Gathering of Lights #20

2000-6-23 10:29:00

My Friends,

Enclosed is chapter 20 to my Book The Gathering of Lights. It is fairly heavy reading, but I think it will be worth it as we put together all the pieces in the next few chapters.

THE GATHERING OF LIGHTS

Chapter Twenty - Gog and Magog

Let us contemplate possible fulfillments of popular Biblical prophecies from a higher than normal angle of vision.
We have already seen that Babylon would be destroyed with great suddenness by fire and we have seen from Ezekiel that many would flee to the hills and there would be great starvation and suffering. To further understand the possible future consequences it must be realized what is meant by the terms "Jerusalem" and "Zion" in certain prophecies. In some scriptures they are used interchangeably and in others they are not. In the days of David, Zion was the name of a hill inside of Jerusalem. It was a symbol for the ensign for it could be viewed from the distance. Some believe that the ancient temple and the arc of the covenant were on this hill. In many Bible prophecies Jerusalem is the North American Continent and Zion is the ensign that is to be lifted up on it. In the cycle past, the correspondence to the ensign Zion is the Constitution of the United States. It has been a standard to which the nations have looked and emulated. In the coming cycle the ensign Zion will be the communities and cities built through the gathering of Lights.

A key indication that the prophetic Jerusalem is not the one in Israel is given in the following verse: "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." Zechariah 2:4-5

Here we see that Jerusalem will not be one town, but numerous cities with no walls. The ancient Jerusalem had a wall around it and still does so it does not correspond to the prophecy. The nations of Europe and Asia do not correspond, for all the old cities have numerous walls. Then too, during the Cold War we had the iron curtain separating the free world from communism, the most notorious wall of them all.

America is the major land at present that is inhabited as "towns without walls" and this because of the protection of the Ensign, the Constitution. We are told that the only wall will be a wall of fire, or protection from God. So far this wall has protected us from invasion and will continue to do so if we are worthy. Eventually this wall of fire will be extended to other gatherings yet to be revealed.

One current fulfillment of this prophecy is the Internet. This is indeed a "wall of fire" (the circulation of the fire of electricity) that removes all walls between cities, states and nations. Through the power of the internet the whole earth will eventually be a land of cities with no walls, at least as far as communication is concerned.

It is an interesting fact that the totalitarian regimes who attempt to control every move of their populace are finding themselves unable to hold back the breaking down of the walls and their eventual assimilation into the land of unwalled villiages.

Next Zechariah tells Israel to flee from Babylon: "Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the North, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, 0 Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon." Zechariah 2:6-7

Finally Zechariah tells us Jerusalem's greatest challenge: "For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem (the freedoms represented in the U.S. Constitution and a future gathering of Lights) to battle; and the city (nation) shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city (nation) shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city." Zechariah 14:2

This gives us much useful information. "The city shall be taken" informs us that the government will be run by those who do not value our inalienable rights. "Half the city shall go forth into captivity" indicates that one half of the country will surrender and submit to repressive government. "The residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city" tells us that one half of the populace maintains an understanding (however limited) of the values of a free people.

We have a second witness and a more detailed prophecy of this event described in Ezekiel chapter 38. In this chapter we find mention of the terms "Gog" and "Magog" which have perplexed Bible scholars and churchmen for ages.

The key to understanding the whole chapter lies in the understanding of the various peoples named which are: Gog, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Pershia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, Togarmah, Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish, and another who is in the Hebrew called "Rosh," but translated as "chief" in the King James.

The key point here is that all these peoples are symbols of the sons and grandsons of Japheth and Ham, two of the three sons of Noah. The firstborn, Shem, has no sons mentioned here because from him came Eber the progenitor of the Hebrews. Shem is a symbol of the Israelite consciousness. The descendants (speaking symbolically and to some extent literally) of Japheth and Ham are at enmity with those of Shem. Ham comes from a root word that means "to be hot" and is a symbol of those polarized in the world of feeling and full of fire emotionally. They get "hot" under the collar and have "hot" tempers and are very volatile. Japheth comes from the Hebrew YEPHETH that comes from the root PATHAH that is rendered as "deceive", "delude," "seduce", or "persuade". In the dozens of times the word is used in the Bible it refers to some type of deception except in referring to Japheth himself. We are told that "God shall enlarge (PATHAH) Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem (live in Babylon with Israel); and Canaan (the descendants of Ham) shall be his servant." Genesis 9:27

Scholars say that PATHAH can mean, "enlarge" or "expand", but the Biblical writers never applied this meaning to the word. Some sort of deception is inferred each time they used the word. Translators were reluctant to render the passage as "God shall deceive Japheth..." or "God shall entice (or seduce) Japheth..." for they did not like the idea that God may do such a thing.

On the other hand this is not an isolated case of deception coming from God. The prophet Micaiah said: "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade (PATHAH= deceive) Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade (PATHAH) him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he (the Lord) said, Thou shalt persuade (PATHAH) him, and prevail: go forth and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee." I Kings 22:19-23

We also have a good reference to God sending deception in the New Testament: "They receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause GOD SHALL SEND THEM STRONG DELUSION, that they should believe a lie."
II Thessalonians 2:10-11

"Delusion" here is from the Greek PLANE, which can also be translated as "deception" and is a Greek equivalent of PATHAH.

Interestingly, this prophecy in Thessalonians is concerning an antichrist called "the man of sin... the son of perdition," possibly a correspondence to the antichrist in Ezekiel. In the days of each antichrist God sends great deception.

Who are these people that are deceived by God? It is none other than those with the Japheth consciousness for we are told "God shall [deceive] Japheth." Genesis 9:27 As we shall soon see in Ezekiel 38 God will deceive and entice Japheth in a great and final climax to the Piscean Age.

The Japheth person has a higher consciousness than does Ham. Ham hovers between purely material and emotional. The form side of life greatly draws his attention. Ham cannot be deceived by God because he does not seek God with enough effort to have God as a center of attention. He seeks no God within, but only forms without. The scripture says that he shall be Japheth's "slave" (Genesis 9:27). The Ham person must "lean on the arm of flesh" and he depends on Japheth for instruction on spiritual values; therefore, if Japheth is deceived so is Ham. Ham is not free because he does not seek or know the truth for himself, but is a "slave" to the ideologies of Japheth.

Keep in mind here that we are talking about consciousness and not the race aspect. Blacks of today, for example, are found in all three states of consciousness: Ham, Japheth, and Shem. It wasn't long ago that almost all of them were in the Ham category and their condition of slavery was externalized in a physical aspect. The freeing of the slaves through the initiate Abraham Lincoln and others marked a turning point in the evolution of the human race and opened the door for many of them to enter into higher states of consciousness. Because there is greater opportunity for blacks today their race is attracting entities of a higher order than was the case a few short years ago.

This principle applies with all races. When the Jews and the Arian races have been enslaved in times past, few evolved entities incarnated into that situation because of the lack of opportunity there.

The Japheth consciousness hovers between emotional (astral) and the mental. They explore the world of reason to a degree but are generally polarized in the world of feeling and this feeling aspect governs their decisions on important matters. Because of this they are easily deceived, but when they are mislead they support that delusion with explanations that seem plausible, providing their foundation is accurately perceived. Unfortunately, it never is, because it is grounded in the world of feeling. The Japheth person makes his foundation in sand, but builds the structure which seems to be seen by the world as built out of reinforced concrete and by all appearances is solid. The Ham person always accepts the Japheth building for what it appears to be and never examines the foundation. Other Japheths take great pride in their structures and bask in the praise of the world to the extent that they never dream that anything is wrong with the foundation that may cause it to fall.

At this point one may wonder how and why it is that God would pick on Japheth to send him delusion. Doesn't that seem out of Character for God?

Actually, it is not a personal anthropomorphic God sitting on a throne in the heavens that picks on poor Japheth to send him deception; instead it is the reflection of God that they have created for themselves in their own minds.

The Japheth is generally a fairly religious person who believes in God, tries to obey the rules of his religion, and is living in the hope of some glorious afterlife. Through his life he builds an image in his mind of what God is and the attributes he possesses. In reality, what he sees as God is merely himself at his most idealistic moment. He sees God as a great totalitarian dictator who is to be totally trusted because he is perfect, and this "God" is supremely interested in his every move. No matter what religion he happens to be this god answers his prayers and assures him that he is on the right track. If someone challenges certain revered religious concepts taught by his authorities and he begins to mentally question accepted doctrines, his god is quick to give him confirmation that orthodoxy is correct. This confirmation and false peace comes to him again and again, keeping him polarized in the world of feeling.

When that polarization reaches its apex the mind is simultaneously developing and finally there comes a time when the pull of reason and intuition become stronger than feeling, for the mind can no longer justify the entity accepting illogical feeling beliefs. At this point his personal "Babylon the great falls ... in one hour" and the man enters the consciousness of Shem. While he is in Japheth, however, he resists and fights Shem with all his might as if this higher consciousness were the devil himself.

Shem comes from a Hebrew word that means "renown" or "to be conspicuous" and has an amazingly similar meaning to the word NEC which is translated as "ensign". This is quite fitting, for Shem is the ensign that will lift up the Christ consciousness to the world. Shem is the progenitor of Israel, and can be used as a synonym.

If these preceding facts are born in mind it will greatly aid us in understanding that enigmatic thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel

"And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, 0 Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." Ezekiel 38:1-3

The origin of the word "Gog" here is unknown. The only previous mentioning of the name is among the descendants of Reuben (I Chronicles 5:4). Just previous to this we have some interesting information related: "Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph a son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler (Christ); but the birthright was Joseph's)" I Chronicles 5:1-3

After this we find Gog mentioned among Reuben's grandsons. There is a possibility that this Gog became quite notorious in his time and records concerning him are missing. If this is the case it would have been natural for Ezekiel to have picked this name, for in Ezekiel 38 Gog enters the land of Joseph and tries to steal his birthright back that was lost through transgression. The name of Reuben signifies the Son of God, but when a Reubenite transgresses he can manifest the false Christ. Gog indeed defiles his Father's bed and leads false religion to fight against the Christ consciousness.

The only plausible derivative of the name of Gog may be from "Gyges" an ancient king of Lydia who was a threat to Israel. "Lydia" comes from "Ludim" who was the son of Mizraim who was the son of Ham. Mizraim was also an ancient name for Egypt. Interestingly, modern day Turkey occupies the place of ancient Lydia. Turkey has the consciousness of Dan. Remember that Christian tradition says that the Antichrist will come out of Dan. A correspondent of Dan may or may not come from Turkey, but it is quite possible that the name of Gog originated there

"Magog" was the second son of Japheth. His descendants are thought to be the ancient Scythians a wild and rough people who dwelt north of the Crimea (a peninsula in the Black Sea) as far north as the area of Moscow. They made numerous excursions and conquests and from time to time occupied as far west as Hungary and on the east as far as the Altay Mountains bordering China, to the mountains of Turkestan on the North. Assuming then that ancient Gog represented a land, we can picture Gog and Magog as the landmasses north and south of the Black Sea in the days of Ezekiel. On the other hand, John the Revelator sees the Gog and Magog in the future as "the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth" gathered together to battle against Zion, "the beloved city". Revelation 20:8-9

One of the reasons John may have identified Gog and Magog with the nations of the earth is that Gog in the Hebrew (spelled GOWG) looks amazingly like GOWY a word which is translated as nation" or "Gentile." Even though this was probably not the original meaning it is quite appropriate, for Gog does represent the Gentile nations of the earth.

The next name for consideration is MESHECK. Some think this may be of non-Hebrew derivation, but it is undoubtedly from the Hebrew word MASHAK which means "to draw or stretch out, prolong or develop" and can have numerous variations. The best clue to the true meaning is from Isaiah where in association with Tubal are "them that draw the bow." Isaiah 66:19 Most scholars believe that this phrase refers to Mesheck and the English Bible translates it as such. The fact that "draw" here comes from MASHAK gives this translation much credibility...

The Psalms gives us more information about the people of Mesheck: "Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war." Psalms 120:5

In the days of Ezekiel both Mesheck and Tubal were merchant people who traded in slaves and vessels of brass.

Mesheck is first mentioned in the Bible as the sixth son of Japheth.

Some Christian Fundamentalists believe that Moscow in Russia is the modern day equivalent of the land of Mesheck, but this whole belief is based on the observation that both names have several similar letters. Actually the ancient Meshecks lived in an area in Western Turkey and in the mountains surrounding the modern Mount Ararat toward the borders of the Black Sea. The name is identified with Mushki of Assyrian sources as far back as 1100 BC. In Greek tradition King Mita of Mushki was said to be the origin of the fable of King Mitas with the golden touch. Mita is said to have committed suicide around 695 BC, not too many years before the birth of Ezekiel. We shall see here that Mesheck plays king Mitas here and seeks the riches of Joseph, but it turns out to be a suicide mission.

Unto whom may we liken the modern Meshecks? They are they of the consciousness of Japheth who seek wealth (either physical or a glorious heaven hereafter) at any price and are willing to take any risk to obtain it. They care not if men suffer and lose their freedom so long as they obtain their desire. They are men who "draw the bow". They are constantly in a state of tension and refuse to compromise for the cause of peace. They are easily agitated to go to war for their ideals and take much glory in their cause.

The next name mentioned is "Tubal" the fifth son of Japheth. The land of Tubal was just North of Meshech between the Caspian and the Black Sea, also encompassing a small part of Turkey. Most of this area is the modern Georgian Republic in the USSR. Josephus the Jewish historian also confirms this.

In the days of Ezekiel Tubal cooperated with Meshech in its trading operations since they were neighboring countries.

Tubal is most probably from the Hebrew YeBUWL, which signifies "produce" or "wealth", and the root meaning is "to bring forth".

A descendant of Cain was called Tubal-Cain in Genesis 4:22 and he was "an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron". "Tubal-Cain most probably would mean "one who brings forth wealth by striking". This would indicate a smith who works with metals.

The modern man of Tubal is he who is a partner with the people of Meshech and seeks the Midas touch and wealth at any cost. They also seek wealth by striking out in war and these will also seek the wealth of the firstborn in the land of Joseph.

There is another interesting name mentioned in verse two and this is Rosh translated as "chief" in the King James. Here Gog is called the "chief prince", but in the Hebrew it reads "Prince (Or "exalted one") of the head". Most translators have not rendered this correctly as it reads in the Hebrew because it does not make sense to them. The closest to a literal translation is the New English version, but since "prince of the head" did not make sense to them they used the Hebrew for head and rendered it "prince of Rosh". They assumed that Rosh was an ancient land that simply meant "head" just as Tubal was a land that signified wealth. This is supported by the fact that Benjamin had a son named Rosh.

Unquestioned by the translators, however, is; "What is the meaning implied if it is correctly rendered just as it reads in the Hebrew?"

A hint is given in verse 17 of the chapter under discussion: "Long years ago, the Lord God says, there were servants of mine that foresaw my will concerning thee (Gog), and even warned Israel in my name of thy coming." Ezekiel 38:17 Knox Version [KJV]

Where else in the scriptures do we have mention of Gog prince of the head? The scriptures do not refer to Gog in prophecy before the time of Ezekiel, but they do mention Rosh, the head: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; and it shall bruise thy head (ROSH), and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Jacob) Genesis 3:15

Now the puzzle fits together. Japheth has constantly bruised Jacob and prevented the manifestation of Israel, but in the end the seed of the woman (Shem or Israel) will bruise ROSH. Gog is the prince of Rosh and Ezekiel is merely prophesying about the "coup de grace" to be delivered to him.

Moses gave another probable prophecy of Gog stating that he would become the Rosh of Israel if they did not hearken to the commandment given through him. "The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head (ROSH), and thou shalt be the tail." Deuteronomy 28:43-44

"The stranger within thee" is a symbol of Gog and Magog who would constantly try to suppress and overpower true Israel.

There are other references to Gog and ROSH, but these are the two most conspicuous and will suffice for our purpose.