This issue of YAHSHUA'S WITNESS MAGAZINE
 was published for April-June 2012 

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Inside this issue:

FROM THE EDITOR

The Iron Furnace—Part II

Covered By the Blood

The Aleph 

A  NOTE TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS
ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE CHAINS OF PRISON

EDITOR: Jerry Healan  
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Frances Healan  
PROOFREADERS: Frances Healan, Jerry Healan

OUR COVER:  Spring is such a beautiful time of the year. We are leaving the dead of winter to experience the new life of spring. Spring is the true beginning of the year. It should never begin in the dead of winter. It always was the beginning of the year until the Caesars of Rome determined that the year should begin on the first of January. Our deduction is that if you follow Caesar, you will become increasingly confused. Our year begins when Yahweh declares it to begin, that is with the first New Moon closest to the equinox, which determines that the full moon and Passover will always be near the beginning of spring.

For comments or inquiries please write to YEA, P. O. Box 31, Atlanta, TX 75551.
In Kenya contact Messianic Assemblies of Yahweh 7th day, P. O. Box 79007 Nairobi, Kenya
Visit our Internet site at: shalomofyahweh.com

FROM THE EDITOR

KNOWLEDGE PUFFS UP

The Apostle Paul declares that knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (1 Cor. 8:1). This point was driven home at a Unity Conference meeting last year by a young man who presented an excellent message on this very Scripture. It is so true! Look at our politicians, our college professors, etc. They have so much knowledge that they look down from their lofty positions to deem those who have no expertise in their fields of endeavor to be clueless and ignorant.

I am looking at a news item from the Tea Party Economist whose heading declares, “Two Professors Say Americans Are Too Stupid for Democracy to Work.” My questions would be #1 Who IS intelligent enough to make democracy work? #2 Why would we want democracy to work since the American government was never set up as a democracy, but rather as a republican form of government? HellOOOooooo…..professors…..are you teaching error?

Yahweh declares, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” Hos. 4:6. So now, my question is, how are we going to balance this out? Should we fear knowledge so that we don’t get puffed up, or can we just love ourselves out of ignorance? Actually, the rest of Hosea 4:6 gives us a little clue, “...because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Elohim, I will also forget thy children.”

The key is that Yahweh’s people have rejected His law, specifically, His Torah! But wait! The Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, etc. were immersed in the Torah, as is much of Orthodox Judaism, and others today. Do they have knowledge that will save them from destruction? Yahshua condemned the people of His day because they seemed to trust in Moses, but in actuality, they were going about seeking to establish their own righteousness, and were ignorant of the true righteousness of Yahweh in the person of Yahshua the Messiah. Yahshua said that Moses wrote of Him! They denied Him! They still do!

One important thing is to remember is that we are physical and, being physical, we are failures. Israel sought to fulfill the commandments of Yahweh, but failed and had to be destroyed and removed from the land. Are we any better than them? Paul gives us the true reality when, after being an apostle of Yahshua for a good number of years, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin,” Ro. 7:14.

The tables of the covenant, that is, the 10 commandments were placed inside the ark of the covenant in the holiest place. Only one man was allowed to enter into the holiest place once per year, and at that, not without blood, and a cloud of incense so that he couldn’t even see the ark of the covenant with Yahweh sitting upon it. This testified to the fact that the only One Who had power over the 10 commandments….let alone the 613 commandments that Pharisaic Judaism and some assemblies tout….was Yahweh Himself.

The only One Who was completely innocent of sin was Yahshua the Messiah! Yahshua proclaimed to His people, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing,” Jn. 15:5. But even Yahshua admitted, “Then answered Yahshua and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise,” Jn. 5:19.

Yahshua did command His people, His disciples and those who believe in Him to keep the commandments, but we must realize as did Paul that without Him in us we are a helpless and hopeless case. He goes so far as to write that those who have repented and received the Spirit of Yahshua, have only received an earnest, a tiny down payment, a seal of inheritance, which imparts a “hope of righteousness (Eph. 1:1-14; Gal. 5:5).

Therefore, the way that we  should grow in knowledge is not, and should not be for the purpose of puffing ourselves up, but true knowledge imparts humility so that we don’t think highly of ourselves, but rather that we exalt our Savior and Redeemer Yahshua the Messiah.

Peter explains how we should grow in knowledge, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Sovereign and Saviour Yahshua the Messiah. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen,” 2 Pet. 3:18.

This is the reason that we publish Yahshua’s Witness Magazine! Our attention and knowledge should be directed toward Him! He said that Moses wrote of Him, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of Yahweh in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from Yahweh only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” Jn. 5:39-47. I rest my case.  JH

PART II

THE FOUNDER OF ROME

  The story of the founding of Rome is quite interesting. Romulus (from which Rome receives its name) and Remus were twin brothers. The story of Romulus is presented by the Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th Edition, Vol. 19, pp. 521-522, “Romulus, the son of Mars by the Vestal Rhea Silvia or Ilia, daughter of Numitor, who had been dispossed of the throne of Alba by his younger brother Amuliur. Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Silvia, were placed in a trough and cast into the Tiber by their grand-uncle. The trough grounded in the marshes where Rome afterwards stood, under the wild fig tree (Ficus ruminalis), which was still holy in later days. The babes were suckled by a she-wolf and fed by a woodpecker, and  then fostered by Acca Larantia, wife of the shepherd Faustulus. They became leaders of a warlike band of shepherds on the Palatine, and in course of time were recognized by their grand-father, whom they restored to his throne, slaying Amuliur. They founded a city on the site where they had been nurtured; later a quarrel broke out and Remus was slain. Romulus strengthened his band by offering an ‘asylum’ to outcasts and fugitives, found wives for them by capture and waged war with their kinsmen. His most formidable foe was Titus Tatius (q.v.), king of the Sabines, but after an obstinate struggle he and Romulus united their forces and reigned side by side till Tatius was slain at Lavinium in the course of a blood-feud with Laurentum. Romulus then reigned alone till he suddenly disappeared in a storm. He was thereafter worshipped as a god under the name of Quirinus. Various rationalizing accounts also exist of the legend.

  The whole story, probably first given by the annalists Fabius Pictor and Cincius Alimentus, is artificial and shows strong Greek influence (Emphasis mine). The birth, exposure, rescue, and subsequent adventures of the twins are a Greek tale of familiar type. Mars and his sacred beast, the wolf, are introduced on account of the great importance of this cult. The localities described are ancient sacred places; the Lupercal, near the ficus ruminalis, was naturally explained as the she-wolf’s den. The asylum is pure Greek, both name and institution. The story was probably invented to give an explanation of the sacred spot named inter duos lucos between the arx and the Capitol. Another Greek touch is the deification of an eponymous hero. The rape of the Sabine women is clearly aetiological, invented to account for the custom of simulated capture in marriage; these women and also Titus Tatius represent the Sabine element in the Roman population. The name Romulus (=Romanus, cp. The forms Siculus and Sicanus) means simply ‘Roman,’ the derivation of Remus is obscure.

  Romulus is regarded as the founder of the military and political institutions, as Numa and his counterpart Ancus Marcius are of the religious institutions, of Rome.”

ANALYZING THE STORY

  The story of Romulus and Remus conjure up Biblical similarities. The twins Romulus and Remus are very similar to the account of Cain and Abel. Cain slew his twin brother Abel, Romulus slew Remus. The account of the trough wherein the twins were placed in the river which came to rest in the marshes is very similar to the account of Moses. The fig tree is reminiscent of the account of Adam and Eve who clothed themselves with fig leaves after their transgression. The dispossessing of the throne is also reminiscent of the banishing of Adam and Eve from the garden of Elohim. Abel was a shepherd.

  The first city builder before the flood was Cain, “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, an called the name of the city, after the name of his son Enoch,” Gen. 4:17.

  The ancient city builders were stone masons. Cain became a stone mason in that he built a city. The name of his son was Enoch which means “initiated” coming from another word which means “to initiate” or “discipline.”

  Cain, Enoch and their progeny were the original society of “Freemasons.” Masonry is divided into two groups, the “operative” masons are the ones who are actually involved in the work of laying stones. Then there is the branch called “speculative” masonry. Here is the definition of a “FREEMASON” as tendered by Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, vol. 1, p. 378, “FREEMASON. One who has been initiated into the mysteries of the Fraternity of Freemasonry. Freemasons are so called to distinguish them from the Operative or Stone-Masons, who constituted an inferior class of workmen, and out of whom they sprang.”

  According to their own definition, Freemasonry really has nothing to do with the laying of stone. That is left to the inferior class of workmen who have nothing to do with speculative freemasonry unless they themselves have been initiated into its mysteries.

WHICH ENOCH?

  Enoch is a very important character in Freemasonry. The question is, Which Enoch do they serve? The righteous Enoch or the son of Cain? Here is what Mackey writes about the Enoch of Freemasonry, “Though the Scriptures furnish but a meager account of Enoch, the traditions of Freemasonry closely connect him, by numerous circumstances, with the early history of the institution. All, indeed, that we learn from the Book of Genesis on the subject of his life is, that he was the seventh of the patriarchs; the son of Jared, and the great grandfather of Noah; that he was born in the year of the world 622; that his life was one of eminent virtue, so much so, that he is described as ‘walking with God’; and that in the year 987 his earthly pilgrimage was terminated, as the commentators generally suppose, not by death, but by a bodily translation to heaven.

  “In the very commencement of our inquiries, we shall find circumstances in the life of this great patriarch that shadow forth, as it were, something of that mysticism with which the traditions of Freemasonry have connected him. His name, in the Hebrew language, $nh, Henoch, signifies to initiate and to instruct, and seems intended to express the fact that he was, as Oliver remarks, the first to give a decisive character to the rite of initiation and to add to the practise of Divine worship the study and application of human science. (Humanism? [emphasis mine throughout]) In confirmation of this view, a writer in the Freemasons Quarterly Review says, on this subject, that ‘it seems probable that Enoch introduced the speculative principles into the Masonic creed, and that he originated its exclusive character,’ which theory must be taken, if it is accepted at all, with very considerable reservations.

  The years of his life may also be supposed to contain a mystic meaning, for they amounted to three hundred and sixty-five, being exactly equal to a solar revolution. In all the ancient rites this number has occupied a prominent place, because it was the representative of the annual course of that luminary which, as the great fructifier of the earth, was the peculiar object of divine worship. (COMMENT: The luminary, of course, is the sun. Here is an admission of sun worship which is the primary objective of Freemasonry.)

  “Of the early history of Enoch, we know nothing. It is, however, probable that, like the other descendants of the pious Seth, he passed his pastoral life in the neighborhood of Mount Moriah. From the other patriarchs he differed only in this, that, enlightened by the Divine knowledge which has been imparted to him, he instructed his contemporaries in the practices of those rites, and in the study of those sciences, with which he had himself become acquainted.

  “The Oriental writers abound in traditionary evidence of the learning of the venerable patriarch. One tradition states that he received from God the gift of wisdom and knowledge, and that God sent him thirty volumes from heaven, filled with all the secrets of the most mysterious sciences. The Babylonians supposed him to have been intimately acquainted with the nature of the stars; and they attribute to him the invention of astrology. (COMMENT: Is this the pious Enoch spoken of here or is it the son of Cain?) The Rabbis maintain that he was taught by God and Adam how to sacrifice, and how to worship the Deity aright. The Cabalistic book of Raziel says that he received the Divine mysteries from Adam, through the direct line of the preceding patriarchs.

  The Greek Christians supposed him to have been identical with the first Egyptian Hermes, who dwelt at Sais. They say he was the first to give instruction on the celestial bodies; that he foretold the deluge that was to overwhelm his descendants; and the he built the Pyramids, engraving thereon figures of artificial instruments and the elements of the sciences, fearing lest the memory of man should perish in that general destruction. Eupolemus, a Grecian writer, makes him the same as Atlas, and attributes to him, as the Pagans did to that deity, the invention of astronomy. (COMMENT: Association with the Egyptian god Hermes is getting to the real crux of the matter.)

  “Wait (Oriental Antiquities) quotes a passage from Bar Hebraeus, a Jewish writer, which asserts that Enoch was the first who invented books and writing; that he taught men the art of building cities; that he discovered the knowledge of the Zodiac and the course of the planets; and that he inculcated the worship of God by fasting, prayer, alms, votive offerings, and tithes. Bar Hebraeus adds, that he also appointed festivals for sacrifices to the sun at the periods when that luminary entered each of the zodiacal signs; but this statement, which should make him the author of idolatry, is entirely inconsistent with all that we know of his character, from both history and tradition, and arose, as Oliver supposes, most probably from a blending of the characters of Enos and Enoch.”◊ (COMMENT: This is not a blending of the characters of Enos and Enoch, but rather the blending of the characters of the righteous Enoch with that Enoch who was the son of Cain.)

  Obviously, the Enoch who was instrumental with founding the Speculative system of Freemasonry as well as idolatrous sun worship was the son of Cain. He was involved with the particulars of human science (Humanism), astrology, sun worship, idolatry and the first Egyptian god Hermes.

ANOTHER WITNESS

  That the Enoch of Freemasonry is the son of Cain is also confirmed by Tupper Saussy in his book entitled “Rulers of Evil.” He writes, “How has the mark (of Cain) managed to remain vibrant for nearly six thousand years? Grand Commander Albert Pike, in his influential Morals and Dogma, threw valuable light on the subject. He declared that ‘from the earliest time,’ Freemasonry has been the “custodian and depositor” of the ‘symbols, emblems, and allegories...erected by Enoch.’ The Commander was careful to say he meant not Cain’s son Enoch, but the Bible’s other Enoch, Enoch-2, the good Enoch, the Enoch ‘who walked with God.’ However, his attempt to dissociate his institution from Cain puts the Commander at variance with Masonic and biblical chronology. For if a biblical Enoch erected the earliest imagery of Freemasonry, it could not possibly have been Enoch-2. It had to have been Enoch-1. Let’s examine the chronology.

  Enoch-2 was descended from Seth, whom Eve conceived after the death of Abel—’for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.’ When Eve conceived Seth, Adam was 130 years old. According to the scripturally faithful computations of the Archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher (1581-1656), Adam was created in 4004 BC. Thus, Seth was born in 3874 BC. Genesis 5:6-20 gives us an exact toll of the years between Seth and his great-great-great-great grandson Enoch-2: (See Box)

  According to the Bible, Enoch-2 was born 492 years after the birth of Seth, or in 3382 BC. Now, Commander Pike’s book, Morals and Dogma, reckons its date of publication in both Christian (1871 AD) and Masonic (5680 AM) chronology. To find out the beginning of Masonic history—that ‘earliest time’ in which Enoch erected his ‘symbols, emblems, and allegories’ - in terms of Christian chronology, we subtract the given Christian year from its Masonic equivalent (1871 from 5680). This gives us a first Masonic year of 3809 BC. But the figures show that Enoch-2 was not born until 3382, some 427 years after Freemasonry’s ‘earliest time’! Enoch-2 could not possibly have erected the prototypical symbolic devices of which Freemasonry has ever been custodian and depository. However, Cain’s son, Enoch-1, very well could have!

  Cain began his wandering after Abel’s death, which the Bible marks with Seth’s conception and Adam’s age, 130 years, in about 3876 BC. If we give Cain ten years to find a wife, settle down, and sire a child, Enoch-1 would have been born in 3866 BC. This would make him a 55-year-old man in the first Masonic year, 3809. At that age, Enoch-1 would have been fully equipped to erect symbols and allegories memorializing his father’s divine appointment to rule populations ‘out from the presence of the Lord’.” (pp. 275-276)

HERMES/MERCURY/THOTH

  I do apologize if the following may offend some in the faith, but I must relate to you how Enoch, the son of Cain is interwoven with the Grecian (brass), Roman (iron) and Egyptian (iron furnace) religions.

  Here is what Mackey admits concerning Hermes, “In all the old manuscript records which contain the Legend of the Craft, mention is made of Hermes as one of the founders of Freemasonry….There are two persons of the name of Hermes mentioned in sacred history. The first is the divine Hermes, called by the Romans Mercury. Among the Egyptians he was known as Thoth.” (Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, p. 449.)

  Hermes is the Greek name for Enoch-1. “Certain details of Hermes’ legend suggest that he was either a god of the twilight or of the wind...Since in primitive times voyages were scarcely undertaken except for commercial purposes, Hermes was consequently the god of commerce, the god of profit—lawful and unlawful—and the god of games of chance. And, since buying and selling require much discussion, and the art of the trader is to overcome the buyer’s hesitation by subtle and persuasive words, Hermes became the god of eloquence, the god Logios.

  To these various functions Hermes added that of being the messenger of Zeus. This is how he appears in Homer, where he is qualified with the epithet Diactoros (the messenger). He comes to earth ceaselessly with orders from the king of the gods and undertakes the most delicate missions. In Hesiod, Hermes is the god who brings to men’s hearts the impressions and sentiments which Zeus has inspired...He often wears a round, winged hat—a petasus—and on his feet there are winged sandals. In his hand he holds a winged staff around which serpents are entwined; this is the caduceus.” (Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, pp. 133-135)

  Enoch, the son of Cain was Hermes. He was deified to become the god of commerce. In other accounts, he was actually a thief. He was the deity of eloquence, the messenger god and also the god of medicine as the “caduceus” has ever been the symbol of that field and is still such for the modern-day medical field.

  In Roman mythology, he is given the name Mercury, “The name Mercury is connected with the root merx (merchandise) and mercari (to deal, trade). He is not very ancient for he does not appear in the Indigitamenta. The early Romans, being above all countrymen, had no need for a god of commerce. The Roman Mercury only appeared towards the fifth century B.C. and was exclusively the god of merchants. For long he was known only in this capacity, to such an extent that Plautus, in his prologue to Amphytryon, has to remind his audience that Mercury presided over messages and over commerce. Like certain other secondary divinities—Pecunia, Aesculanus, Argentinus—he watched over tradesmen’s profits.

  Mercury had a temple on the Aventine. Among animals the cock was especially sacred to him.

  To portray him Roman artists generally drew upon representations of Hermes. They gave mercury a beardless face and, for attributes, the caduceus and the winged petasus, with a purse in his hand.” (Ibid, p. 220)

  In Egypt, he was known as Thoth, “Thoth is the form which the name Djehuti or Zehuti had taken in Graeco-Roman times. He was identified by the Greeks with Hermes, Messenger of the Gods, and was worshipped throughout Egypt as a moon-god, patron of science and literature, wisdom and inventions, the spokesman of the gods and their keeper of records...Endowed with complete knowledge and wisdom, it was Thoth who invented all the arts and sciences: arithmetic, surveying, geometry, astronomy, soothsaying, magic, medicine, surgery, music with wind instruments and strings, drawing, and above all, writing, without which humanity would have run the risk of forgetting his doctrines and of losing the benefit of his discoveries.

  As inventor of hieroglyphs, he was named ‘Lord of Holy Words’. As first of the magicians he was often called ‘The Elder’. His disciples boasted that they had access to the crypt where he had locked up his books of magic, and they undertook to decipher and learn ‘these formulas which commanded all the forces of nature and subdued the very gods themselves’. It is to this infinite power which his followers attributed to him that he owes the name Thoth—three times very, very great—which the Greeks translated as Hermes Trismegistus.

  After his long reign on earth Thoth ascended to the skies where he undertook various employments.” (Ibid, pp, 25-26)

  Who was it that many faiths teach ascended into heaven? Isn’t it Enoch-2, the righteous? Isn’t this because Gen. 5:24 which states, “And Enoch walked with Elohim after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: and all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with Elohim: and he was not; for Elohim took him.”

  The truth is that Yahweh allowed Enoch to be converted and to enter the grave until the resurrection of the faithful comes. We understand this because of Heb. 11 which speaks of the elders who obtained a good report (v. 2) and the elders spoken of in verses 1-12 are Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Sarah. Then in verse 13 we read, “These ALL DIED in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

  But we also see how Thoth, the equivalent to Mercury, Hermes and Enoch-1 is syncretized with Enoch-2.

TUBAL-CAIN

Another ancestor of Cain and Enoch which we must explore in this treatise is that of Tubal-Cain, “And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah,” Gen. 4:22.

Notice that he is an “instructer of every artificer in brass and iron” which are the very metals associated with Greece (brass/bronze) and Rome (iron).

  I will now present evidence as to how Tubal-cain has also been carried over into modern day Greek, Roman and Egyptian legends and history.

  Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Vol. 2, pp. 1059-1060, “Of Tubal Cain, the sacred writings, as well as the Masonic legends, give us but scanty information. All that we hear of him in the Book of Genesis is that he was the son of Lamech and Zillah, and was ‘an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.’ The Hebrew original does not justify the common version, for vjl, lotesh, does not mean ‘an instructor,’ but ‘a sharpener’ - one who whets or sharpens instruments. Hence Doctor Raphall translates the passage as one ‘who sharpened various tools in copper and iron.’ The authorized version has, however, almost indelibly impressed the character of Tubal Cain as the Father of Artificers; and it is in this sense that he has been introduced from a very early period into the legendary history of Freemasonry.

  The first Masonic reference to Tubal Cain is found in the Legend of the Craft, where he is called the Founder of Smith-Craft, an explanation agreeing closely with modern biblical scholarship which designates him as the ‘Founder of the Gild of Smiths or Metal Workers.’ We cite this part of the legend from the Dowland Manuscript simply because of its more modern orthography; but the story is substantially the same in all the old manuscript Constitutions. In that manuscript we find the following account of Tubal Cain:

  Before Noah’s flood there was a man called Lamech, as it is written in the Bible, in the fourth chapter of Genesis; and this Lamech had two wives, the one named Ada and the other named Zilla; by his first wife, Ada, he got two sons, the one Jubal, and the other Jabal: and by the other wife he got a son and a daughter. And these four children founded the beginning of all the sciences in the world. The elder son, Jabal, founded the science of geometry, and he carried flocks of sheep and lambs into the fields, and first built houses of stone and wood, as it is noted in the chapter above named. And his brother Jubal founded the science of music and songs of the tongue, the harp and organ. And the third brother, Tubal Cain, founded smith-craft, of gold, silver, copper, iron, and steel, and the daughter founded the art of weaving. And these children knew well that God would take vengeance for sin, either by fire or water, wherefore they wrote the sciences that they had found, on two pillars that they might be found after Noah’s flood. The one pillar was marble, for that would not burn with fire; and the other was clepped laterns, and would not drown in noe water.

Similar to this an old Rabbinical tradition, which asserts that Jubal, who was the inventor of writing as well as of music, having heard Adam say that the universe would be twice destroyed, once by fire and once by water, inquired which catastrophe would first occur; but Adam refusing to inform him, he inscribed the system of music which he had invented upon two pillars of stone and brick. A more modern Masonic tradition ascribes the construction of these pillars to Enoch. To this account of Tubal Cain must be added the additional particulars, recorded by Josephus, that he exceeded all men in strength, and was renowned for his warlike achievements.

  The only other account of the proto-metallurgist that we meet with in any ancient author is that which is contained in the celebrated fragment of Sanconiatho, who refers to him under the name of Chrysor, which is evidently, as Bochart affirms, a corruption of the Hebrew chores ur, a worker in fire, that is, a smith. Sanconiatho was a Phenician author, who is supposed to have flourished before the Trojan war, probably, as Sir William Drummond suggests, about the time when Gideon was Judge of Israel, and who collected the different accounts and traditions of the origin of the world which were extant at the period in which he lived. A fragment only of this work has been preserved, which, translated into Greek by Philo Byblius, was inserted by Eusebius in his Praeparatio Evangelica, and has thus been handed down to the present day. That portion of the history by Sanconiatho, which refers to Tubal Cain, is contained in the following words:

  A long time after the generation of Hypsoaranios, the inventors of hunting and fishing, Agreas and Alieas, were born: after whom the people were called hunters and fishers, and from whom sprang two brothers, who discovered iron, and the manner of working it. One of these two, called Chrysor, was skilled in eloquence, and composed verses and prophecies. He was the same with Hephaistos, and invented fishing-hooks, bait for taking fish, cordage and rafts, and was the first of all mankind who had navigated. He was therefore worshiped as a god after his death, and was called Diamichios. It is said that these brothers were the first who contrived partion walls of brick.

  Hephaistos, it will be observed, is the Greek of the god who was called by the Romans Vulcan. Hence the remark of Sanconiatho, and the apparent similarity of names as well as occupations, have led Some writers of the last, and even of the present, century to derive Vulcan from Tubal Cain by a process not very devious and therefore familiar to etymologists. By the omission in Tubal Cain of the initial T, which is the Phenician article, and its valueless vowel, we get Balcan, which, by the interchangeable nature of B and V, is easily transformed to Vulcan.

  ‘That Tubal Cain,’ says Bishop Edw. Stillingfleet (Origines Sacrae, or a Rational Account of the Christian faith as to the Truth and Divine Authority of the Scriptures and the Matters therein contained, 1662, page 292), ‘gave first occasion to the name and worship of Vulcan, hath been very probably conceived, both from the very great affinity of the names, and that Tubal Cain is expressly mentioned to be an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron, and as near relation as Apollo had to Vulcan, Jubal had to Tubal Cain, who was the inventor of music, or the father of all such as handle the harp and organ, which the Greeks attribute to Apollo.’

  Vossius, in his treatise De Idolatria (book i, chapter 36), makes this derivation of Vulcan from Tubal Cain. But Bryant, in his Analysis of Ancient Mythology (volume i, page 139), denies the etymology and says that among the Egyptians and Babylonians, Vulcan was equivalent to Horus or Osiris, symbols of the sun. He traces the name to the words Baal Cahen, Holy Bel, or Sacred Lord. Bryant’s etymology may be adopted, however, without any interference with the identity of Vulcan and Tubal Cain. He who discovered the uses of fire, may well, in the corruptions of idolatry, have typified the solar orb, the source of all heat.

  It may seem that Tubal is an attribute compounded of the definite particle T and the word Baal, sygnifying Lord. Tubal Cain would then signify the Lord Cain. Again, dhu or du, in Arabic, signifies Lord, and we trace the same signification of this affix in its various interchangeable forms of Du, Tu, and Di, in many Semitic words. But the question of the identical origin of Tubal Cain and Vulcan has at length been settled by the researches of comparative philologists. Tubal Cain is Semitic in origin, and Vulcan is Aryan. The latter may be traced to the Sanskrit ulka, meaning a firebrand, from which we get also the Latin fulgur, and fulmen, names of the lightning.

  The modern English Freemasons, and through them the French, have derived Tubal Cain from the Hebrew tebel, meaning earth and kanah to acquire possession, and, with little respect for the grammatical rules of the Hebrew language, interpret it as meaning worldly possessions.

  In the Hemming lectures, now the authorized English system, we find that the answer to the question, ‘What does Tubal Cain denote?’ is ‘Worldly possessions.’ And Delaunay, in his Thuilleur (page 17), denies the reference to the proto-smith, and says: ‘If we reflect on the meaning of the two Hebrew words, we will easily recognize in their connection the secret with of the hierophant, of the Templar, of the Freemason, and of every mystical sect, to govern the world in accordance with its own principles and its own laws.’ It is fortunate, we think, that the true meaning of the words will authorize no such interpretation. The fact is, that even if Tubal Cain were derived from tebel and kanah, the precise rules of Hebrew construction would forbid affixing to their union any such meaning as ‘worldly possessions.’ Such an interpretation of it in the French and English systems was, therefore, in Doctor Mackey’s opinion, a very forced and inaccurate one.

  The use of Tubal Cain as a significant word in the Masonic instructions is derived from the Legend of the Craft, by which the name was made familiar to the Operative and then to the Speculative Freemasons; and it refers not symbolically, but historically to his Scriptural and traditional reputation as an artificer. If he symbolized anything, it would be labor; and a Freemason’s labor is to acquire truth, and not worldly possessions. The English and French interpretation has never been introduced into the United States.” (end of article)

  You would think that after writing an article like this, men as gifted as Mackey and others would give up their pursuit of Freemasonry as their writings continually reveal that Freemasonry is so closely interwoven with Cain and his offspring as well as idolatry that the two can’t truly be separated. If a Freemason’s labor is to acquire truth then why doesn’t the truth convict them when it smacks them right between the eyes?

THE ROMAN DEITY

  But the major factor in this article is that Tubal Cain was deified as a god of fire and war who is the modern day pagan deity Vulcan.

  “Vulcan was one of the oldest of Latin gods, ante-dating even Jupiter. Under the name Volcanus, he was the first Jupiter of Rome whose foundation he protected. In his aspect of Jupiter he formed a couple with Juno. He was also associated with Maia, an incarnation of the Earth Mother, and with Vesta, considered as goddess of the earth. He was not allied with Venus who in those remote times still played a small part in Roman mythology….Vulcan was the god of the thunderbolt and of the sun, then the god of fires whose ravages he could arrest, and finally the god of life-giving warmth.

  He was invoked as the divinity of the hearth and, as he was united with Maia, mother of springs, he was considered the first god of the Tiber. He even possessed warlike functions and may have preceded Mars as god of battles….It is probable that in ancient times human sacrifices were offered to Vulcan. His altar in the Forum was the Volcanal.

  Near him stand the hammer, tongs and anvil, attributes which came from Greece.” (LaRousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, pp. 218-219)

  The Greek name of Vulcan was Hephaestus whose attributes were very similar to the Roman’s.

THE WAY OF CAIN

  The fact of the matter now is that the kingdoms of this world are generally ruled by those who are initiated into the secret mysteries of Freemasonry. Even the American dollar bill announces “Novus Ordo Seclorum” or New Order of the Ages! There is the Great Pyramid of Giza of Egypt with the all-seeing eyes of the Egyptian sun god Horus hovering above it. It also announces “Annuit Coeptis.” Annuit Coeptis is Latin, but we can figure out what it is really telling us because we get our English word “annuity” from this Latin word “annuit.” An annuity is simply a payment. Coeptis is a Latin word for Egypt, therefore, “Annuit Coeptis” simply means “PAYMENT OF EGYPT!”

  The fourth great gentile kingdom is a kingdom which is the inheritor of all kingdoms before it, yes, even many of the attributes of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The primary characteristics are those of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. But it also inculcates the attributes of Egypt, the IRON FURNACE! It also inculcates the attributes of the Assyrian Empire and many, many others. It is a great kingdom whose heaven is brass/bronze and its earth is iron! It is also a kingdom that possesses the characteristics of Cain and his progeny!

  Here is what Jude proclaims, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, impious men, turning (or perverting) the grace of our Elohim into lasciviousness, and denying (or contradicting) the only Sovereign Elohim and our Sovereign Yahshua the Messiah,” vv. 3-4.

COMMENT: How did this take place? How did these men creep in unawares and pervert the evangel and grace of our Messiah? I can tell you that it was a very subtle undertaking.

  Freemasons admit that they built all of the temples of the ancient world. Their influence is found in all of the religions of the earth. They are highly secretive in their undertakings. Because of this, most of the world doesn’t understand their nature.

  Freemasonry initiates its members into the ancient secret mystery religions. It has a system of degrees into which one must train himself to accomplish. There are thirty three degrees of the two branches of Freemasonry. There is the Scottish or York Rite Branch and the Shriner’s Branch. Each degree has its own secret signs of hand shakes, words, phrases, symbols, etc.

  Freemasons enter into various bodies or systems of peoples secretly. There may be several Freemasons who have infiltrated a group and are oblivious to one another. However, it only takes a handshake, a sign, a symbol, a word, or a phrase for them to instantly recognize their brotherhood.

  While the lower degrees may not be aware of the intentions of the leadership of the system, the fact of the matter is that they are able to eventually get the upper hand and then take over an organization which they will fashion into an image of the tenets of Freemasonry.

  I have personally witnessed this reality having been a member of the Worldwide Church of God. Their turn-about from the paths of truth which they had is because of this infiltration. We witnessed this corruption take place in a matter of ten to fifteen years which took a couple of hundred years to take place in the Christian Church.

  The result is that the grace of the Messiah has been grossly perverted and the Scriptures, the word of truth has been contradicted time, after time, after time.

CONCLUSION

  What goes around, comes around. History forgotten is history repeated. Yahweh’s people, Israel, and the rest of the world, have once again become enslaved to an Egyptian system, which can be described as none other than the iron furnace.

  In Daniel chapter two we have the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which is a representative, a thumbnail sketch of the history of the major ruling kingdoms of this world as well as the history of their idolatries.

  Furthermore, the serpent, the prince of the power of the air, who is also the god of this world, is very subtle and deceptive. The Scriptures report that he has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9).

  In Daniel chapter 7, the history of the world ruling kingdoms is revealed as the nature of beasts. In both chapters, the fourth kingdom or beast continues to rule until the kingdom of heaven is established.(Dan. 2:44; 7:27)

  The furnace is prepared in order to separate Yahweh’s people from the dross of the ways of this present evil world. Just as plagues were poured out upon Egypt before Yahweh’s people were delivered from her midst, great plagues will be poured out on this present evil world in this day and age. Yahweh’s people will be called, are being called to separate themselves from the evils of this world, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues,” Rev. 18:4.

  Yes, Yahweh’s people! Come out of this present evil world! Repent of your sins, your lawlessness! Turn to Yahweh through His Beloved and obedient Son Yahshua the Messiah! Only through Him will you be prepared and able to stand in the day of His revelation and return! Yahweh decrees, “Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I Yahweh am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Yahweh shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy Elohim thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for Yahweh shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I Yahweh will hasten it in his time,” Isa.60:15-22.

  Yes! Repent of your idolatry so your brass can be turned to gold, your iron to silver, your wood to brass, and your stones to iron! It is Yahweh and only Yahweh Who has the power to do this! HalleluYah!!!!!  

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THE HEBREW ALEPH  

THE ALEPH  

We know that the Scriptures are written in types, metaphors, parables, mysteries, etc. After all, the book of Proverbs says, "It is the glory of Elohim to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter," 25:2. Yahshua came speaking in parables in order to keep things hidden (Mt. 13:1-17). John writes that Yahshua is the Word. He is the One Who spoke everything into existence (Psa. 33:1-9). There are 22 prime letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Are there mysteries hidden in each letter? We think so, and it is our desire to search out the letters to see what hidden things we can seek out.

By Jerry Healan

   The very first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the aleph. It is the Hebrew equivalent to our letter "A". The original Hebrew alphabet was composed of pictures, or hieroglyphics which, when put together into words, would give a pictorial meaning of that very word.

Let's take the Hebrew word El, which the world believes is the equivalent to the English word God. El is composed of two Hebrew letters; aleph and lamed (la/la/la). (NOTE: I am presenting the Hebrew word in the three main Hebrew alphabets to give you the example. They are first, the Pictorial Hebrew, second, the Paleo-Hebrew, and third, Modern Hebrew. Both the Pictorial and Paleo Hebrew give us a more accurate picture of the letters.

The aleph is a picture, hieroglyphic for the head of an ox. Being the first letter of the alphabet, it promotes the idea of that which is first, chief, a head, a leader, strength, etc. The lamed is the picture, hieroglyphic of a rod, specifically a shepherd's rod for prodding, protecting, authority, etc. But it also promotes the idea of a teacher, as the Hebrew word "lamad" is defined as; to goad, i.e. (by impl.) to teach (the rod being an Oriental incentive). (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew concordance #3925)

Therefore, the Hebrew word El promotes the idea of one who is a "strong authority", "chief shepherd", "head, or master teacher", "mighty one", etc. (NOTE: Those who refuse to utilize the Hebrew word El, and its plural form Elohim in reference to Yahweh are utterly missing the point and exhibiting their ignorance as to the truth of the matter.)

Even though el, and elohim are nothing more than common nouns, when we write these words in relation to our Great Creator Yahweh, we do utilize capital letters because of their association with Him, just as I have capitalized the words Great Creator, and Him.

Remember that just as the Father Yahweh is El, so is Yahshua. He is the "Chief Shepherd" that we are looking for, "And when the chief Shepherd (El—la) shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away," 1 Pet. 5:4. Yahshua was/is also the Head, or Master Teacher, also being strong and mighty. He, Himself, proclaimed that He is the aleph, "I am the aleph.....," Rev. 1:8. He was speaking to John, a Hebrew. He would have been speaking the Hebrew language, not Greek.

YAHWEH

According to many Rabbis, and other teachers, the Modern Hebrew aleph is composed of two yods (y), and a waw/vav (w) in the middle (a). Since the Hebrew letters also serve as numbers, the aleph is the number one, but it is composed of these three items, to wit; an upper yod, a lower yod, and the waw/vav in between. The yod = the number 10, while the waw/vav = 6. 10 + 10 +6 = 26.

The very name Yahweh also is equivalent in numerical value to 26 since the yod (y) = 10, the hei (h) = 5, the waw/vav (w) = 6, and the hei (h) = 5. 10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26.

The aleph, therefore, being the number one, also represents a compound unity since it is composed of the three letters that are equivalent in numerical value to Yahweh's name. This then helps us to understand the unity of Yahweh as it is proclaimed, "Shema Yishrael, Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh echad," or "Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim is one Yahweh," Dt. 6:4.

Yahshua also proclaimed this, "And Yahshua answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; Yahweh our Elohim is one Yahweh: And thou shalt love Yahweh thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment," Mk. 12:29-20. He also proclaimed, "I and my Father are one," Jn. 10:30. When He declared this statement, the Jews took up stones to stone Him because they understood that He was declaring that He was Elohim, specifically, Yahweh!

THE WORD ALEPH

The aleph is spelled @la in Modern Hebrew. The last letter, the pei (@), is exhibited here in its final form. When occurring anywhere else in a word it looks like this (p). The first two letters of the word aleph consists of the aleph (a), and lamed (l), of course, which makes the word El (la). In his book entitled The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters, Robert Haralick writes, "The concealed meaning of a is obtained from pl, related to the root @pl, which means to bind and wrap a cloth around as to swaddle a cloth or blanket around a baby." (p. 20) I checked this out with Marcus Jastrow's Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature and he confirmed this to be so.

Yahshua, the aleph (pla), when He was born as a baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes (Lk. 2:7)!

Since we know that the first two letters in the word aleph are the aleph and lamed, which make up the word El, and we also know their pictorial meaning, let's take a look at the pictorial meaning of the letter pei (p/p/p). It is the hieroglyphic of a mouth! In relation to Yahshua, it would mean "The mouth of El!"

"By the word of Yahweh were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.... Let all the earth fear Yahweh: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast," Psa. 33:6, 8-9. (See also Jn. 1:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:1-3)

Mr. Haralick also makes this observation, “The letter energy intelligence a is the unifying force of (Elohim) as creator of the universe.” (IBID, p. 20)

Yes! We agree! Yahshua, the Aleph, is the Mediator between heaven and earth, between Elohim and man (1 Tim. 2:5) and also the Mediator of a new and better covenant (Heb. 8:6; 9:15).

He continues, “On the tree of life, it encompasses the first three Sephirot .rt,K, (keter; crown), hm,k.x (chokmah; wisdom), and hnyB (binah; understanding), especially the first Sephirah rtk, reinforced by the fact that @la spelled backwards is alp, which means wonder or marvel, so wondrous and so marvelous that it is beyond our strength and rational comprehension, and therefore, hidden from us. (IBID, p. 20)

Isn’t this awesome! Even the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the aleph testifies to Yahshua being the One Who spoke everything into existence! In this excursion, we are learning so much about our Master, Redeemer, Savior, High Priest, King Yahshua the Messiah.

There are mysteries, parables, types, metaphors that must be revealed, and they are revealed when we look at how they speak of Yahshua!

Weep and mourn all of you who resist the knowledge of Who Yahshua is, was, and will be! It would be better for you if you would fear, and turn to repentance, giving esteem, honor, and glory to Him. Do it now while you still have time!

THOUSANDS

 The Hebrew characters that make up the word aleph, pronounced ah’ lef, can also be pronounced as eh’ lef. In this sense, one becomes a thousand. A thousand would become thousands eventually increasing to millions, billions, trillions, etc., etc.

The first man Adam’s name began with the aleph—mda. From this one man, this first man, has come all of the billions of mankind.

The first Adam was the sire of all of the physical, fleshly, carnal, temporary mankind.

Thankfully, there is also a second Adam, Yahshua the Messiah, Who is the sire of all of those who are to be born of the spirit, “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit,”       1 Cor. 15:45.

Just as Adam was first formed and then His wife Eve who was made of a rib that came from his side, Adam being put to sleep, which is a type of death; Yahshua, the second Adam was put to death/sleep so that He could bring forth His spiritual bride through the blood that poured from His side.

We know that because of Yahshua’s sacrifice, there will soon be 144,000 firstfruits that will appear at the first resurrection. This 144,000 consist of 12,000 being sealed from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

After this, there is a great multitude that simply can’t be numbered (Rev. 7:1-10).

Peace can’t come to this earth until Yahshua and His bride take their power and begin to reign. Just as Adam and Eve were brought forth on the sixth day of creation, Yahshua and His bride will come forth at the end of the six thousandth year to begin their reign of peace and rest upon the earth.

IMPORTANT WORDS

So many most important words begin with the aleph. The first would be the word for Father, which is Ab—ba in relation to the Heavenly Father.

The Hebrew word for mother is em—ma.

There is the word love—ahav—bha. The greatest love, of course, is that which comes from the Father through Yahshua.

The Hebrew word for “one” begins with the aleph—dxa. We can only become one with the Father through Yahshua (Jn. 17:22-23).

The common nouns El, Eloah, Elohim, etc. which describe Yahweh begin with the aleph—El = la; Eloah = hla; Elohim = myhla.

The Hebrew word for sovereign, master, lord begins with an aleph—adon—!wda. My Master, My Sovereign would be adonai—ynwda. Yahshua is our Adon.

The Hebrew word for earth begins with an aleph—erets—#ra.

The word for truth is emet—tma. Yahshua is the truth (Jn. 14:6).

When Yahweh met Moses commissioning him to bring Israel out of Egypt, Moses asked His name to which He responded hyha-rva-hyha; I Am That I Am.

As already alluded to, there is the first man Adam (mda), and the second man Adam (mda). Both are a first, a beginning, one of the flesh, the other of the spirit.

Abraham is another important Biblical figure whose name begins with the aleph—mhrba.

Yahweh is light, the Hebrew word for light is owr—rwa. Yahshua said that He is the light (Jn. 8:12; 9:5).

The Hebrew word for fire, Yahweh is a consuming fire, is esh—va.

Yahshua is the stone (eben—nba) of grace. Another way to understand the unity of the Father and Son is in this Hebrew word for stone. Eben—nba, contains two Hebrew words. The first is the word ba—Father. The second word is nb—Son. This word reveals the oneness, the unity of the Father and Son, as they are one stone. We will touch on this more later.

The Hebrew word for faith is amen/amein; !ma. Yahshua said that He is the Amen/Amein, “And unto the angel of the assembly of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of Elohim,” Rev. 3:14.

Too many people are so afraid of this word “Amen/!ma”, but look at the word “faithful!” In Hebrew the word faithful as it relates to the Father and Son is twnma. While the “true witness” would the “witness of truth.” Witness is da (ed), while truth is tma (emet).

CONCLUSION

Yahshua is the aleph (a/a/a). As we just read, He is the beginning of the creation of Elohim. The aleph stands at the head, the first of the Hebrew alphabet. It defines Yahshua in His ability to be the mouth of El, Who can speak the heavens and earth into existence.

Scientists and religionists continue to search for the beginning, but they will never find it, nor the reason for all things until they look to Yahshua the Messiah! May you be blessed to see these things!

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