From: Jerry Healan
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: The Covenant of Clean and Unclean (Part 2 of 3)

THE FOURTH KINGDOM

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. When he couldn't remember what the dream
was, he demanded his astrologers and soothsayers to tell him what it
was that he had dreamed. When they couldn't deliver, he was about to
have all of them, their families and homes destroyed when Daniel
interceded. Daniel requested a little time promising that he would
tell Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was.

YAHWEH revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel who, in turn,
revealed it to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he had
dreamed of an image whose head was gold, breast and arms of silver,
belly and thighs of brass and legs iron while its feet were part of
iron and part of clay (Dan. 2:1-33).

Finally a stone is formed without hands which smites the image on its
feet, destroying the image to the point that it could no longer be
found. Then the stone becomes a great mountain which fills the
whole earth (vv. 34-35).

Then Daniel gives the interpretation of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar is
told that he is the head of gold. The breast, and arms of silver
represent another kingdom in succession to him which will be inferior
to his kingdom, then a third kingdom of brass and a fourth kingdom of
iron will follow in succession.

History reveals that Babylon, being Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom
represented by the head of gold, was followed by the Persian kingdom,
which was followed by the Greek kingdom which was followed in turn by
the Roman kingdom. The Roman kingdom continues until the fifth kingdom
which will be the kingdom of heaven ushered in by YAHshua the Messiah.

If you think that the Roman kingdom has disappeared you have another
think coming. Most of our laws stem from the Roman laws instituted by
the Caesars. Our court system is patterned after the Roman courts. Our
government is patterned after the Greeks and Romans. Rome was
originally a republic. The Greeks were the first perpetrators of
democracy. We style our government after the republican form, but
declare that we are a democracy. Our civil calendar is Roman in its
make-up. Even the gauge of our railroad tracks is patterned after the
width of the wheels on the Roman chariots. Everywhere we look we see
the effects of Rome, our holidays are Roman holidays, even the word
that we use for love (romance) comes from the word Roman.

THE FOURTH BEAST

While Daniel, chapter 2 gives a metallic nature of the four world
ruling kingdoms, Daniel, chapters 7 & 8 give a beastly nature of these
same four kingdoms. The first thing to notice is that these beasts
arise out of the "great sea." One can say that this "great sea" is the
sea of humanity and he will be right, but another part of the equation
leading us to understanding is that the term "great sea" was
utilized in ancient times to describe the Mediterranean Sea and its
environs. The first beast that Daniel saw was like a lion which had
eagle's wings. Many people become confused concerning these kingdoms
because they do not allow the Bible to interpret itself under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit. The lion is called "king of beasts". The
eagle is called "king of birds." Notice that Daniel told
Nebuchadnezzar that he was a "king of kings" in Dan. 2:37, "Thou, O
king, art a king of kings: for the Elohim of heaven hath given thee a
kingdom, power, and strength, and glory." The lion (king of beasts)
and the eagle (king of birds) of Dan. 7:4 would identify the first
beast as the kingdom of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar's direction.

The bear with the three ribs in its mouth (Dan. 2:5) would represent
Persia, the leopard with the four wings would represent Greece and the
fourth beast which was dreadful and terrible and strong
exceedingly would represent Rome. Notice that this fourth beast has
teeth of iron which is the metal associated with the fourth kingdom of
Dan. 2.

In today's world, many people are expecting a great beast to arise,
but the truth is that the beast kingdoms have been in power ever since
Babylon arose millennia ago.

THE METALLIC NATURE

The metals of which the kingdoms were represented in Daniel 2 also
express characteristics of the four successive kingdoms. We don't have
time nor space to elaborate on all of the aspects here, but
we can point out some few characteristics.

Babylon was represented by gold. Gold is a precious metal which is
very much desired by the people of this world. One of the important
characteristics of gold is that it is soft, moldable and
pliable. If one notices the nature of king Nebuchadnezzar he will find
that the king could be a very powerful, dynamic and authoritative
individual. However, when YAHWEH personally and openly dealt with him,
Nebuchadnezzar is shown to have been able to be worked with, molded
and shaped in the hands of the Creator.

Persia was represented by silver which is also a precious, moldable
metal. When the Persian kings were dealt with by the Creator YAHWEH,
they also gave in to His bidding and will.

Greece was represented by brass or bronze. Actually, the Hebrew word
probably should have been translated as "bronze." However, both metals
are alloys. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc while bronze is an
alloy principally of copper and tin. This, of course, denotes impurity
through mixture.

A very interesting fact concerning the original Hebrew word for brass
or bronze is that it is "nechushah" stemming from the original root
word "nachash" translated as "serpent." Alexander the Great, the
founder of the Macedonian/Greek empire believed that his real father
was the serpent god Zeus Ammon.

While Alexander was favorable to the Hebrews in the environs of
Jerusalem/Jud=E6a, his successors exhibited an outright contempt and
hatred for anything Hebrew or anything associated with the
Hebrew Elohim.

Brass or bronze is a very hard, rigid metal. The spirit and attitude
of the Greek kingdom began to exhibit an enmity and uncompromising
rigid attitude against YAHWEH and His People. They were
not moldable nor pliable, nor able to be easily worked with as the
previous kingdoms (Babylon and Persia) had been.

The fourth kingdom of iron, Rome, also exhibited favor early on for
the Hebrew people, but the latter end was similar to the Greeks. They
eventually dealt very harshly and rigidly with the Jewish
people resulting in their destruction and deportation of the survivors
into many parts of the then known world as slaves.

THE BEASTLY NATURE

Daniel 7 portrays these same kingdoms with a beastly nature. The first
three animals representing the corresponding kingdoms are easy to
imagine because they are represented by animals that we have
either seen or seen pictures of.

The lion and the eagle are both very lofty creatures in the images
that they portray. The lion is a noble looking creature. They are a
communal creature which contains an overall male leader with a
group of females called a "pride."

The eagle usually builds its nests in high craggy places, in cliff
sides, which are very inaccessible to most creatures. The point is
that their nest, perch and flight is in high and lofty places.

Babylon was the first and highest of the four world ruling kingdoms.

The bear is also a very powerful creature. Their size gives the idea
of a slow lumbering movement, but their size and slow lumbering
movements can be deceptive. When they go into action, they can
move very swiftly and powerfully to overcome their adversary. This
description fits the Persian kingdom.

The leopard is an animal which depends on its subtlety and quickness
in order to overcome its prey. This description fits the Greek
kingdom, especially under the direction of Alexander. It has been
reported that the Persian forces numbered about one million while
Alexander embarked on his conquering mission with only thirty thousand
troops under his command. Victory over all their foes depended on
Alexander's subtlety and the quickness of troop movements to vanquish
their foes. In modern times, the Germans perfected Alexander's tactics
into their "blitzkrieg" warfare which gave them early and quick
success in World War II.

While the first three beast powers were able to be described by known
creatures of the animal kingdom, the fourth beast was such a dreadful,
terrible and exceedingly strong beast that there was no known living
beast that could be utilized to describe it. It was a beast that
devoured, brake in pieces and stamped the residue with its feet (Dan.
7:7).
THE GOD-KINGS

One of the things that made the Greek and later Roman leaders so
intolerant to the Hebrew faith was that these leaders sought to
present themselves as god-kings and saviors. The Greek kings that
followed Alexander did everything in their power to overthrow the
Hebrew faith in order that the Greek kings and their pagan gods could
be worshipped.

One of the most famous Greek kings Antiochus Epiphanes was so zealous
in his efforts to overthrow the Hebrew faith and the Hebrew Elohim
that he entered into Jerusalem wreaking havoc, forbidding the
practices of circumcision, observance of the Sabbath day, the worship
of YAHWEH, etc. on pain of death. He placed a statue of Zeus in the
holy place, sacrificed a swine on the altar, made a broth of its flesh
and spattered the walls of the temple with the vile solution.

Eventually John Hyrcannus and his family rallied a small contingent of
Jewish followers who revolted against this vile king, overthrew his
forces in a series of military campaigns and delivered the people
and the temple from this Greek despot. This was the famous Maccabean
revolt with the resulting Hannukah celebration.

Many people think that Antiochus' actions are what Daniel's prophecy
is speaking of concerning the one who would place the abomination of
desolation (Dan. 8:13, 9:27 & 11:31). While these Scriptures may be
speaking of Antiochus in type, the true fact is that a more sinister
leader than Antiochus Epiphanes came on the scene at a later time. We
will deal with this leader shortly, but consider the lofty titles that
the Greek kings gave themselves. Seleucus I was one of Alexander's
four generals who had a portion of the kingdom divided out to him
after Alexander`s death. He fathered Antiochus I who titled himself as
Soter (savior). Antiochus II took the title Theos (god),
Antiochus III was titled "the great king," and Antiochus IV titled
himself Theos Epiphanes (god manifest).

With such high and lofty titles and ideals concerning themselves and
their deities, it is no wonder that there was a natural enmity between
the Greeks and Hebrews. The Hebrews worshipped YAHWEH, the true King
of heaven. At that period of time, they weren't about to allow a
foreign pagan king and army come into their land and lead them astray.
One certainly can begin to easily understand the symbolism of the
brass/bronze (nechushah/nachash/serpent) metal of the 3rd
kingdom and the hard impenitent attitude of the Greek leaders that the
metal depicted.

THE ROMAN KINGDOM & LEADERS

The incident of the sacrifice of the swine on the altar is very
interesting in the scheme of things. This certainly portrayed the
uncleanness of the Greek kings. But Rome was the kingdom that followed
the Greek kingdom to rule the world and as we have already found out,
the boar (pig or swine) was one of their military ensigns.

The Encyclopedia Judaica has this to say about Rome, "Rome is referred
to in rabbinic literature by various designations - *Edom, Esau (see
*Esau, in the Aggadah), *Amalek, Seir, *Tyre; the guilty
kingdom; the wanton government; the fourth kingdom; and other
epithets, mostly denigratory. It is compared, among other things, to
the pig and the eagle."

Notice that again! It is compared to the pig! It has a pig
(boar/swine) as one of its military ensigns. The military ensigns were
images of their deities!

Rome became an empire under the direction of the Caesars. Rome had
changed its nature from a republic to an empire just before YAHshua
was born. She became an empire under the guidance and authority of the
Caesars.

The Latin equivalent to the English word Caesar is Kaiser. The Russian
equivalent is Czar pronounced like K-zar. The interesting thing about
this name and designation is that the Hebrew word utilized for "boar"
in Psa. 80:13 is "ryzIx]" pronounced "chaziyr/khaz-eer." This
pronunciation is too close to the word Kaiser to overlook, especially
due to the fact that the boar spoken of in Psa. 80:13 is Rome (and its
leader).

When Titus and his forces accomplished the destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple, the soldiers took Titus, along with their military
ensigns (which included the pig/swine/boar/chaziyr), to the place
where the temple had been; sacrificed to them and declared Titus as
Imperator bestowing upon him also the title of Caesar (the
pig/swine/boar/chaziyr/Kaiser/Czar, etc.)!

Notice the figure below which is taken from Alexander Hislop's The Two
Babylons. The Roman emperor (Caesar/Kaiser) Trajan is depicted as
offering a sacrifice to the goddess Diana. Notice in
particular the head of the boar in the tree (wood, forest, miyya'ar).
Here we have the Kaiser offering sacrifice to Diana under the
influence of the boar (chaziyr/khaz-eer').

Rome is associated with a pig according to the Encyclopedia Judaica.
The semantics of the wordCaesar reveals that even the leader of the
Roman Empire was a pig, swine, boar, Kaiser, Caesar!

ROMAN WAR TACTICS

When the Romans thought about going to war, they would confer in the
Senate if such a campaign should be embarked upon. They would pray to
their gods, especially Mars, the war god. They would also pray to the
gods of the people against whom they were deliberating their military
campaign. They would promise the gods of the city state, nation or
kingdom against whom they were contemplating a campaign that they
would bring them to Rome and build a more magnificent temple
to their honor. When their campaign was completed, they would usually
enslave their captors, but according to their promise, they would
bring the priesthood of the god of that nation or city to Rome and
build a temple to their honor or place their religious artifacts in a
temple built to a similar Roman god. Thus, Rome became the center of
all paganism.

When Augustus Caesar came along, there was economic, political and
civil chaos in the republic. All of the religions and temples had been
forsaken and had fallen into disrepair. Augustus restored order
in all facets of Roman life including religion. He bragged that he had
restored 82 temples that had fallen into disrepair. He also appointed
himself as Pontifex Maximus placing his protective spirit (genii) over
all religion and became the sovereign over it all. Caesar (the boar)
became Pontifex Maximus over all paganism.

When Titus destroyed Jerusalem and its temple, the Romans considered
that they had taken YAHWEH, the Elohim of the Jewish people, captive
also. The proof of this concept is exhibited on the arch of Titus to
this day. The arch of Titus reveals the Romans taking away the vessels
of the temple especially the menorah (lamp-stand), the table of
shewbread, etc. to the city of Rome.

THE SPIRIT OF THE CAESARS

The enmity between the Greeks and Hebrews played into the Roman hands.
After their experience with Antiochus Ephiphanes, the Jewish people
eventually invited the Romans into the environs of the Middle East
hoping that they would be a deterrent to any future Greek occupation.

While Rome was a republic, the general consensus was that the Hebrews
were to be left alone. They were given a limited amount of autonomy,
but when the Caesars entered on the scene, things began to change.

Augustus appointed Herod, a descendant of Esau and Ishmael, to the
position of king and sovereign over the Jews. Herod was a very
despicable tyrant according to accounts of him in Josephus and
also in the New Testament.

When YAHshua and His disciples appeared on the scene, Rome was
generally maintaining a "hands-off" attitude concerning the Jewish
people and their religion. As long as the new found faith
remained a Jewish problem, the Romans paid little attention to it.

However, the non-Hebrews were another situation entirely. Augustus had
wanted to be worshipped as a god-king much like the Greek kings had
been. Since the non-Hebrew peoples of the Middle East had no problem
with their leaders being worshipped as such, there were alters and
temples built to Caesar's honor in many, many places.

Herod had built the city of Caesarea in honor of Augustus. It had as
one of its crowning features, a temple built to his honor.

The conflict between Rome and the newfound faith of YAHshua's
followers began to heat up when non-Hebrews were called to the faith.
This was taken as a slap in the face and an eminent danger to
Caesar and his position. After all, Caesar was the god and savior of
the non-Hebrews. He was their Pontifex Maximus which not only had to
do with the office of high priest, but also with the mediator between
heaven and earth.

Caesar and his forces declared war on the camp of the saints
attempting to eradicate them totally and completely.

The prophet Daniel foretold of this conflict, "I beheld, and the same
horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the
Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of
the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom...And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and
shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change
times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and
times and the dividing of time," Dan. 7:21-22, 25.

One of the problems that the Caesars experienced was that even though
the true disciples were persecuted, tortured, put in prison, slain,
etc., their numbers grew by leaps and bounds. During periods of
respite, the assembly didn't seem to prosper quite so well.

The last real period of persecution at the hand of the Caesars
occurred during the reign of Diocletian. He severely persecuted the
believers for a period of about 10 years. It is possible that this is
the time period that is associated with the Smyrna assembly and her
persecution, for YAHshua told the assembly that they would have
tribulation for ten days (Rev. 2:8-11). Ten days would actually be 10
years on the principle of a day for a year which occurs many places in
Scripture.

ENTER CONSTANTINE

Constantine became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire not long after
Diocletian's death. Constantine was a very shrewd and subtle man. He
enlisted a tactic of the Greeks in order to enter
into the New Testament Assembly and take over.

The Greeks had waged war with the Trojans for years without success.
Finally, in desperation, they build a wooden horse which they left
outside the city of Troy and the army sailed off in ships. This
made it look as if the Trojans had won and the wooden horse was a
memorial to their victory. The hapless Trojans pulled the horse inside
their city, not knowing that the Greeks had hidden some of
their chief soldiers inside.

The Trojans celebrated their seeming victory with a real bash. While
the Trojans were sleeping off the effects of their victory
celebration, the Greek soldiers which had been secreted inside the
wooden horse exited and opened the gates to the waiting army which had
crept back unawares. The overthrow of Troy became a great epic in
history.

Constantine, utilizing the same tactics, feigned repentance, gave the
leaders of the corrupted remnants of the New Testament assembly
special privileges such as tax exemption, exemption from
military service, promoted many of them to high offices throughout the
empire, etc. Constantine, the head of the beast power, the enemy of
the saints entered into the New Testament Assembly and took over
promoting himself as its Pontifex Maximus. Whatever he declared
or decreed became the law of the assembly.

Constantine, the head of the Roman Empire (the beast power), the
Caesar (boar) had entered into the New Testament Assembly and taken
over. The A & E television channel recently ran an autobiography on
Constantine. The comment was made that he who had been Pontifex
Maximus over all paganism now became the Pontifex Maximus of the
church. He and his successors began to skillfully blend paganism
(idolatry, heathenism) and the new faith together.

ZECHARIAH'S PROPHECY

The book of Zechariah reveals what has taken place down through time.
"And he shewed me YAHshua the high priest standing before the angel of
YAHWEH, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him," Zech.
1:1.

The interesting thing about this word resist is that in the Hebrew,
the name of Satan is !j'F' while the word for resist is nj.fi. They
are actually the same characters! Shin, tob, nun. Satan has, in
reality, satanized the heavenly High Priest.

Notice further, "And YAHWEH said unto Satan, YAHWEH rebuke thee, O
Satan; even YAHWEH that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this
a brand plucked out of the fire? Now YAHshua was clothed with filthy
garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and
spake unto those that stood before him, saying, `Take away the filthy
garments from him.' And unto him he said, `Behold, I have caused thine
iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of
raiment'," vv. 2-4.

The word "filthy" comes from the Hebrew word "~yaiAc" (tsoayom) which
has to do with excrement or dung. YAHWEH had warned the Levitical
priesthood that, since they had married the daughter of a strange el
(Mal. 2:11), He would spread dung upon their faces (Mal. 2:3). Dung
has to do with polluting and corrupting YAHWEH and His wondrous name
with false pagan idolatrous practices. Thus YAHshua the High Priest,
who was a type of YAHshua the Messiah, the heavenly High
Priest, is shown to be clothed with garments of dung.

This is the work of Satan the devil and the descendants of Esau who
are fornicators and profane persons. They are willing to sell their
birthright for a price!

Another interesting thing is the term "change of raiment" (v. 4). The
Jay P. Green Interlinear Bible renders this as "festal garments!" In
other words, the High Priest has been clothed with false
idolatrous pagan feasts instead of the commanded feasts of YAHWEH
which were the Sabbath and the annual holy days.

It was Constantine who proclaimed that the New Testament rest day
occur on the first day of the week, Sunday, as well as observe the
annual birthday of the sun which was Dec. 25th.

One of our modern day college textbooks, The Immense Majesty - A
History of Rome and the Roman Empire by Thomas W. Africa, under the
heading of The Chr-stian Revolution reveals, `His (Eusebius, a
supposed early church historian) apologetic works are crammed with
references to authors now lost, and he welded Chr-stianity to
classical culture by claiming that Plato and other sages were either
inspired by Biblical truth or had somehow intuited it.' The Pax Romana
had been divinely designed to make the world safe for Chr-stianity,
which was the culmination of all that was good in the past. THE HERO
WHO COMPLETED THE DIVINE PLAN, CONSTANTINE, WAS GLORIFIED IN A
PANEGYRICAL BIOGRAPHY THAT CONTAINS MUCH USEFUL MATERIAL...The Roman
Emperor was as divine as he could be while still remaining
a Chr-stian...The widespread solar cult was incorporated by
Constantine, whose views of Chr-st WERE ALLOYED with his old devotion
to Sol Invictus. In 321 the emperor reserved Sunday as a holiday for
Chr-stians, and in 336 the birthday of Sol Invictus, December 25, was
arbitrarily chosen as Chr-stmas. A mosaic still survives under Saint
Peter's in Rome which shows Chr-st as a solar deity in Apollo's
chariot." (Chapter 9, pp. 356-357)

In accordance with the book of Daniel, the change in the times and
laws were begun in earnest. In order to become one of YAHWEH'S people,
one must repent of the observance of the worldly pagan festivals and
holidays turning to the commanded days of YAHWEH which include the
Sabbath and annual holy days. (Order our free booklet entitled Col.
2:16-17 or Holidays Vs. Holydays)

POLLUTING THE NAMES

Zechariah continues, "And I said, `Let them set a fair mitre upon his
head.' So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with
garments. And the angel of YAHWEH stood by," v. 5.

The important thing to consider here is that the mitre was a very
important article of clothing for the Hebrew High Priest. When he
entered into the holiest place on the day of Atonement, he was
wearing the mitre of the High Priest which had a blue ribbon on it
with the words "qodesh la YAHWEH" (holy to YAHWEH) inscribed in gold
letters. But Satan has influenced the world to not only pollute
YAHWEH'S and YAHshua's names through idolatrous paganistic practices,
he has also caused the names to be changed.

The name of the Savior is YAHshua ([vwhy) in Hebrew which would be
transliterated as Joshua in the English. Supposedly, the Greek
equivalent would be Iesous while the Latin would be Yesus
from whence comes the English version Jesus.

Remember that the Greeks hated anything Hebrew and that the Greeks and
Romans are perpetrators of sophisticated heathenism. Remember also
that Antiochus Theos Epiphanes set up the statue of Zeus in the holy
place and offered swine on the altar.

The word sous is equivalent to the name Zeus in the Greek while sus in
Latin means pig or swine. According to the dictionaries, Ie and Y can
be equivalent to i.e. or "that is."

It appears to this author that the Roman kingdom, the kingdom of the
pig, whose military ensign was the boar and whose leader was also a
boar (especially if the word Caesar/ Kaiser is transliterated in
the Hebrew) has accomplished a far greater abomination than the Greek
king could ever have done.

Through their shrewdness, they have caused so much of the world to
accept and adhere to a messiah who is unclean. The corrupted remnants
of the New Testament Assembly began to cast their pearls before the
swine (chaziyr/Kaiser/Caesar) which has trampled them into the mud and
mire and turned to rend the Assembly to pieces.

The Caesars/Kaisers/chazirys were like the unclean animal that they
represented. They had the cloven hoof, but did not chew the cud or
meditate (ruminate) on the holy things of YAHWEH, rightly dividing the
word of truth so that the sheep could be fed with the it.

It is also becoming common knowledge that the word "God" was the name
of the major deity of the Teutonic peoples. When they were converted
to Christianity, the name of their deity was substituted for not only
the common Hebrew term Elohim, but in many instances, it was also
substituted in place of the name YAHWEH.

The unclean (the swine) have taken that which is clean and that which
is unclean mixing them together and dividing them out. Today, that
which is good is called evil and that which is evil is called
good. Isaiah warns against such practices, "Woe unto them that draw
iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
That say, `Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we
may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh
and come, that we may know it!' Woe unto them that call evil good, and
good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that
are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto
them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to
mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take
away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the
fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff,
so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as
dust: because they have cast away the law of YAHWEH of hosts, and
despised the word of the Holy One of Israel," 5:18-24.

End Part 2 of 3

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