John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Apocrypha, why was it removed?
The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years.
A lot of people loved their Geneva Bible because it was a no-nonsense Bible of the time. When we read it today a lot of people would say, “What are you talking about, that’s in a very old Elizabethan tongue.” It certainly is by our standards today, but it was a little bit easier for people to understand at the time.
So King James comes out with his Bible in 1611. I have here a 1633 King James Bible, which has one thing in common with all ancient Bibles before it — the Geneva, the Coverdale, the Matthew, the Tyndale, the taverner’s, all of them. It is an 80-book Bible, not a 66-book Bible. It contains the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha has 14 books, and it comes after the Old Testament, but before the New Testament. It has books with names like first and second Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, Enoch, Jubilee, etc.
We could look at it as a historical descriptive bridge that connects some gaps.
Now today, 99 out of 100 Protestants look at that and they say, “That’s not part of my Bible. That’s those Roman Catholic books.” Now, where does that myth come from that there’s something Roman Catholic about the Apocrypha? Because it doesn’t make sense.
It comes from a fallacy of logic. We’re all familiar with logic. If A equals B, and B equals C, then A MUST equal C — different properties of logic, transitive and associative properties of logic. The basic fundamentals of our brain should work to understand this, but it kind of got derailed with the Apocrypha. People say, “Well, my Catholic friends have the Apocrypha in their Bible.” They actually don’t. They have 12 of the 14 Apocrypha books, not quite all of it. But anyway, my Catholic friends have the Apocrypha in the Bible, and my Protestant and Christian friends do not. And it’s been that way for over a century. Therefore the Apocrypha MUST be Catholic. Well, what utter nonsense this is! What a narrow view of history. When you understand history things begin to make much sense.
The Apocrypha was written 400 years before Christ. 400 years before Christianity. Hundreds and hundreds of years before Roman Catholicism. Over 1000 years before what we call Protestantism. It can’t be Christian! It can’t be Catholic! It can’t be Protestant! It was written in 400 BC. It is Jewish. YES, It’s Jewish!. It’s like the Old Testament that was written BC — before Christ — it’s Jewish. And so it documents the history of what happened to the Jewish people just before Christ came. And it was part of the scrolls and the temple. It was part of Jesus’ bible or readings. When He walked the earth as a human being, He went into the temple to read from the scrolls. He would have had the Old Testament and the Apocrypha. Obviously, He wouldn’t have had the New Testament because it was written about Him after he died and rose on the third day and ascended into Heaven to take His rightful place at the right hand of the Father.
Well, the Apocrypha was a part of every Jew’s Bible, if you will if I can use that term in the looser sense. It was part of every Jew’s Bible, but it was also a part of every Christian’s Bible all the way up to 1881. In 1881, due to the influence of wildly liberal textual critics, Westcott and Hort, the Apocrypha was removed from non-Catholic Bibles. The Catholics ignored Westcott and Hort, but the Protestants and the Anglicans fell into line, and when the influence of the popular textual critics said, “Well, this should not be in the Bible,” amazingly, everybody just fell like dominoes in line. And starting in 1881, Bibles that are Protestant or Anglican don’t have the Apocrypha.
Now that’s coming into really modern times. We had electricity in 1881. We had some crude automobiles and internal combustion engines. It was the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. It was on the cusp of booming. We’re not talking about some ancient time or the Crusades or the Dark Ages. This is modern-day. Removal of 14 books from God’s Word!
Now, when you encounter a lot of Christians and say, “How many books are in your Bible?” Well, the usual answer is, that I got 39 books in the Old Testament, and 27 books in the New Testament. We don’t have that Apocrypha, that’s Catholic or that’s unbiblical. And I tell them no it’s not! The Catholics have nothing to do with it. It was robbed from your Bible. It was prematurely removed. It’s not even something that supports Catholic theology. They say, “Well, hmmm, I’ll have to look into that.”
But that’s one of the great mysteries of Christianity today. Particularly, again getting back to the fallacy of logic discussed. When I ask most mainline Christians “Why are you not, for example, a Mormon?” And I’m not specifically picking on Mormons however there is a reason for this example. I’m just using them as an example of a more modern type of faith. Something that didn’t exist until a couple hundred years ago. It’s not ancient like Judaism or Christianity. It’s a very, very new religion. “Why are you not a Mormon?” They’ll look at you and they’ll say “Well because Mormonism originated in the 1800s with the teachings of Joseph Smith. I don’t believe in that. My faith does not rest on the foundation of something that is not even 200 years old.”
And I say, “OH I can respect that,” and by the way, that’s also why I’m not a Mormon. But are you telling me then that you do not abide by alleged major changes in God’s will for humanity that originated within the past 200 years? You don’t go for that? You say that’s a cult. “Yeah, that’s correct.” Okay, well great. Well then, why do you accept that the Apocrypha was taken out of your Bible for the first time in over 2000 years; it was taken out in 1881. That’s more recent than Joseph Smith. That’s far more recent than the birth of the Mormon Church. They were birthed in the early 1800s. This is the late 1800s.
As a final point to consider, I will mention one more thing about the Geneva Bible, the most fiercely anti-Catholic Bible ever put to press — a Bible that, in its commentary notes, proclaims the pope an antichrist. That Bible of the Protestant Reformation contains the Apocrypha. So one of the things that we try to communicate to people is, “Hey buddy, your Bible’s missing 14 books.”
Now there are a lot of people out there that say, “Well, the Apocrypha, there’s a reason was separated off. Wasn’t the Apocrypha a series of books that contains things that contradict the rest of the Scripture? Isn’t that why it was removed?” And you know there are Christians today who believe the Apocrypha is the Word of God. There are Christians today who say, “It’s not the Word of God; it’s profitable for Christian reading.”
But the argument is not, “Is the Apocrypha the Word of God?” I’m not here today to tell you the Apocrypha is the Word of God; that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying the Apocrypha was a part of the Bible up until 1881. There are a number of things in the Bible that are not the Word of God. For example, the table of contents page is not the Word of God. The concordance in the back is not the Word of God. The maps of Paul’s missionary journeys are not the Word of God. And if you have any popular commentary Bibles out there — “The Men’s Study Bible,” “The Woman’s Study Bible,” “The New Life Bible,,” “The Teen Bible” — there are all these target demographic Bibles that have commentary notes in them — all those commentary notes are not the Word of God.
So we are not people who shun pages that are not the Word of God. No, it’s okay if it’s between the pages of the Bible if it doesn’t contradict God’s Word and it helps you to study and understand. That’s considered acceptable. So the issue then is what’s going on that’s causing that controversy? We have to understand there are two types of literature in the Bible. There are a lot of different types of literature, but all that actually falls into two categories. It is either descriptive or prescriptive. Descriptive literature describes something, it is descriptive. It’s describing. In many ways, it is giving an account. Prescriptive literature prescribes a course of action for you the reader to take.
So for example, when we read in the Bible that Cain murdered Able. That is descriptive. It is not telling you to go kill your brother; it is telling you a story about someone who went and killed their brother and what happened from that. When we read that David committed adultery with Bathsheba and was very instrumental in her husband’s murder, it’s not telling you to go commit adultery with your neighbor and have her husband killed. It’s telling you a story about someone who did that and what the consequences were from that. That’s descriptive. Prescriptive on the other hand is thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Honor your father and your mother. And, of course, much of what Jesus said is indeed prescriptive — particularly His Sermon on the Mount. He is speaking to those who were before Him and to you the reader. It is saying, “Hey buddy, I’m not telling you a story. I’m telling you the reader, ‘You need to do this or don’t do this.'”
So when we read the Apocrypha we have to read it as we read the rest of the Bible. We have to read it with an understanding of what portions of it are descriptive, and what portions of it are prescriptive. So if you come across something in the Apocrypha, and you immediately think, “Oh, this is promoting something you don’t prescribe to; that seems to contradict the rest of Scripture, and you think I’m going to throw this out.” Hey, maybe it’s telling a story about people who were doing that thing in question and not suggesting you go do that yourself. Maybe it’s not prescribing that you should do that.
Part of me says, “Why is it that this was part of the Bible for over 2000 years?” God kept these books within His Word. He preserved them for over 2000 years. That seems to be an argument that we should consider, and view it as important historical text that bridges the gaps and helps us have a better understanding of the events and teachings of the Old and New Testaments.
What I’m curious about is why has our Lord preserved these 14 books within His Word for two millennia and then not preserved them for a century and a half? That’s a serious question to consider. I would say, well, just from a standpoint of logic, if this is the Word of God and God preserves His Word, shouldn’t it still be in the Bible?
And the reason I went into such was to prepare you because we are going to examine some chapters in the book of Enoch of utter importance to the strange events and controversy swirling around a mountain that stands today. Mount Hermon…
Mount Hermon, Arabic Jabal al-shaykh, snowcapped ridge on the Lebanon-Syria border west of Damascus. It rises to 9,232 feet (2,814 meters) and is the highest point on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is sometimes considered the southernmost extension of the Anti-Lebanon range.
In order to carry out its mandate, UNDOF maintains an area of separation, which is over 75 kilometers (46.6 miles) long and varies in width between approximately 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) in the center to 200 meters (0.12 miles) in the extreme south. The terrain is hilly and is dominated in the north by Mount Hermon, which is the location of the globe’s highest permanently manned United Nations position at an altitude of 2,814 meters (1,75 miles).
On each side of the Area of Separation (AOS) there is an Area of Limitation (AOL) with three zones; a zone of 0 to 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) from the area of separation, a zone of 10 (6.21 miles) to 20 kilometers (12.43 miles) from the area of separation, and a zone of 20 (12.43 miles) to 25 kilometers (15.53 miles) from the AOS. UNDOF with the support of UNTSO’s Observer Group Golan (OGG) continuously inspects and monitors these AOLs in order to ascertain that the agreed limitations in armaments and forces are being observed.
The name Hermon is derived from the root ḥrm "sacred", called also Jabal al-shaykh "mountain of the chief" (in Arabic), rises to 9,232 feet (2,814 meters) and is the highest point on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This strategic mountain that has been a sacred landmark since the Bronze Age and was mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The first settlements date from 200 BC. It represents the northwestern limit of Israelite conquest under Moses and Joshua. It is also meant to be the place chosen by Jesus Christ for His Transfiguration.
Mount Hermon is mentioned (15 times) in the Bible as Hermon (by the Canaanites worshipers of Baal, in the Books of Kings), Sirion (by the Sidonians-Phoenicians) or Senir (by the Amorites). The Seleucids occupied the area after 200 B.C. Shortly after which the Ituraeans developed a principality in the area until the fall of Chalcis when the territory passed to the Herodian kings Agrippa I and Agrippa II. After the end of the first century A.C. the territory became jointly controlled by the cities of Damascus, Sidon, and Paneas. It is thought that the area was inhabited continuously until the third-century A.C. The Mount Hermon was also revered by the Romans. The highest temple of the ancient world sits on the summit of the mount and is known today as Qasr Antar. On its slopes are temples with Greek inscriptions dating from about 200 A.C. More than 30 shrines and temples have been found in this geographical area giving it its historical relevance. Besides the Christian and Islamic communities, it is also considered a sacred place for the Druze that occupy the most villages that surround the mountain.
Chapter 7
And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.' And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn 7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samîazâz, their leader, Arâkîba, Râmêêl, Kôkabîêl, Tâmîêl, Râmîêl, Dânêl, Êzêqêêl, Barâqîjâl, 8Asâêl, Armârôs, Batârêl, Anânêl, Zaqîêl, Samsâpêêl, Satarêl, Tûrêl, Jômjâêl, Sariêl. These are their chiefs of tens.
Armon (Hebrew: אַרְמוֹן) is a male given name of Hebrew origin meaning "high place."
Mount Hermon has always been considered a sacred mountain. Worshipers from the earliest of times were drawn to its isolated heights. Several ruins of ancient sanctuaries have been found on Mount Hermon’s peaks and slopes and at its base. Judges 3:3 calls the mountain Baal Hermon, meaning “Lord of Hermon” (see also 1 Chronicles 5:23). Some of the psalms praise Mount Hermon for its loftiness and majesty (Psalm 42:6; 89:11–12).
Some scholars believe Mount Hermon was the site of Jesus’ transfiguration, a supernatural event in which Christ appeared in His true glory as the Son of God, revealing His identity as Messiah and fulfilling the law and the prophets (Matthew 17:1–8; see also 2 Peter 1:16–18). At the transfiguration, Peter, James, and John—the members of Jesus’ inner circle—were eyewitnesses to the Lord’s preexistent glory.
Both the accounts of Mathew and Mark specify that Jesus led Peter, James, and John up a “high mountain.” The traditional site for the Mount of Transfiguration is Mount Tabor. However, Matthew’s gospel places events leading up to the transfiguration in the district of Caesarea Philippi, making Mount Hermon the closer site. Also, in those days, the summit of Mount Tabor was inhabited and surrounded by a wall, according to the historian Josephus. On the other hand, Mount Hermon afforded privacy and seclusion “where they were all alone” (Mark 9:2).
Historically, Mount Hermon was home to the Sidonians, who called it Mount Sirion, and the Amorites, who called it Senir (Deuteronomy 3:9). Moses defeated Og King of Bashan there before being prohibited from crossing the Jordan River further into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3:8–10). The Canaanites used Mount Hermon as a place of worship for the pagan god Baal, and many temple sites have been discovered in its caves. The city of Caesarea Philippi during Jesus's time sat at Mount Hermon's base. It is here that Peter declared Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). This mountain may also be where Jesus's transfiguration occurred when Peter, James, and John got to witness Jesus in all His heavenly glory (Matthew 17:1–9).
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi (Mount Hermon), He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. —Matthew 16:13-20
Mt. Hermon is a place of extreme spiritual significance. Not only is it the place where the fallen angels landed when they fell, but it is also the place where Jesus Christ made the proclamation that He is the Messiah—right there on Satan’s domain! (See above, Matthew 16:13-20)
NOTE: Caesarea Philippi—Also known as Baal-gad, Banias, Baniyas, Banyas, Barias, Belinas, Caesarea Neronias, Caesarea of Philip, Caesarea Paneas, Caesarea Panias, Caesareia Sebaste, Keisarion, Kisrin, Medinat Dan, Mivzar Dan, Neronias, Pamias, Paneas, Paneias, Paneion, Panias, Panium Situated 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee and at the base of Mt. Hermon, Caesarea Philippi is the location of one of the largest springs feeding the Jordan River.
This abundant water supply has made the area very fertile and attractive for religious worship. Numerous temples were built at this city in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Grotto of Pan
The spring emerged from the large cave which became the center of pagan worship. Beginning in the 3rd century B.C., sacrifices were cast into the cave as offerings to the god Pan.
Pan, the half-man half-goat god of fright (thus “panic”), is often depicted playing the flute. This city known as Panias has been corrupted in the Arabic language to its modern name of Banias.
Encyclopedia Britannica states that Hermon means “Forbidden Place.” A 4th-century translator of the Latin Vulgate, Jerome, interpreted Hermon as “anathema.” Mount Hermon was the port of entry for a group of evil angels, who corrupted the human race in the days of Noah.
Moses wrote: “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; they took them wives of all which they chose …. There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown” (Gen. 6:1-4).
With that in mind, howbeit the United Nations has strategically placed their biggest and most important base at the very top of Mt. Hermon—the highest point—exactly where the fallen angels landed? The place where ancient Baal worship and blood sacrifice took place? The place that has been spiritually marked as evil!
Here is another interesting note that might surprise you, according to J.R. Church:
In 1666, Louis XIV of France, authorized the building of an observatory in Paris to measure longitude. This was the beginning of the Paris Zero Meridian. Believe it or not, according to the “Paris Zero Meridian” Mount Hermon (and the ancient territory of Dan) is located at 33 degrees east of the Paris Zero Meridian (longitude), and 33 degrees north of the Equator (latitude)! The 33rd degree became an important part of Freemasonry, probably due to a history that dates back to the Knights Templar, the French Merovingian Dynasty, and their family ties to the Danites (see our chapter on Dan in Guardians of the Grail).
Jesus was 33 when he died on the cross and said “it is finished” and made a show and spectacle of the enemy before the whole earth and heavenlies. Since the enemy counterfeits, he took that number and created something dark sorcery wicked out of it, just like he took the rainbow given to Noah By God as a covenant the earth would never by flood be destroyed again, removed one color and utilized it for pride and perversion, the very opposite of the order the Lord put creation and man in
MATTHEW 24:37-43
New King James Version (NKJV)
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
The highest peak in all of Syria and the UN establishes a base.
Swoops down into the Golan Heights where Israel is occupying a lot of the territory.
In the 70's Israel and Egypt.
THE ATTACK ON THE SINAI OPENED with brutal force and painstaking precision. In the first minute after the 2 p.m. start, Egyptian artillery slammed more than 10,000 shells onto Israeli positions along the Suez Canal. Within 20 minutes, Egyptian MiGs had completed as many as 300 sorties. Dinghies with assault troops sliced through the canal’s waters, the men chanting “Allahu akbar!” (“God is the greatest!”) at each stroke. Engineers deploying water hoses, bulldozers, and explosives blasted some 60 paths through the sand ramparts.
Geographically, the boundaries of the Golan were roughly marked by Mount Hermon in the north and the Sea of Galilee in the southwest.
On 6 October 1973, in a surprise joint attack, Egypt attacked Israeli forces on the Suez Canal and in the Sinai while Syria attacked Israeli forces on the Golan Heights. The Israelis stopped the attacks and retook most of the lost ground. Israeli forces then pushed deeper into Syria and Egypt.[5] Fighting continued until 22 October 1973, when United Nations Security Council Resolution 338 called for a ceasefire. Two days later, Israel and Egypt violated the ceasefire and resumed fighting, resulting in United Nations Security Council Resolution 339, which ended the war. The conflict is now known as the Yom Kippur War. The United Nations Emergency Force II moved into place between Israeli and Egyptian armies in the Suez Canal area, stabilizing the situation.
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 350 on 31 May 1974,[1] to implement Resolution 338 (1973) which called for an immediate ceasefire and implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.[2]
The resolution was passed on the same day the Agreement on Disengagement[3] was signed between Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, finally establishing a ceasefire to end the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The Force has since performed its functions with the full cooperation of both sides. The mandate of UNDOF has been renewed every six months since 1974 (most recently until June 30, 2012).[4] UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organization) and UNDOF
are operating in the zone and continue to supervise the ceasefire. Before the Syrian Civil War, the situation in the Israel-Syria sector had remained quiet and there had been no serious incidents.
The Agreement provided for a buffer zone and for two equal areas of limitation of forces and armaments on both sides of the area. It also called for the establishment of a United Nations observer force to supervise its implementation. The Agreement was signed on 31 May 1974 and, on the same day, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 350 to set up the UNDOF. On 3 June 1974 General Briceno from Peru arrived, from Cairo, at the headquarters of the UNTSO ISMAC House, in Damascus and assumed operational command of all UNTSO Observers detailed to UNDOF. The first phase of the operation was manning the observation posts. The UNTSO observers were transferred to UNDOF on 1 June 1974 and were joined by advanced parties from both Austria and Peru on 3 June with Canadian and Polish personnel transferred from UNEF II to the UNDOF Area of Responsibility.
The buffer zone is about 80 km long, and between 0.5 to 10 km wide, forming an area of 235 km². The zone straddles the Purple Line, separating the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights and the rest of Syria, where the west line is known as "Alpha", and the east line as "Bravo". The zone also borders the Lebanon Blue Line to the north and forms a border of less than 1 km with Jordan to the south.
2+3+5=10 there were 10 chiefs of those angels on Mt. Hermon that established that pact to take earthly wives and produce offspring.
Between Israel and Syria, there is no official border crossing, but for the UN one crossing point exists near Quneitra, which is called "The A-Gate". Although the line battalions and HQ operate on the Syrian side, HQ POLBATT, one checkpoint position, and HQ LOGBATT are on the Israeli side, located in Camp Ziouani. Most of the Austrians served on the Syrian side and only a few who were members of the military police fulfilled their duties at the crossing point.
A-Gate: Angel Gate?
Where these fallen angels made a pact and opened up a gate in the spirit the Lord did not want opened.
Fighting near Mt. Hermon, Yom Kippur.
Enoch 8
1. Moreover, Azazyel taught men to make swords, knives, shields, breastplates, the fabrication of mirrors, and the workmanship of bracelets and ornaments, the use of paint, the beautifying of the eyebrows, the use of stones of every valuable and select kind, and of all sorts of dyes, so that the world became altered.
2. Impiety increased; fornication multiplied; and they transgressed and corrupted all their ways.
3. Amazarak taught all the sorcerers, and dividers of roots:
4. Armers taught the solution of sorcery;
5. Barkayal taught the observers of the stars;
6. Akibeel taught signs;
7. Tamiel taught astronomy;
8. And Asaradel taught the motion of the moon.
9. And men, being destroyed, cried out; and their voice reached to heaven.
