilled the law in the realm of personal holiness, Divine assistance would be forthcoming in achieving institutional victory, resulting in the refounding of the Kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6).
[11] See Hierogamy & the Married Messiah. To be enrolled as a catechumen, see http://www.grailchurch.org/applicat.htm
[12] The persecution of Diocletian was so devastating that catechumens were elevated to the bishop's throne (e.g. Cyprian). See Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History.
[13] One of the sacrifices of Moloch (or Molech) religion was "passing children through the fire" (Deuteronomy 18:10; Joshua 15:8; Isaiah 30:33, Jeremiah 7:31et al)
[14] See Fox's Book of Martyrs. While modern editions are heavily abridged, they still contain sufficient evidence to prove my point. Pay particular attention to the persecution of the Covenanters of Scotland. Their pregnant women were raped, disemboweled, and their breasts eaten by their persecutors. Any religion which systematically tortures its victims to induce confession, and then practices cannibalism and ritual execution through fire is a satanic religion. I wish not to describe it any further.
[15] One shocking exception occurred in 1993: the destruction of the Branch Davidians, a harmless and insignificant cult near Waco, Texas. Their confrontational-style evangelism caused great offense among traditional church groups resulting in a slanderous series of articles in the local newspaper. Shortly afterward, the government attacked the church complex with over a hundred worshippers trapped inside. In the seige which followed, fantastic stories - proved false much later - of child abuse, sex orgies, and gun fanaticism by the cult's leader convinced the nation that the government's actions against him and his followers, including small children, were justified. Analysis of government films (called the "FLIR Videos") of the seige in recent years - from the backside of the building and out-of-view of television cameras - has revealed involvement of military personnel, the firing of incendiary devices into the building, and the systematic murder of fleeing occupants from the resulting inferno. It is not enough to describe what happened in traditional terms. It was not mass murder. Nor was it merely a massacre. It was much more horrible than that. It was cherem: a satanic orgy of human sacrifice. For that single act of unrepented wickedness, a chain of events has unfolded that led us to the disaster of 9/11, and the specter of uncontrolled terrorism against the American people. God will not be mocked.