Rod of an Almond Tree - Watch Unto Prayer Review Part 2

WATCH UNTO PRAYER REVIEW, PART 2, OF:

THE ROD OF AN ALMOND TREE IN GOD'S MASTER PLAN
by Peter A. Michas, Robert Vander Maten and Christie Michas (WinePress Publishing, 1997)

Reviewed by Lynn Leslie in Jan./Feb. 1998 issue of The Christian Conscience magazine.
For more information about Lynn and Sarah Leslie, read our expose: THE CONSPIRACY WAS STRONG: THE DISCERNMENT MINISTRIES
Watch Unto Prayer review of The Rod of an Almond Tree in God's Master Plan - Part I

THE ROD OF GOD: A RELIC FROM THE TREE OF LIFE

Rod of An Almond Tree, Chapter 6, builds a doctrine of the divine Rod of God that is based upon the stories of the rabbis which were passed through the generations. According to the rabbis, Peter Michas and Robert Vander Maten, this relic will be the Rod of the Messiah:
"According to the Haggadah (narrative of the Talmud), the rod, with blossoms and fruit, was created at the twilight between the sixth day and the Sabbath of Creation....At the time of Adam's expulsion from the Garden, God gave the rod to Adam.(p. 115) ... which was engraved with the Ineffable Name of God (YHVH) (p. 119)..."

"According to rabbinical commentary and stories passed from generation, the rod transferred from Adam successively down the line to Enoch, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses an David. According to the Midrash Yehlamdenu:

"the staff with which Jacob crossed the Jordan is identical with that which Judah gave to his daughter-in-law, Tamar...[Genesis 32:10; 38:18]. It is likewise the holy rod with which Moses worked...[Exodus 4:20-1], with which Aaron performed the wonders before Pharaoh,... [Exodus 7:10], and with which, finally, David slew the giant Goliath... [I Samuel 17:40].... (pp. 119-20)

"Let us not be too quick to discard information based upon legend (stories passed down through the generations)... Perhaps at some future time, a discovery will be made to verify the history of this divine rod. It seems that the rod was handed down by Adam to Enoch and then to Methuselah. From Methuselah, it would have been transferred to Shem, the son of Noah...Shem was also the head of an academy teaching God's knowledge and was Abraham's tutor. [Torah Anthology]."

"Undoubtedly, David's victory was proof of God's miraculous intervention. The rod, engraved with the Ineffable Name, bore witness to the authority which this miracle of redemption had been performed....The authors believe David planted the rod. The authors believe that the serpent had never been removed from the rod and, therefore must have remained attached to the almond tree as it grew. Subsequently, the serpent was removed and destroyed, but the almond tree was left intact. (pp. 128, 133)

"When Yeshua returns, He will set up His Throne in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 43:7). At this time, it is thought that the prophet Elijah will return the rod - a branch from the Tree of Life - to the Messiah...The Messiah will seat Himself on the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies on Mount Moriah. He will replace the Ark that had symbolized Him, in the place where God had first fellowshipped with Adam and Eve, in the same place the Divine Presence dwelt among His People! Just as a branch from the Tree of Life was kept before the Ark, He will set the almond rod before Himself on the Throne of God, where the Tree of Life had grown in the Garden of Eden!" (p. 135)
Which Bible? by David Otis Fuller, (Grand Rapids International Publications, 1970, p. 310) documents the worship of this relic:
"It will be necessary to cite only two texts to show why the Protestants cannot use the Douay or Catholic Version in its present condition... Hebrews 11:21 reads: 'By faith Jacob dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and adored the top of his rod.' What is this if not image worship?"
According to the Merovingian book, BLOODLINE OF THE HOLY GRAIL by Laurence Gardner, the budding Rod of Jesse designates the royal lineage of David:
"Following Pope Gregory IX's first Catholic Inquisition of 1231, Grail lore was condemned by the Church...As a result, the tradition moved towards underground symbolism -particularly that of the Tarot cards...The four suits of the Tarot's minor Arcana were the Swords, Cups, Pentacles and Batons or wands...These corresponded with the sword, cup, dish and lance of the Grail Hallows. Eventually they became redefined as the Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs that are used today. The Spade was originally a Blade (the male symbol); the Heart was the Chalice of the alternative Church (the female symbol V)' the Diamond was a valuable Pentacle disc..., and the Club (denoting the continuing Davidic lineage) was depicted as the sprouting Rod of Jesse. (p. 250)
"...a new Glastonbury tradition [was] the enchanted thornbush. In 1520, local literature described a bush on Wearyall Hill that bore fresh leaves and blossoms at Christmastime as well as in May. The bush was destroyed during the Cromwellian Civil War (1642-1651), but shoots from it were replanted in the area, and each plant flowered again in the same way. Botanical experts discerned that the shrub was not native to England, and seemed to be of Levantine origin. And so a new Somerset mythology began.
"In 1716 a local innkeeper asserted that the unusual thorn plant sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, which he had planted to blossom at Christmas (not that the December festival had been relevant in Joseph's day. It was nearly 300 years later that Constantine adjusted the date of Jesus's birthday). The notion that Joseph's 'rod' should burst into flower in this way derived originally from a prophetic verse in Isaiah (11:1), which reads 'And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse [the father of David], and a Branch shall grow out of his roots'. In some Church artwork and apocryphal writings, the budding staff of the royal bloodline is depicted in the hand of Jesus's father, Joseph. (Element Books, 1996. p. 242)
The Rod of an Almond Tree discounts the New Testament book of Hebrews teaching on the tabernacle which seems to conflict with the account given in Exodus:
"According to God's command, this perpetually budding almond rod...was to be placed 'before the testimony' (Num. 17:10). This meant that it was to be placed in front of the Ark, which contained the 'testimony,' that is the tablets of the covenant (Ten Commandments).

Numbers 17:10 - And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

Notice that the other Old Testament references confirm that only the tablets were kept inside the Ark (Exodus 25:16; 40:20;I Kings 8:9).

Exodus 25:16 - And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

Exodus 40:20 - And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark.
I Kings 8:9 - There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

"Unfortunately, due to a mistranslation of Hebrews 9:3-4, the traditional belief is that Aaron's rod was placed inside the Ark...
Hebrews 9:3-4 - And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was the golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
However, the original Greek grammar indicates that the subject of this passage is the Holies. Accordingly, the items described refer to those contained inside the Holy of Holies, not inside the Ark itself.
"This understanding clarifies additional information given in the above passage. Firstly, it is known that the manna (like the rod) was placed in front of, not inside the Ark (Exodus 16:33-34)

Exodus 16:33,34 - And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

Secondly, what is referred to as the "altar of incense" is actually the Mercy Seat, the gold lid of the Ark. In the original Greek, the phrase "of incense" does not appear. In fact, the actual altar of incense is known to have been placed inside the Holy Place, not inside the Holy of Holies (Exodus 40:26).

Exodus 40:26 - And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil.

The placement of the miraculously budding almond rod before the Ark of the Covenant is of the greatest significance and will become very evident. At this time, it should be understood to represent the Tree of Life - both literally and symbolically." (pp. 124-5)

"The Book of II Kings indicates that the serpent on this pole was fashioned out of Moses' own property. Knowing that God's redemptive work had thus far been accomplished through the rod of Moses, it seems logical to assume that the rod was again used for this purpose. Moreover, known as the rod of God, it symbolized God's authority and judgment. A picture on the cover of The Midrash Says depicts the serpent, attached to a crossbar, mounted on a rod." (p. 126)

"'Undoubtedly, David's victory was proof of God's miraculous intervention. The rod, engraved with the Ineffable Name, bore witness to the authority by which this miracle of redemption had been performed." (p. 128)

"From the previously quoted Scripture (II Sam. 15:23,24,25,30,31), it is known that Aaron's rod was positioned in front of the Ark in the Holy of Holies...As King, David was vested with the responsibility of preserving the rod and the authority to carry the rod." 9 (pp. 130-1)

"II Kings 18:4 Hezekiah removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze [copper] serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

"Notably, the copper serpent is mentioned in the same passage as the Asherah groves. It seems to place the serpent on the Mount of Olives, the same place where the authors believe David planted the rod. The authors believe that the serpent had never been removed from the rod and, therefore, must have remained attached to the almond tree as it grew. Subsequently, the serpent was removed and destroyed, but the almond tree was left intact." (p. 133)

THE SCEPTER OF AUTHORITY

"When Yeshua returns, He will set up His Throne in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 43:7). At this time, it is thought that the prophet Elijah will return the rod -- a branch from the Tree of Life -- to the Messiah... The Messiah will seat Himself on the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies on Mount Moriah. He will replace the Ark that had symbolized Him, in the place where God had first fellowshipped with Adam and Eve, the same place the Divine Presence dwelt among His People! Just as a branch from the Tree of Life was kept before the Ark, He will set the almond rod before Himself on the Throne of God, where the Tree of Life had grown in the Garden of Eden."
II Thess. 2:3,4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
To arrive at an understanding of the occult reason for placing a phallic symbol at the entrance of a temple, let us now turn to H.P. Blavatsky for possible enlightenment as to the mystical explication of the Holy of Holies and of the Ark which rested therein.
"The Sanctum Sanctorum of the Ancients, i.e., that recess on the Western side of the Temple which was enclosed on three sides by blank walls and had its only aperture or door hung over with a curtain -- also called the Adytum -- was common to all ancient nations.

"Nevertheless, a great difference is found between the secret meanings of this symbolical place, in the esotericism of the Pagans and that of later Jews, though the symbology of it was originally identical throughout the ancient Races and Nations. The Gentiles, by placing in the Adytum a sarcophagus, or a tome,… and the solar god to whom the temple was consecrated, held it, as Pantheists, in the greatest veneration. They regarded it - in its esoteric meaning -- as the symbol of resurrection, cosmic, solar (or diurnal), and human. It embraced the wide range of periodical and (in time) punctual, Manvantaras, or the reawakenings of kosmos, earth, and man to new existences; the sun being the most poetical and also the most grandiose symbol of the same in heaven, and man -- in his reincarnations -- on Earth. (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II, pp. 459-462)

"The Ark, in which are preserved the germs of all living things necessary to repeople the earth, represents the survival of life, and the supremacy of spirit over matter, through the conflict of the opposing powers of nature…the Ark corresponds with the navel… The umbilicus is connected with the receptacle in which are fructified the germs of the race. The Ark is the sacred Argha of the Hindus…an oblong vessel used by the high priests as a sacrificial chalice in the worship of Isis, Astarte, and Venus-, Aphrodite, all of whom were goddesses of the generative powers of nature, or of matter -- hence, representing symbolically the Ark containing the germs of all living things." (Isis Unveiled, Vol. II, p. 444)
In Theosophy, therefore, the Holy of Holies represents the womb of nature, the female generative principle found in the mystery religions of Egypt, Babylon, India, Kabbalism, Masonry, etc. A tomb and the solar god were placed in the doorway to the Holy of Holies. The esoteric meaning of this arrangement typified cosmic, planetary and human resurrection or regeneration. Mme. Blavatsky notes that the symbolism of the pagan Sanctum Sanctorum corresponds to the Kabbalist/Masonic interpretation of the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem:
"…and the Jewish Ark of the Covenant had precisely the same significance; with the supplementary addition that, instead of a beautiful and chaste sarcophagus (the symbol of the matrix of Nature and resurrection) as in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the pagans, they had the ark made still more realistic in its construction by the two cherubs set up on the coffer or Ark of the Covenant, facing each other, with their wings spread in such a manner as to form a perfect yoni (as now seen in India)." (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II, p. 460)
Such an interpretation of the Ark of the Covenant constitutes the highest blasphemy, and yet is precisely the perverted view which Antichrist will hold toward the Ark of the restored Jewish Covenant. As Antiochus had "indignation against the holy covenant" and took away the daily sacrifice in 170 B.C., thus will the Antichrist proscribe the Jewish system of blood sacrifices and set in the Holy Place a pagan idol which incurs God's judgment. With Scripture in view and having established through many sources that that the solar god, Hermes, was worshipped in the image of a phallic stone or quadrangular stone pillar, we venture to state that the obelisk may be the idol or abomination that will be "set up" in the Holy Place.
See Watch Unto Prayer report A Sacred Assembly
THE INTERPRETER'S DICTIONARY, Supplementary Volume, New Year, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1976, 1993, p. 627.
A Festival of Yahweh's Enthronement.
"This view propounded principally by Mowinckel and accepted in many circles of Biblical Scholarship, holds that the New Year Festival was primarily a celebration of an enthronement of Yahweh...The enthronement of Yahweh that is celebrated and made a present reality at the New Year Festival is his entering upon kingship upon the time of creation, when he stilled the unruly waters of chaos...The New Year is therefore the time when Yahweh recreates and makes all things new. The most prominent ritual...was a procession of the ark...dramatizing Yahweh's entry into his palace."
Antichrist will change times: New Year based on Jewish and Celtic calendar. See The Occult Calendar

SHEKHINAH - THE DIVINE FEMININE

Rod of an Almond Tree - Chapter 3

"Mount Moriah is profoundly significant in God's plan. Here, God fellowshipped with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Here, the Temple would be built where the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) manifested inside the Holy of Holies. And here, the Messiah will seat Himself on a throne in His Temple during the Millennial Kingdom! Most assuredly, Mount Moriah is of primary importance in God's prophetic work...the Tree of Life was on Mount Moriah..." (pp. 80-1)
"Indeed, the Divine Presence, as manifested by the Shekinah (Glory Cloud), dwelled in the Holy of Holies on top of Mount Moriah." (p. 82)
"(Zechariah 11):... v. 13 Then the word of the Lord said to me, 'Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.' So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
"Compare the NASB translation above with a direct translation from the Hebrew in Judaica Books' Twelve Prophets:...
"v. 13 And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the keeper of the treasury, to the stronghold of glory [Temple] -- of which I stripped them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and I cast it into the house of the Lord, to the keeper of the treasury." (pp. 168-9)
"In almost every case that the voice of God is recorded in the Bible, the glory of God is present as well. The manifestation of the Shekinah (Divine Presence) occurred initially on Mount Sinai when God spoke to the people (Exodus 19:18-21)...
"Accordingly, though it is not recorded in the gospels, it seems likely that there may have been a manifestation of God's glory as Yeshua gave up His Spirit.... Even so, it is likely that only selected individuals were able to perceive this manifestation of God's power and presence (Acts 9:3-7)
"Without exception, the human response to the Shekinah is one of awe and sometimes fear so great that it results in falling to the ground... As Yeshua died, the centurion and other witnesses may have been allowed to see (or sense in some way) the luminescence of His Spirit as it left His earthly body. (p. 205)
Genesis of Eden: The Hieros Gamos Part 1
"Many Kabbalists conceive of God as embodying both male and female energies, which were divided during creation as part of the process of emanation. They speak of the shekhinah, which in traditional Judaism means the divine presence on earth, as the feminine aspect or mystical bride of God. And they often use language as a means to analyze such mysteries, as in this ex excerpt from a contemporary non-Jewish Kabbalist which offers an explanation for the mysterious use of the plural form for God early in the Bible:
"The Hebrew word used to denominate God in Genesis is Elohim. This word is a plural formed from the feminine singular ALH (Eloh) by adding IM to it. Since IM is the termination of the masculine plural, added to a feminine noun it makes ELOHIM a female potency united to a male principle, and thus capable of having an offspring. The same intended misconception is given in the Christian idea of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. In the Kabbalah the Deity manifests simultaneously as Mother and Father and thus begets the Son. We are told that the Holy Spirit is essentially masculine, but the Hebrew word used in the Scriptures to denote spirit is Ruach, a feminine noun. The Holy Spirit is really the Mother, and thus the Christian Trinity properly translated should be Father, Son and Mother. -Migne Gonzalez-Wippler, A Kabbalah for the Modern World."
Rod of an Almond Tree - p. 229
"The Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) wrote God's commandments on stone tablets."

UNDER THE MOSAIC LAW

Rod of An Almond Tree: Chapter 12 - Sabbath: Day of the Resurrection

"Yeshua told Nicodemus: '...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life' (John 3:14-15)."
"Early Christians observed the Sabbath according to the Biblical Commandment. The Biblical Sabbath observance continued until the time of Constantine when Sunday, 'the Lord's Day,' was substituted for Sabbath." (p. 218)
"Unfortunately, in the process of 'Christianizing,' paganism, Christianity itself became more and more paganized. Pagan feast days were substituted for God's Biblical Feast Days and, in the process, the prophetic timetable was lost." ( p. 220)
See Watch Unto Prayer report: Under the Law

THE KABBALIST TREE OF LIFE

Rod of an Almond Tree - Chapter 5: The Tree of Life

"...According to Genesis 28:...
"And (Jacob) called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz... What was this place that Jacob called 'the house of God'? The place had been called Luz, but he renamed it Bethel, meaning the 'House of God.'...Mount Moriah in Jerusalem is identified with the site of Jacob's dream...
"An essential clue relating to the Tree of Life is found in the earliest known name for Mount Moriah, Luz. It means 'almond tree' in Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic. According to The Torah Anthology, the city of Luz was associated with an immense almond tree. In addition, it was thought that God, from the time of creation, had determined that the Death Angel would not have any power in this place so that its inhabitants would never experience death." (p. 113)
Footnote 3: "The research and insight of Peter A. Michas indicates that the ladder to Heaven had two legs: one leading up from the Holy of Holies on Mount Moriah and the other leading up from the Red Heifer Altar on the Mount of Olives...The meaning of the two legs above Jerusalem represents 'The Gate of Heaven' referred to in Genesis 28:17." (p. 118)
SHAMBHALA, Victoria LePage, Wheaton, IL, Quest Books, Theological Pub. House, 1996, p. 157.
"...The inititiatic system at the core of all the Western mysteries is centered on a... representation of the tree,...of the sephirot."
The Return of the Tree of Life in the Apocalypse (Cook)
Revelation and the Return of the Tree of Life
In the final culmination of the Bible in the last passage of Revelation, is an endearing passage which prophesies the return of the tree of life as the central throne of God, the source of immortal life and the healing of the nations in the new Jerusalem:
And [the angel] shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.
And this tree is to be the source to the blessed: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life.
The lunar monthly yielding of fruit reflects more closely the living sacrament than the annual fruits of flowering plants. The twelve sacred fruit are the other great spiritual sacraments of the tree. Around them extend to life-prolonging and anti-cancer properties of a diversity of plants.
This prophecy is of double significance in that it is heralded by an earlier Old Testament vision in Ezekiel 47. "Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward ... And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. ... And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. ... And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine".
It is further paralleled in the Essene prophesies of the priestly Messiah:
"And he shall open the gates of paradise, And shall remove the threatening sword against Adam. And he shall give to the saints to eat from the tree of life, And the spirit of holiness shall be on them."
A DICTIONARY OF SYMBOLS, Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, Penguin Books, 1996, p. 1028.
"DeLubac regards the cross, standing on a mountain in the centre of the world, as wholly renewing the ancient symbol of the Cosmic or World Tree. In any case, Christian iconography provides constant examples of the leafy cross, or Tree Cross, where the gap between the upper branches reveals the symbolism of the fork and its graphic representation of the letter Y, or Oneness and Duality. At the extreme limit, by metonymy, Christ himself the World Tree, the World Axis, the ladder, a comparison which Origin makes explicit."
SHAMBHALA, Victoria LePage, Wheaton IL, Quest Books, Theosophical Pub. House., 1996, p. 155.
"[The Christmas Tree] was once called the Tree of Life, or the World Tree. Uniting the dimensions of heaven, earth and the underworld, it was the cosmic axis at the center of the world, the Axis Mundey, through which the eternal energies of creation poured continuously into time. The greenness of the Tree of Life...is...the sign of promise of life eternally renewed...Similarly, the silver star on the top of the Christmas tree, the one the magi saw, is as a mythic image of the polestar of world axis and the bright star of Inanna, Aphrodite and Venus, accompanying all the divine births all over the Near East."
A DICTIONARY OF SYMBOLS, J.E. Cirlot, NY: Barnes & Nobles, 1971, 1995, p. 69. "Cross"
"...the Cross is...an inversion of the Tree of Paradise. Hence, the cross is often represented in medieval allegory as a Y-shaped tree...like the Tree of Life, the cross stands for the world-axis. Placed in the midst of the mystic centre of the cosmos, it becomes the bridge or ladder by means of which the soul may reach to God."
See As Above, So Below - p. 117 - Heavenly Tree of Life to reappear in New Jerusalem
"Jeremiah's vision of the rod of an almond tree and God's promise to watch over His word, Yeshua, to perform the act of redemption was fulfilled at the crucifixion (Jeremiah 1:11,12). In this way, the Tree of Life, the source of the almond rod, is both literally and symbolically represented in the redemption of all humankind. Through it, God brought redemption first to the Israelites and, ultimately, to all humankind through Yeshua -- the Fruit of the Tree of Life, Who gives eternal life to all who trust in Him alone!" (p. 147)
"Regarding the crucifixion, certain symbolic meanings and patterns are revealed when viewed from the Hebraic perspective. One such pattern is that of the menorah. As previously mentioned, the menorah, the golden seven-branched candelabrum kept in the Holy Place of the Temple, represented the Tree of Life (chapter 5). And a miraculously budding branch of this tree, called Aaron's rod, was planted on the Mount of Olives by David and grew into the crucifixion tree (Chapters 6 and 7). In this symbolic parallel, Yeshua represents the fruit of the Tree of Life..." (p. 234)
Father + Mother = Son; Tree of Life = Hermaphrodite
A DICTIONARY OF SYMBOLS, Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, Penguin Books, 1996, p. 1031.

"The Tree of Life may originally may have been regarded as an image of the Primordial Hermaphrodite, but on the level of the phenomenal world the trunk rising to the skies, a symbol of preeminently solar strength and power, is really the phallus, the archetypal image of the Father."
An expose about Madeleine L'Engle by Claris Van Kuiken: Battle To Destroy Truth: Unveiling A Trail Of Deception, 1996, was evaluated by a researcher:
"The Quest magazine,...is a publication of The Theosophical Society. This society is based on a highly developed system of occultism derived from mystery religions and Hindu philosophy....Because of my research, I knew that The Quest was an occult magazine and obtained a copy. Inside the front cover it read: "Ancient Wisdom for a New Age." Books such as "The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, The Goddess Reawakening, The Tarot, Shamanism, The Wholeness Principle, The Kabbala, are encouraged reading."

"In TRUTH AND REVELATION, Berdyaev promotes the concept of transcendental man, the "Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalah." He states that 'Truth is revealed in various ways in accordance with degrees of consciousness' and that the 'supra-consciousness corresponds to transcendental man' (Geoffrey Bles Ltd., London, W.C., 1953, pp. 17,27). In the Kabbala (the occult books of Jewish mysticism), the aim of humankind is to realize union with the Divine. Symbolizing this union is a diagram called the Tree of Life which depicts ten different levels or spheres of spiritual reality in man and the cosmos. These ten stages are called Sephirot (emanations of God" (Drury, Nevill, Dictionary of Mysticism, Rev. ed., Avery Publishing Group Inc., Garden City Park, New York, 1992, p. 3).
In the Kabbala, we find the New Age concept of androgyne (also taught in witchcraft and Eastern religion as shown in the first part of this article). Adam Kadmon is both male and female. The right side of the Tree of Life is female; the left is male....The purpose of the Tree of Life is to show 'the descent of the divine into the material world, and the path by which people can ascend to the divine while still in the flesh.' It is through contemplation and meditation (techniques similar to Eastern yoga disciplines, that the Kabbalist ascends the Tree of Life to attain 'enlightenment' or godhood (Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience, pp.307 -308)."

UNIVERSAL SALVATION

Rod of an Almond Tree (references throughout book)

Page 86 - "His sacrifice was the ultimate atonement for the sins of all humankind."
95 - "Now that the place of Yeshua's sacrifice for the sin of humankind has been firmly established..."
106-7 - "Yeshua's sacrifice provides full payment for sin for Jew and Gentile alike."
117 - "...a plan of redemption was provided for humankind to be restored to an eternal, spiritual union with the Creator."
129 - "[It is]...fascinating...to trace the rod of God and search out its essential role in the universal redemption of humankind...the authors believe it was... preserved until the crucifixion to become the instrument of redemption for all humankind."
132 - "Was David given a vision of these events and then directed by God to plant the rod, knowing it would become the instrument of redemption for all humankind?"
147 - See above -"... the redemption of all humankind. Through it, God brought redemption first to the Israelites and, ultimately, to all humankind through Yeshua -- the Fruit of the Tree of Life, Who gives eternal life to all who trust in Him alone!" (p. 147)
148 - "Two thousand years later, Yeshua, His head surrounded by the same kind of thorns...was provided as the ultimate substitute sacrifice for all humankind's sins."
165 - "Moreover, [Yeshua] may have been expressing the hope that humankind would accept that sacrifice and no longer partake of the fruit of disobedience."
174 - "The wine symbolizes His blood: it was shed in atonement for humankind's sin."
175 - "...He asked that the will of the Father be done, knowing that the only way to bring salvation to humankind was through His own sacrifice..."
176 - "Yeshua voluntarily gave Himself over to them in order to fulfill His purpose of redeeming humankind."
181 - "Yeshua, God's Passover Lamb -- innocent of any sin -- was delivered as a substitute sacrifice for the sins of humanity."
183 - "Clearly, this altar was of supreme importance to God in accepting the ultimate sin sacrifice for all humankind's sin."
184 - "This was a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice for all humanity's sin yet to come."
193 - "Even the name Yeshua, meaning 'Salvation,' is consistent with Yeshua's role as the Savior of humankind (Matt. 1:21)" [And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.]
195 - "This same Messiah is the Savior of all humankind because the root of Jesse includes all believers (Isaiah 60)
235 - "The symbolic meaning of Passover pointed to Yeshua, and was fulfilled in His sacrifice as God's Passover Lamb for the redemption of all humankind."

JESUS THE NAZARENE
Rod of an Almond Tree: Chapter 10 - The Hidden Meaning of Pilate's Inscription

"And Pilate wrote an inscription [title] also, and put it on the cross. And it was written, 'JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS' (John 19:19)
"After two thousand years, is it possible to unlock the mystery of its meaning? [new revelation]
"...First note that there are slight variations among English translations. For example, both King James Version (KJV) and New International Version (NIV) translate: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS
"In contrast, both New American Standard and Amplified Bible (AB) translate: JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS
"The word translated 'Nazareth' in some English translations and 'Nazarene' in others is accurately translated from the original Greek as Nazarene. The actual Hebrew word, transliterated into English, is Hanatzri."
"Judging by the reaction of the religious leaders, it seems the translation of the second omicron is and, resulting in the following English translation of the inscription:

JESUS THE NAZARENE AND KING OF THE JEWS

"The last two Greek words in the inscription translate into English as 'of the Jews.' In Hebrew, it is one word, which translates into English as HaYehudim." (pp. 189-191)
Nazarenes = name of initiated members of Essene Community at Qumran.
The Society for the Advancement of Nazarene Judaism is part of the Messianic Friends Network to which Messengers of Messiah also belongs. The following explanation of the Nazarenes identical to that found in Bloodline of the Holy Grail:

Nazarenes Qumran and the Essenes by James Trimm
"The modern efforts to restore New Testament understanding to its Nazarene Jewish origins has often focused on parallels with Rabbinic Judaism (which descends from Pharisaic Judaism). There is much to be said for such parallels and I do not oppose these comparisons. However many of the Nazarene movement have neglected the very significant parallels between the New Testament, the Nazarenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls and Essene Judaism...
"Yeshua went out into the wilderness to be tempted (Mt. 4:1f). Yeshua’s twelve talmidim (students) remind us of the council of twelve at Qumran (Manual of Discipline 1QS 8:1). Yeshua’s twelve talmidim seemed to be headed by three (Kefa (Peter), James (Ya’akov) and Yochanan (John) and the twelve laymen of Qumran were headed by three priests (1QS 8:1)."
Cf. Bloodline of the Holy Grail, Laurence Gardiner, p. 36-7, 50.
"The modern Arabic for 'Christians' is Nasrani, and the Islamic Koran refers to the Christians as Nasara or Nazara. These variants ultimately derive from the Hebrew Hozrim, a plural noun stemming from the term Nazrie ha-Brit 'Keepers of the Covenant', a designation of the Essene Community at Qumran on the Dead Sea...
"John the Baptist and Jesus's brother James were both Nazarites...Nazarites were ascetic individuals bound by strict vows through predetermined periods, as related to Moses (Numbers 6:2-21). In the gospel era, Nazarites were associated with the Essene Community of Qumran - the environment of Joseph and Mary...

"The apostles were clearly no ragtag band of righteous devotees but an influential Council of Twelve under their supreme leader Jesus the Christ (King). Only much later did his name become contracted to 'Jesus Christ', as if this were a proper name in its own right. It is worth reminding ourselves here that the Qumran Manual of Discipline details the importance of a Council of Twelve to preserve the faith of the land."
See also Watch Unto Prayer report on The Message of Mary for Gnostic life of Jesus.

THE INEFFABLE NAME OF GOD

Rod of an Almond Tree: Chapter 10 - The Ineffable Name of God

"...God gave Adam a branch from the Tree of Life, which was engraved with the Ineffable Name of God (YHVH). Considering its source, it must have been of supreme symbolic significance...Perhaps at some future time, a discovery will be made to verify the history of this divine rod." (p. 119)
"According to one account: On Joseph's death the Egyptian nobles stole some of his belongings, and, among them, Jethro appropriated the staff. Jethro planted the staff in his garden, when its marvelous virtue was revealed by the fact that nobody could withdraw it from the ground; even to touch it was fraught with danger to life. This was because the Ineffable Name of God was engraved upon it. When Moses entered Jethro's household he read the Name, and by means of it was able to draw up the rod, for which service Zipporah, Jethro's daughter, was given to him in marriage (emphasis added). [The Jewish Encyclopedia]
"What makes this account so remarkable is the reference to planting the rod engraved with the Ineffable Name of God (YHVH). Considering the prior reference to God's transplanting the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, it seems of great consequence that a reference is made to planting a branch from this same tree in another garden." (pp. 121-2)
"Undoubtedly, David's victory was proof of God's miraculous intervention. The rod, engraved with the Ineffable Name, bore witness to the authority which this miracle of redemption had been performed...." (p. 128)
"The Roman Catholic Church borrowed this idea when they placed the four letters INRI on the crucifix. These are the first letters of the four words that make up the inscription in Latin, the language of the Roman Catholic Church:

IESVS NAZARENVS REX IUDAEORVM

"However, the hidden meaning is entirely lost unless one goes back to the original Hebrew....The first letters of the first four Hebrew words are:

"Before this mystery can be fully revealed, we must remember that Hebrew is read from right to left. In order to clarify this aspect, let us look at the Hebrew for the full inscription, translated into English (from left to right):

YESHUA HANATZRI VEMELECH HAYEHUDIM

"Thus the first letters of the four words are:

YHVH

"YHVH -- the Tetragrammaton - is none other than the Ineffable Name of God! It was considered too awesome and too sacred to even be spoken. Let us recall that the rod also carried the Ineffable Name of God." (p. 192)
"When the High Priest recited the Tetragrammaton [the name of God] on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement] it could be heard at a very great distance. This was a great miracle, like when the Torah was given, as it was written, 'Moses spoke and God answered in a voice' (Exodus 19:19). God made Moses' voice so strong that all 600,000 Israelites could hear it. Similarly, the same was true of the High Priest. God would make his voice so loud that all the people could hear it (emphasis added)." [Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, The Torah Anthology]
"Yeshua, who is The High Priest, spoke with a voice so powerful that it reverberated from the Mount of Olives. Biblical and historical sources seem to show that the only damage sustained during the 'earthquake' at the time of the crucifixion was limited to the Temple and the tombs located on the Mount of Olives. Was the great voice of God, as spoken by Yeshua as He faced the Temple, the actual cause of the ground's shaking?" (pp. 199-200)

Theosophical Glossary, H.P. Blavatsky, Theosophical Publishing House, pp. 155-6.

Ineffable Name. With the Jews, the substitute for the "mystery name" of their tribal deity Eh-yeh, 'I am', or Jehovah. The third commandment prohibiting the using of the latter name 'in vain', the Hebrews substituted for it that of Adonai or "the Lord".... At the present moment neither the Jews nor Christians seem to remember, or so much as suspect, the occult reason why the qualification of Jehovah or YHVH had become reprehensible; most of the Western Kabbalists also seem to be unaware of the fact. The truth is, that the name they bring forward as 'ineffable', is not in the least so. It is the "unpronounceable" or rather the name not to be pronounced, if any thing; and this for symbological reasons. To begin with, the "Ineffable Name" of the true Occultist, is no name at all, least of all is it that of Jehovah. The latter implies, even in its Kabbalistical, esoteric meaning, an androgynous nature, YHVH, or one of a male and female nature. It is simply Adam and Eve, or man and woman blended in one, and as now written and pronounced, is itself a substitute. But the Rabbins do not care to remember the Zoharic admission that YHVH means "not as I Am written, Am I read" (Zohar, fol. III., 230a). One has to know how to divide the Tetragrammaton ad infinitum before one arrives at the sound of the truly unpronounceable name of the Jewish mystery-god."

ANTIOCH - SEMITIC NEW TESTAMENT

Rod of an Almond Tree: Preface

Preface 1 - A Search for Truth - Peter A. Michas
Page 19 - "I realized that there were errors in the English translations of the Bible...Like most Christians, I had been taught that the New Testament was originally written in Greek.. I wondered if the gospels were originally written in Judea (OR POSSIBLY IN ANTIOCH, the largest Christian community of the earliest Church), by Jews, about a Jew in Jewish culture, could it be that the Greek was, in fact, attempting to express the Hebrew language and Jewish culture? This required further investigation... I ended up going into a place called Chabbad House which was fun by the Lubovich, the ultra-orthodox rabbis. This was the beginning of my education in the Hebraic roots of the Bible."

IGNATIUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ONLINE
IGNATIUS THEOPHOROS (Greek: "God Bearer") (d. c. 110, Rome), bishop of Antioch, Syria, known mainly from seven highly regarded letters that he wrote during a trip to Rome, as a prisoner condemned to be executed for his beliefs. He was apparently eager to counteract the teachings of two groups--the Judaizers, who did not accept the authority of the New Testament, and the Docetists, who held that Christ's sufferings and death were apparent but not real. The letters have often been cited as a source of knowledge of the Christian church at the beginning of the 2nd century.
Ignatius represented the Christian religion in transition from its Jewish origins to its assimilation in the Greco-Roman world.

Ignatius apparently fought two groups of heretics: (1) Judaizers, who did not accept the authority of the New Testament and clung to such Jewish practices as observing the Sabbath, and (2) Docetists (from the Greek dokein, "to seem"), who held that Christ had suffered and died only in appearance.
See important Watch Unto Prayer report: The Semitic New Testament

DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT

Rod of an Almond Tree: Denial of Substitutionary Atonement

"Just before Yeshua died, He cried out: 'My God, My God, Why has Thou Forsake Me!' and 'It is finished!' (Mark 15:34; John 19:30) These words are often misunderstood to mean that somehow God the Father abandoned His Son. Nothing could be further from the truth and the profound meaning of these words is restored once they are put back into the Hebraic context. According to Hebraic understanding, a reference to the first and last words of a particular text denotes the entire text. With this understanding, Yeshua's final words are of the utmost significance. In Hebrew, He cried out the first and last words of Psalm 22. The Jewish witnesses, especially the priests knew what that Psalm contained: a detailed prophetic picture of the crucifixion, written one thousand years before by David! Truly, Yeshua was testifying that He is the prophetic fulfillment of Psalm 22!" (pp. 184-5)

"Most Biblical commentators say that it was the veil in front of the Holy of Holies that was rent in two. However there were actually two veils in the Second Temple: one in front of the Holy Place, at the eastern entrance to the Temple, and another separating the Holy Place from the innermost...Holy of Holies...Scripture is very specific that it was the veil of the Temple that was rent from top to bottom... [A.T.] Robertson states:

"Josephus (War VI. 199) tells of a quaking in the temple before the destruction and the Talmud tells of a quaking forty years before the destruction of the temple [in 70 C.E.]. Allen suggests that a 'cleavage in the masonry of the porch, which rent the outer veil and left the Holy Place open to view, would account for the language of the Gospels, of Josephus, and of the Talmud' (emphasis added)...

"What they witnessed was the symbolic removal of the spiritual separation that existed between God and humanity. Human beings no longer required a Levitical High Priest as their mediator to God. From that time forward each believer was given a direct access to God through Yeshua, the eternal High Priest, and the only mediator between man and God." (pp. 200-2)

"Hank Hannegraff gives an excellent explanation to clarify the meaning of [II Corinthians 5:21]:
'...Jesus did not literally become sin; sin was imputed to Him. The Bible insists that the sacrifice of Christ was a sufficient substitutionary offering precisely because it was a sinless sacrifice...'
"Yeshua did not literally become sin, but the totality of humanity's sin (both past and future) was imputed to Him on the tree. Because Yeshua was sinless and could not retain sin, the authors belief the sin was sent back to Satan by means of the man who chose Satan as his master.
"The fate of the unrepentant man, represented by the scapegoat, was to go to a place of desolation and separation from God. (p. 240-1)
The scapegoat was a type of Christ bearing the sin of Israel. Misinterpretation of these Scriptures misses entirely the substitutionary aspect of the atonement. Hank Hannegraff is an apostate evangelical who rejects the KJV-Only position and retracted his criticism of the Pensacola Revival. See our expose of the Christian Research Institute .

DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST

Rod of An Almond Tree: Joseph was the father of Jesus

P. 195 - "At His second coming, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) will be revealed as Yeshua ben David (Yeshua, son of David) and fulfill His role as the Messiah who comes to set up His Kingdom in triumph. At the time of His crucifixion, however, He fulfilled the role of the Messiah as the Suffering Servant, Yeshua ben Joseph (Isaiah 53).

RESPONSIBILITY OF JEWS

Denial of culpability for death of Jesus - Chapter 9

"At this point it is essential to clarify the meaning of the Greek words, hoi Ioudiaoi, translated 'the Jews.' According to Malcolm Lowe, a Christian writer, editor and lecturer residing in Jerusalem:

"...When John 19 is read carefully, one finds that the people had no role in the death of Jesus. Even those who call for the freeing of Barabbas are not a crowd of people, but just the chief priests and their officers...

"But who was the real power in the leadership at the time of Yeshua?
"The Herodian dynasty was founded by Herod the Great, whose father was an Edomite (Idumean) and whose mother was a Nabatean Arab. Recall that the Hasomonean dynasty which annexed Idumea compelled the Edomites to adopt Judaism. For this reason, Herod considered himself to be a Jew. However, the Pharisees, the spiritual leaders of the people, and the Jewish people never accepted Herod and his descendants as legitimate rulers. In fact, Herod required assistance from Rome to become installed as King of the Jews.
"No only were the Edomites the actual political power at that time, but the religious leadership was totally under their control... The Herodian Edomites totally controlled the office [of High Priest] and filled it with illegitimate priests based solely on political considerations...
"At Passover, the people could choose to release one man condemned to die. Pilate offered Yeshua as that man but the corrupt religious leaders and their associates chose Barabbas. The people were not present and so no represented. Scripture clearly indicates that the Jewish people as a whole accepted Yeshua as a prophet from God, and that it was the chief priests (the religious leadership and the rulers (the Edomite leadership) who were responsible for condemning and crucifying Him..." (pp. 179-81)
The 2000 JERUSALEM: COMING OF AGE IN THE MILLENNIUM event has composed an agenda which requires that the Christian Church absolve the Jews of all responsibility for the death of Jesus Christ:
The Rebirth of the Church and the Transfoliation of Life
"This continuing anti-semitism of the Christian Church incorrectly blaming the Jews for Jesus' death when it was by Rome himself that he was crucified leads directly to the mentality of the holocaust triggering the founding of the Jewish state and the unresolved tension in the Middle East today. A full apology is required for all the centuries, not too little too late."
Requirements of Christians in Requital Document of Sakina to include:
Bottom Line: The Pope has declared the millennium to be an occasion to right the sins of the Church ... I applaud this and request the following:

Apology made for blaming Christ's Roman crucifixion on the Jews - a virtuous step taken much too late. This should be forthcoming from all Christians publicly...
The Rod of an Almond Tree in God's Master Plan - Part I
The Hebrew Roots Movement