studies in end-time revelation

The Sign of Scorpio portrays the conflict between the "Mighty Man" and the "Scorpion" and the struggle between the great and powerful Orphiuchus (the serpent-holder) and the Serpent The scene is right out of the pages of the opening chapters of Genesis, and the closing chapters of the book of Revelation. Its wonderful message, in fact, runs like a scarlet cord through all the pages of the Word of God —for it is a picture from GOD'S BIBLE IN THE SKY.

In Genesis 3: 1 we read, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" The word serpent in our language comes from the Latin "serpo" meaning "to creep," but the Hebrew term has no relation to the form or motion of any external attribute of a serpent The word used here for serpent is the Hebrew word NACHASH which is a primitive root meaning "to his or whisper." It, furthermore, means "to search or scrutinize closely, to find out by experiment, to practice divination, augury, incantation or enchantment." According to Webster incantation means "the chanting of special words or a formula in magic spells or rites," Incantation may speak in addition of hypnotism. The Serpent, then, is a HISSER, a WHISPERER, a DIVINER, an EXPERIMENTER, an ENCHANTER, a MAGICIAN, and a HYPNOTIST! And, I might add, so is the carnal mind!

In Isaiah 8: 19 the Holy Spirit has recorded for our learning a most significant exhortation. "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead?" The same inspired prophet penned a prophecy concerning Jerusalem under the prophetic term "Ariel," saying, "Thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be. . . out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust" (Isa. 29: 4). Here we read of spirits that "peep and mutter," which speak "out of the ground" and "whisper out of the dust." Is this not reminiscent of the Serpent in Eden, the hisser and whisperer, calling to Eve and speaking hypnotically from the dust realm?

Whisperings out of the dust — there is something sinister in the thought, but beyond the evil that is suggested, there is also the thought of subtle suggestion — a whispered temptation — something so subtle one could wonder from whence it comes, a word so low and so whispered as to be almost imperceptible —or is it a thought, a desire, a command from an inner nature These whisperings ARISE FROM THE DUST OF THE CARNAL MIND, OUT OF THE GROUND OF THE ADAM NATURE where lies the Serpent! It is significant to note that "the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made" (Gen. 3: 1). The contrast is drawn between the Garden and the field Adam lived and walked in the Garden, and his responsibility was to "dress and keep it." Garden is from the Hebrew GAN, meaning a fenced or protected area. It was, furthermore, cultivated and tended. Field is from the Hebrew SADEH, indicating that which is spread out; flat land; wild farm or wilderness. The field where the Serpent dwelt was an unfenced and uncultivated area. This field bespeaks of the mind of the flesh — the unbroken, unharnessed, unbridled, untended, unplowed, unprocessed, undisciplined, unprotected sphere from whence the Serpent "whispered out of the dust" — the subtle voice whispering enticingly from the unexplored wildlands of the FLESH! This whisper, this tantalizing hiss is communicated through the thoughts, reasoning, desires, passions, plans, hopes, fantasies and cravings of the CARNAL MIND! In the first age of Adam's creation, God used the Serpent to reveal what lay dormant, undiscovered and uncultivated within man's innermost being — a CUNNING NATURE — EGO — SELFHOOD independent of God. If by the grace of God you can see the truth of this, you will then plainly discern in all the propensities of the carnal mind the CREEPING, SLITHERING, WHISPERING, DIVINING, ENCHANTING, HYPNOTIZING SERPENT OF EDEN!

Before pursuing this thought, we do well to consider also the word translated "subtle" in this passage. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any best of the field." The Hebrew word for "naked" in Gen. 2: 25 is AROM. The English word that describes the Serpent's nature in Gen. 3: 1 is "subtle," and the Hebrew word here is ARUM. Both AROM and ARUM are derived from ARAM which means "to be bare, to be cunning" Hebrew scholars say that originally these three words were the same word — ARAM. Now, why should the expression "naked" and the term "cunning" be the same word? What is the connection? We can answer with only one word: SEDUCTIVE. By way of illustration, a naked woman may be a seductive woman. There is a close connection between the two. The ideas of naked and cunning come together in the word SEDUCTIVE or SEDUCE. Can we not see by this that the Serpent was actually more seductive than anything in the bestial realm. Ah! the mind of the flesh is, in truth, the most seductive thing in the world!

In this connection a friend has written, "There was a tree set in the midst of the garden called the Tree of Life. God had given man the right to eat of that tree and in eating of it, man would enter into eternal life. The tragedy that we have seen is, however, that man did indeed eat of that tree — for if one will read carefully he will find that the Tree of Knowledge of which man ate was also in the midst of the garden, which can only mean that the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge are ONE AND THE SELFSAME TREE. The Tree of Life, however, is the essence of the truth and the Tree of Knowledge is the form of truth!" Here is the key —form vs. essence. It is just the difference between the letter of the Word and the spirit of the Word; between law and grace, between ritual and reality, between doctrine and life, between shadow and substance, between facts and truth. And vast multitudes of Adam's descendants today have not learned the difference between these two trees, or between the voice of the Lord God in the Garden and the hissing of the Serpent from the field. So many of the Lord's people have not to this day discerned between flesh and spirit, between the letter that killeth and the spirit that giveth life, between the external ritual and the internal reality, between the outward shadow and the inward substance, between facts and truth, or between form and essence. Jesus never said, "Ye shall know the facts and the facts shall make you free." He stated, rather, "Ye shall know the TRUTH!" And what a difference there is! Facts are merely the FORM OF TRUTH, the husk of the kernel, truth held by the carnal mind in the intellect as dead-letter doctrines, laws, creeds, forms, rituals, ceremonies, ordinances, works, activities, etc. — all figures representing or standing for truth and reality, but within themselves containing NO LIFE. "The letter killeth, " the apostle assures us. "The spirit giveth life." "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life," saith the Lord. Jesus proclaimed, "I am the truth, I am the life" The Serpent said, "God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened!" That was a fact — and "ye shall be as GODS, knowing good and evil" was also a fact, for after Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree, the Lord God Himself verified the Serpent's statement as being a fact. "Behold, the man is become AS ONE OF US to know good and evil," God said (Gen. 3: 22).

Again a friend has aptly written, "In form, then, the serpent had the truth. He had, in fact, drawn on the very Word of God itself to tempt Eve, for the Lord had said, 1 will create man in My own image. ' What the serpent failed to reveal, however, was the essence of the form which is that INDEPENDENTLY OF GOD man can never be a partaker of the divine nature! This should have been a self-evident truth, but man failed to see it. He was deceived by the very form of truth — taking the Word of God which had promised to make him in the image of God, receiving it as a doctrine rather than a revelation, as form rather than life, and was thereby brought to ruin, cheated out of the very thing he sought. Man became a god, alright, in the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil — but he became a god in the wrong realm, for at the same time that God acknowledged man's 'deity' He also CAST HIM FORM THE GARDEN — cast him from the heavenly realm — and set him in the earth 'to till the ground from which he was taken. ' Musing upon this incident years later, the prophet David wrote, 'What is man that Thou art mindful of him. . . for Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands. . . ' It was as a god that man had dominion, but a further reading of this passage reveals that the works of the hands of God over which man was given dominion under the first covenant was limited to the earth realm. Thus, we find that Adam truly became a 'god' — as the serpent promised and the Lord confirmed — but he was not an heavenly god. He became, rather, the 'god of this world' 01 Cor. 4: 4)" — end quote.

The Serpent did not preach truth, he preached facts. Form apart from essence' Dead doctrine about God instead of participation through union with God. Man came into knowledge, but he lost his life. In fact, man became a partaker of that wisdom possessed by the Serpent, the wisdom of this world. It is significant to find that in the contrast of the wisdom of the world, as over against the wisdom of God, James says, "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish" (James 3: 15). This is always the Serpent's approach to us. EARTHY — that which appeals to the flesh, the natural senses. SENSUAL — literally, soulish, that which appeals to the ego and the mind. DEVILISH — that which touches the human spirit realm to defile with the negative spirit of the world. But, thank God! there is also "the wisdom that is from above" which is "first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (James 3: 17).

In his first epistle, the apostle John informs us that "the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1Jn. 5: 19). "This present evil world (Gal. 1: 4)" is now governed by those who obey the carnal nature, the Serpent within them. Satan, "the god of this world," rules through carnal individuals (old Adam), thus filling this world with the wickedness and corruption so evident everywhere. The result of the Serpent's work, through the carnal nature in mankind, is the conglomerate world system — economic, political and religious — prophetically called Babylon. The most outstanding characteristic of the Serpent is his ability to deceive. From the very opening chapters of the Bible, he is depicted as a liar and a deceiver. "The serpent beguiled me and I did eat," was Eve's cry, and in the closing chapters of the Bible, the fact of his deceiving nature is further emphasized in the inspired words penned by the Revelator wherein he says that he is "that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD" (Rev. 12: 9).

To properly understand the "wisdom of this world" which is "foolishness with God" we must first understand what is meant by the "world." The Greek word for world is KOSMOS, which means system, arrangement, or organization. There are two things which have captured our attention, having been quickened for our consideration by the Spirit of God. These two are sin and the world. Because both are contrary to the Spirit of God, they must be dealt with and purged from all who would walk in sonship to God. However, the defilement of these two aspects differs. The contamination of sin is savage, hurtful and ugly, while the contamination of the world is cultured and refined, appealing to the intellect and the artistic in man. The contamination of sin is like dirty motor oil poured on a beautiful white wedding gown. But the contamination of the world is like a colorful pattern printed on white doth. From the human standpoint, a wedding gown with dirty motor oil splashed on it is considered filthy and undesirable, whereas a cloth with a colorful design is not dirty, but rather desirable. However, in the sight of God, BOTH ARE UNDESIRABLE! God's standard has always been neither a stained garment nor a colorful piece of cloth, but a pure white garment. "And to her was granted that she would be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white:, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints" (Rev. 19: 8). "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment' (Rev. 3: 5). Just as a dirty spot is not pure white, even so a colorful design detracts from the pure whiteness. Likewise, the world appears better than sin, but when related the divine nature, both are contaminating and require purging.

Furthermore, the effect of sin and the world upon man differ greatly: sin defiles and degrades man, whereas the world possesses man. It is just as serious for man's life to be controlled and dominated by the world as to be defiled by sin. If Satan only uses sin to contaminate man, he only causes man to be perverted and shamed, but if he uses the world to possess man, then man is alienated from God into a realm of ego-centric self-sufficiency and self-deception. Sin may be defined as an act of disobedience to God, while the world may be defined as man's organized system or kingdom by which he lives in independence from God.

A study of Genesis makes the difference apparent. Although Adam was corrupted by sin, he was still living in the presence of God. It is not until Genesis 4 that we read of Cain: "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. . .and he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch" (Gen. 4: 16-17). This is most significant! "Nod" is the Hebrew word for exile or vagrancy. Thus, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, away from the life of the Kingdom of God, away from his inheritance in God, into exile, to walk totally independent from God and outside of God. This "land of Nod" or condition of exile is stated to be "on the east of Eden." The Garden of Eden, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, was westward, but Cain travelled eastward. Adam was driven away from the Tree of Life, driven eastward (Gen. 3: 24), and now Cain continues on yet farther in an eastward direction (as all the metaphysical religions do today!) away from even the presence of God. Oh, what spiritual realities lie hidden in these simple words of Holy Writ! The Word of God clearly reveals that the route of spiritual progression is from east to west. Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God, is pictured by the Psalmist as a bridegroom typified by the sun who comes out of his chamber to run a race through the heavens (Ps. 19: 4-6). Malachi speaks of Christ as "the sun of righteousness, arising" (Mal. 4: 2). Everyone knows, of courses, that the "race" of the sun is run from east to west. The lightning referred to in Mat 24: 27 is actually the sun, for the Greek word merely means a bright shining, and lightning, as we know, does not flash from east to west, having no specific design or direction. Thus, Jesus said, "For as the bright shining (sun) cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Cain, had it not been for sin, would have been living in the Garden of Eden, which typifies the Kingdom of Heaven on earth — man dwelling and walking and living in the economy of God, the Spirit. In spite of sin, he was still able to know the presence of God, which typifies the anointing. But now Cain is rejecting even the presence of God and moving in the opposite direction of the course of the anointing, moving further and further from the life of the Spirit. His final end is that of an exile, a vagrant, living on a territory not pertaining to him, not his true inheritance or possession. There, alienated from God, and severed from the anointing, the record states Cain dwelt. He settled there. He built there. How happy is the man who clearly understands that the pathway of the anointing is ever from glory to glory, and as long as we are short of the image and incorruptible life of God we must never settle anywhere! The very condition of settling precludes our re-entrance into the Paradise of God. The man who settles is lost from the on-going purposes of God. Those blessed ones who in this hour hear and heed the call to sonship cannot settle in any zone until they stand in holy splendor with the Lamb upon the pinnacle of Mount Zion in the heavenly sphere of life and glory and dominion. But men always settle when, following the spontaneous moving and revelation of God, they begin to organize and systematize it, building walls of formulated creeds and dogmas about it, endeavoring to preserve it, as though the almighty Spirit who gave the outpouring in the first place had never commanded, "leaving. . .let us GO ON to perfection!" Once the move of God is creedalized and organized those within its walls are nevermore free to follow the course of the anointing, or to walk with God in His on-going unfolding of His glory.

Sin began with Adam in the Garden, for Adam sinned and was corrupted by sin and overcome by death, but he did not fall into the world at that point, neither was he possessed by the world then. The word "world," as we have pointed out, translates the Greek word KOSMOS meaning order, arrangement, system of things. The world is a negative thing in relation to God. James declares, ". . .the friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4: 4). The apostle John adds his testimony, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 Din. 2: 15-16). Many Christians have the mistaken notion that the world is the movie theater, the dance hall, stylish clothing, and such like. Others confuse the world with the earth. But the world is the present system of things upon this earth conceived by the carnal mind and generated by the natural man. The world consists of all that man has instituted that replaces God in his life. The present political, economic, educational and religious systems are not of God, but of the world. When people, activities, or things — whether good or bad, beautiful or ugly — enslave man and usurp God, they comprise the world. Anything that causes man to disregard the Spirit, be removed from the anointing, or be independent of God is the world. All that does not come from the Father, all that originates outside of the consciousness of God, all that man institutes by his own carnal wisdom and fleshly activity is of the world, and is contrary to the life, nature and ways of God. There is an interesting statement in Eph. 1: 4. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." The word "foundation" translates the Greek word KATABOLE which is a compound word made up of BALLO meaning "to cast, to throw" and KATA meaning "down." When man fell from his high and holy relationship with God and was cast down into the carnal realm of existence, the "foundation" of the world was laid in his heart and actions. But — blessed be God! The apostle Paul informs us that God the Father elected some sons in Christ "before the foundation of the world"! The word "before" translates the Greek word PRO meaning "to go before, to precede." Hence, the Father's act of choosing us in the Christ preceded the fall of man and the establishment of the world system. We are not told how many days, years or eons this choosing preceded the world, but methinks it was away back there when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy!

Since the world is in such opposition to God we must consider its origin and process of development. The world began with Cain. Cain built the first city — organized society, civilization — which typifies the worldly system of independence from the SPIRIT. The world did not exist when man was created (except in abstraction), but developed gradually after the fall, as man removed himself from the anointing and walked in his own carnal way. When man was brought forth from the formative hand of God there was already the universe, the heavens and the earth, and all created things; but the world did not exist. Following the fall, when unregenerated man began to multiply upon the earth the Serpent in man gave direction and character to the "New World Order" of man, thus the scripture speaks of the natural man as walking "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the SPIRIT that now worketh IN the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2: 2). 

There are three primary requirements for man's existence and well-being on earth: provision, protection, and pleasure. For man to live an abundant and fulfilled life in the earth realm he needs the provision of food, clothing, shelter, etc., a means of defense to protect himself from adversaries, and a form of recreation and amusement for his happiness. Prior to the fall GOD WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING THESE THREE NEEDS OF MAN, and they were supplied abundantly in the Garden of Eden experience. After Cain's departure from the anointing, the scripture describes him as "of that Wicked One" (I Jn. 3: 12). The preposition "of" is in the Greek EK — "out of" — "Cain was OUT OF that Wicked One" — the seed of the Serpent! Out of the descendants of Cain were produced the founders of man's own system of supply for these three great needs of life. These were the three sons of Lamech. Jabal was the father of tent dwellers and cattlemen (Gen. 4: 20). Tents and cattle are for the supply of man's living and therefore belong to the category of provision. In the beginning God intended that HE should be our provision and so made Himself available to man in the Tree of Life, that in union with Him we should have all things, even the supply of God Himself. Jabal represents man's own efforts, apart from the anointing, to make provision for himself. Spiritually, this symbolizes the carnal religious systems with their rituals, ceremonies, and ordinances designed to "feed" God into man. All religion is the invention of man in his effort to meet man's spiritual need — apart from the anointing! Alas! they understand not that the reality of God's life is not contained in, nor ministered through, doctrines, programs, rituals, ceremonies or ordinances. Those who live in that realm know nothing of the mighty power of the indwelling Christ of God. Man's religion is of the world, for it is outside of God, being not of the Spirit, nor by the anointing.

Another of Cain's sons, Jubal, was the father of all that handle the harp and organ. Playing harp and organ is for pleasure and inspiration and thus pertains to the category of pleasure. This worldly aspect is fulfilled, spiritually, in the maze of social activity in religion, as well as in much of the music, programs, and sermonizing, all of which is designed to be pleasant, acceptable and entertaining to the people. I personally have little use for most of the concerts, programs, and pulpit showmanship which constitutes much of the so-called "ministry" among God's people today, for it is, without doubt, very appealing to the carnal mind which is ever wont to feed upon soulish entertainment rather than with reverential awe and holy brokenness to drink at the fountains of living water from the throne of God. I am convinced that our faithful heavenly Father has given the ministry of the blessed spirit of Truth for the perfecting of the saints, whereas the worldly church system has given us a veritable smorgasbord of religious shows for the entertaining of the saints. Most solemnly do I declare unto you that all such ARE OF THE WORLD, and not of the Father, for their methods and means He outside of the anointing of the Spirit and can never lead God's people beyond the husks of man's own vanity. Thank God! a people is arising who are finding their way out of Cain's pleasure land of entertainment and sentimentality, back to the Paradise of God, back to the Tree of Life, where they partake deeply of this sublime truth: ". . . in Thy presence is fullness of Joy, at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore!" (Ps. 16: 11). 

The third son, Tubal-cain, was the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron instruments. These instruments were formed for the purpose of defense, thus referring to the category of protection. Ignorant of the power and sufficiency of the indwelling Spirit, with what pompousness do the religious systems construct about them their walls and implements of defense! Church history is replete with examples of revival after revival in which men were sovereignly caught up into heavenly places of glory and power, only to have man put his hand of flesh upon the workings of God, to control, protect and preserve it, as though the omnipotent Spirit needed man's useless wisdom and regulations to preserve His mighty work! Out there in Cain's world you must have the earthly braw and iron implements of Tubal-cain — the implements of organization, denomination, creed, coverings, fellowships, rules, regulations, boards, etc., to defend and preserve the work; but, blessed be God! as one moves westward into the anointing of God's presence and life the omnipotence of the indwelling Spirit Himself becomes our fortress and exceeding strong tower! With what deep comprehension of the ways of the Lord did the Psalmist pen the words of faith in the power of God alone when he wrote, "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, 0 Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. For THOU art the glory of their strength: and in Thy favor shall our horn be exalted. For THE LORD IS OUR DEFENSE; and the Holy One of Israel is our King" (Ps. 89: 15-18).

In these three important inventions of the sons of Cain man found within himself the answer to his need of supply, defense and amusement Man found no need of God, of the anointing, for he set about to establish his own world, independent of God. This was the civilization produced after mankind departed from the presence of God — a godless life created by men. This present world system of things is patterned after the order of Cain. It is all outside of God. That does not mean that it is all evil. It simply is not of the Spirit! How clear that in this earth the politics, economics, education and religion is outside of God! When we have learned how the world was formed, it is easy to define the world. Originally, man was in the family of God, lived by God, relied entirely upon Him, and had at his disposal ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. Now the Serpent, through subtilty, sophistry, the carnal mind, the wisdom of this world, has systematized the world to replace God in being all to man. Man, having forsaken his inheritance, having departed from the presence, and having lost the anointing relied upon the world and was overcome by the world. Therefore, the world consists of everything that replaces God and possesses man.

Cain built a city — as did Nimrod after him. "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch" (Gen. 4: 17). There was no city in Eden, no fleshly system, no carnal arrangement of things. Not system, but LIFE! I wish to speak with utmost solemnity here. Throughout the centuries the religious systems have accumulated a great number of traditions, rites, ordinances, methods, institutions and practices, each of them supplanting something of the pureness and freshness and glory of the SPIRIT. These things have become so universal in the churches of the world, and in the lives of their members, that there is no thought of ever being able to "run" the church and its business without them! Generation after generation, people have been raised up from childhood in this atmosphere and have absolutely no knowledge of anything else or another way. It never even enters the minds of these people that THE CHRIST WITHIN is the Head of the church, the life of the church, and the whole sufficiency for the church, its people, its work, and its needs. Each church must be constantly creating new plans, programs and activities to keep the people busy "doing something". The idea is to keep the people busy and to keep up the interest, so that they may be kept in that church. In the church world such a church is known as a "lively" church, and the pastor is known as one of the "successful" pastors. Spirituality has little, if anything, to do with it, for the whole group, including the so-called pastor and church leader, is simply a natural body of people, carrying on what they imagine is a church.

He who makes God's house of living stones depend on mere outward forms; he who confounds Truth with the shibboleths of sects and denominations, or the usurpation of preachers, builds upon the baseless and shifting sands. The true and eternal church depends solely on the presence of Christ. Sweep away from your spiritual walk as much as you will the infinite cobwebs which the ambition and the ignorance of men have spun for centuries over the surface of the faith. Fling to the four winds the voluntary humility and all the vain deceits, traditions, and ordinances, which, like those of the Pharisees, are but "weak and beggarly elements." It is not the form but the essence which constitutes true religion. Christ knew nothing of external paraphernalia, and those who follow the Lamb know nothing of it either. Distinguish between the flickering shadows of outward symbols and the verities of eternal life. Distinguish between the valueless injunctions of touch not, taste not, handle not, and the divine nature which produces love, joy, peace, righteousness of heart, and all were suddenly swept away, it would in all probability cease to function If the churches had to drop all their rituals, forms, programs and ceremonies; all their confirmations, baptisms, and communion services; all their special singing, organ music, and altar calls, they would feel as though they had been stripped naked and could not serve God in any way. All this simply demonstrates the terrible fact that the faith and dependence of the churches is not in God, but is in the trappings they have accumulated to themselves throughout the centuries. The thought that God is perfectly able and fully willing to run His church without the aid of anything in the way of fleshly contributions, is found to be abhorent to the average church member.

God's true church, in contrast to the false religious system of Babylon, has never been contaminated by the world. You may be assured, my beloved, that the Father has faithfully answered the prayer of Jesus, "And now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep ties and powers in the celestial realms, and the hope of all creation for deliverance and restoration to the Kingdom of God. Let all who treasure the call to sonship know once and for all that CHRIST WITHIN I-S s-u-f-f-i-c-i-e-n-t! all else is —the world. '

The truth that is set like a diamond in the pages of God's Word is the absolute and total sufficiency of the Christ within. To say that the Christ Himself is not sufficient for our whole life as sons of the Most High, that the indwelling spirit of life is not enough, that there is something the outer man must do to add to, supplement, or improve on what He is within us is an insult to God and a blasphemy against our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we see men doing this on every hand. The carnal mind is never able to take God at His word! It continually seeks to initiate some additional actions or services on the natural plane to take the place of pure spiritual reality.

When Jesus came in the flesh, He came into a world steeped in religion. He came into a condition brought about by centuries of teaching the law and the rites and sacrifices of the temple worship. Into this had been woven the traditions of the elders, an accumulation of those same centuries. It had come to include also even the washing of pots and cups, together with ceremonies of washing of hands before eating and a multitude of other practices imposed upon the people by their leaders. The temple in the city of Jerusalem was the symbol of all this to the people. Their whole life revolved around that building and the rites and sacrifices the priests offered in it. It was the sacred spot of the nation and of all Jews wherever they were in the world. Every Jew had that one desire to go to Jerusalem and worship. This system of religion was imbedded in the lives of the people, and had been for long centuries. It had. become a part of their life and they endured it all with the hope perennial within their hearts that some day the Messiah would come and lift not only this yoke, but that of the Roman empire as well. But when the Messiah came, they did not recognize Him. For here was all this great mass of law, ritual and Pharisaical teaching and tradition, while the Messiah was but an unknown man, of almost unknown origin. Jesus brought a new and revolutionary way of life. It was a way of believing, and not a way of doing. It was faith in the Christ and right relationship with God and did not consist in the doing of anything, or the keeping of external observances. It was simplicity in the highest degree, set up against organized worship of the highest degree. The revolutionary way of life which Jesus brought to the people was in exact and complete opposition to the bondage under which the people now found themselves.

The people were constantly taught and instructed that they must observe all the things the priests and Pharisees told them, or they would perish. Jesus came into their midst and said that all those things would do them absolutely no good whatever, but if they wanted life they should come unto Him and drink — merely by believing into Him! He was placing the Christ and faith in the Christ against all the accumulated tradition of the nation. He was assuring them that they would NOT LOSE A SINGLE THING by coming unto Him, and casting all else away from them. And they would gain life. But who could hear such a thing in the day of Christ. In fact Jesus Himself said that no man could come unto Him, except the Father who had sent Him, would draw that man. It is just as true today! Ah, beloved, if you were to go into any church on any Sunday and say to the people, "If you will cast aside all your form, all of your traditions, all of your rituals, all of your ordinances, all of your cherished and time-honored creeds, all of your solemn assemblies, all of your myriad activities, all of your committees, and SIMPLY COME UNTO THE CHRIST AND BELIEVE INTO HIM AND DRINK OF H-I-M, YOU WILL LOSE NOTHING, but you will gain the glorious and eternal reality of God forevermore," what kind of reception would you receive? You would actually be asking the people to give up everything they are doing and all the things they have been given by their ministers and church orders with which to serve and worship God — exchanging it all for GOD ALONE. What an unbearable burden it would be for the people to be REDUCED TO GOD, to possess nothing but GOD HIMSELF! You would find this an almost impossible thing to accomplish. Truly Christ has been usurped by the world'

As we have pointed out, the most outstanding characteristic of the Serpent is his ability to deceive. From the very dawn of human history, as recorded in the Bible, he is depicted as a liar and deceiver. "The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat," was Eve's plaintive cry, and in the closing book of the Bible, the fact of his deceiving nature is further emphasized in the words of the Revelator who described him as "that old Serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12: 9). The apostle is referring back to that significant statement in Gen. 3: 1 wherein we read, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."

The Bible was not written in English, but Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. It is to the ancient Hebrew words we will refer, to glean the truth from this passage. From a casual view of these words comes the ancient myth of a snake wound around a tree in the Garden of Eden. However, the Hebrew word translated "serpent" is NACHASH. This word NACHASH means "to hiss, mutter, whisper; as do enchanters." Secondary meanings are "to divine," "enchant." It is because of these expressions that the noun "serpent" appears. An allied Chaldean word means brass, actually polished brass, from a root word meaning to be bright. Dr. Bullinger, in the Companion Bible, says, "the Hebrew term probably includes the sense of fascinate, enchant" This element of fascination connects with the later use of Nachash as "serpent." Satan, then, is a WHISPERER, an ENCHANTER, a FASCINATOR, and a SHINING ONE! He is a speaker, a teacher, a diviner, a creator of illusions and appearances — a deceiver!

And just how does Satan deceive? A key is found in the Greek New Testament name for Satan — the devil The Greek word is DIABOLLOS. DIABOLLOS is a compound of two words — DIA and BOLLO. DIA means "a channel of an act" and BOLLO means "to throw — either with force, or without force, yet with a purpose, or even carelessly." Hence, the Devil is A CHANNEL SOMETHING PASSES THROUGH. The pipe through which water enters your home is a channel — a means of passage. The frequency bands assigned to a single transmitting station for either radio or television is called a channel — the frequency or means of passage of communication from the station to your receiver. Any channel is the vehicle through which a thing passes from one location or state to another. And, may I add, the Devil is the channel (DIA) through which a carnal thought, idea, concept, desire, passion, etc. passes before it reaches your CONSCIOUS MIND. This explains very well why Strong's Analytical Concordance has rendered the compound word DIABOLLOS as "a traducer." The English word "traduce" means "TO TRANSFER FROM ONE ORDER OF REASONING TO ANOTHER ORDER OF REASONING, as to translate from one language to another language." Hence, the Traducer, the Devil, the Translator, the Interpreter sits enthroned in the mind of man and his primary job is to transfer or translate KNOWLEDGE!

This ancient Phoenician coin, which was minted long ago in the bustling commercial city of Tyre, bears a curious image. The coin shows a serpent entwined around a tree stump. To the left of the stump stands an empty cornucopia. To the right, a flourishing palm tree. Curious, yes. But is it significant? Amazingly, the story these symbols tell is of great relevance to our spiritual understanding!

To classical scholars, the symbols on the coin are familiar ones. They are found in the art and mythology of many civilizations through the millennia. What do they all mean? First, consider the snake. The snake on the Phoenician coin is the symbol of a powerful god whom the Romans called Aesculapius, the Greeks Asklepios. Who was this personage? Aesculapius was an ancient pagan god of healing. To his temples sick people came from all over the world. His symbol was the serpent !} This symbol has come down to us today in the two snakes which intertwine the staff on the shields of the medical profession. Persons wishing healing from this god were instructed to lie down in his temple so that the tame snakes of the priests could slither over them. The sufferer who was "fortunate" enough to have this dubious honor take place was said to have been touched by the hand of the god of healing! His healing powers are reflected in the meaning of his name, Aesculapius. It means, literally, "THE MAN-INSTRUCTING SERPENT." Now we see a significant connection! The Serpent who sought to teach mankind is mentioned, of course, in the third chapter of Genesis, where he seduced our first parents, Adam and Eve. It is none other than man's adversary, "that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world" (Rev. 12: 9). In mythology, Aesculapius was believed to be the child of the Sun, and thus the "enlightened" of mankind. He was often represented in art by a serpent or as an old man holding a staff around which a snake is entwined.

This "Traducer," or "Translator," or "Enlightener," is nothing more nor less than the spirit of your mind! Those elect saints who read these lines know that the metaphysical and occult "channelers" have no light of truth or Holy Ghost power to set men free or transform into the image of God, but how often we fail to realize that there is a MASTER CHANNELER sitting as a god right within our own minds, and how often we yield our lives into his hands of illogical reasoning — deception and delusion. The words coming from this Translator may be enticing and exciting — but only to the natural man; and, my beloved, they minister death! Hence the need to heed the apostle's inspired admonition, "Put off the old man. ..and be renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Eph. 4: 22-23). The simple truth is: YOU CAN'T TRUST YOUR INTERPRETER! Of him our Lord stated plainly, "There is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (Jn. 8: 44). And he is "that crooked serpent" (Isa. 27: 1).

The magicians of Egypt were diviners and enchanters. God spoke unto Moses and said, "What is that in thine hand.?" Moses replied, "A rod." God said, "Cast it on the ground." He obeyed and the rod became a serpent. This was a very important lesson to him because the symbol of the serpent to an Egyptian represented WISDOM. It did not symbolize evil, Satan, or the Devil. Remember what Jesus taught his disciples..."Be ye as WISE AS SERPENTS and harmless as doves." God took that dry, lifeless stick and made it come alive. The lesson was plain to Moses. The rod is a type of the Christ. Isaiah spoke about a rod coming out of the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11: 1). Jesus became the WISDOM of God. Later, Moses and Aaron his brother went to meet Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. They went in to Pharaoh and asked him in the name of the Lord to let the people of Israel go. And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord? Why should I obey His commands? What sign can you show me that your God has sent you?" Then Aaron threw down his rod, and it was turned into a snake. But there were wise men, magicians, in Egypt who heard of this. They came in and threw down their rods, and their rods also became snakes. But Aaron's rod, in the form of a snake, ran after them, overtook them, and swallowed them all; and then it became a rod again in Aaron's hand. The message is clear — Christ, the wisdom of God, swallows up and consumes all the wisdom of this world— of the carnal mind!

Again I would quote the timely words of a friend who has shared with us her keen insight into the mysteries of God. "Paul in II Cor. 11: 3 warns the church at Corinth to beware lest they fall into the same trap that ensnared Eve. 1 fear, ' said he, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ' The English here does not tell the full story. It is, therefore, to our advantage that we delve into the Greek that we might receive in greater depth that which was intended by the Spirit of God for our hearts. When it was said that the serpent "beguiled" Eve, the Greek indicates that he cheated her out of something, for the word used is a combination of the Greek word EK which means 'out' and the word APOTAO which means 'to cheat. ' She was, then, 'cheated out' — sold short — and it was no less thing than the glory of God that she lost. That is why it is written of all mankind, 'All have sinned and come short of the GLORY of God. ' The means by which the serpent — the Seer — beguiled Eve and cheated her out of her inheritance was through subtilty. Again, delving into the Greek, we find that the word used is PANOURGIA meaning 'adroitness, trickery, craftiness, and sophistry. ' It is this word ' sophistry ' that has captured our attention, having been quickened for our consideration by the Spirit of God. The English definition of this word is, 'Reasoning that is superficially plausible but is actually fallacious. ' It is a synonym for intellectualism and has to do with sophism which is 'an argument that is correct inform or appearance but is actually invalid. ' It is, also, 'an argument that is used for deception or displaying intellectual brilliance. '

"We find, then, that in cheating Eve out of her inheritance, in causing her to fall from the Glory, the serpent employed the use — NOT OF AN OUTRIGHT LIE—but of a TRUTH! He used an argument that is correct in form, but because it was only form and had lost the essence. Eve was deceived by it. What was the argument, that he used that was 'correct in form but was actually invalid'? Hear it! 'God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened? ' That was a truth — and 'ye shall be as gods' was also a truth, for after the man and the woman had eaten, the Lord God Himself verified the serpent's statement as being absolute truth. 'Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil, ' God said. inform, then, the serpent had a truth. What the serpent failed to reveal, however, was the essence of the form which is that INDEPENDENTLY OF GOD man can NEVER be a partaker of the divine nature! This should have been a self-evident truth, but man failed to see it. He was deceived by the very form of truth and was thereby brought to ruin, cheated out of the very thing that he sought. Man became a god, alright, in the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil — but he became a god in the wrong realm, for at the same time that God acknowledged man's 'deity' He also CAST HIM FROM THE GARDEN — cast him from the heavenly realm — and set him in the earth 'to till the ground from which he was taken. ' It is one thing to be 'a partaker of the divine nature' and it is quite another thing to be the 'god of this world! In the former, there is contained the thought of TOTAL DEPENDENCE — in the latter, the principle of INDEPENDENCE. Though the terminology is the same — that is, 'ye are gods' — the essence is not. 'The man has become as one of us' but he did not become, in his rebellion, an actual partaker of divinity. The serpent, then, through reasoning that is superficially plausible but is actually fallacious, beguiled Eve. It was through a mere intellectual grasp of the word of God that Eve was 'cheated out' of her inheritance in the Living One and fell into the realm of death. We must not, as we consider these things, lose sight of the fact that the apostle Paul had a fear for the church that BY THE VERY SAME DECEPTION, our minds should also be corrupted! 1 fear, ' said he, lest... as the serpent beguiled Eve through SOPHISTRY (the form of truth without the essence), so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ' May we have ears to hear!" — end quote,

The apostle Paul, in speaking of Christ as One in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, hastily adds: "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." The word "beguile" here is in the Greek PARALOGIZOMAI meaning "to mis-reckon, to wrongly reason." It is a compound word consisting of PARA meaning "along side of from which we get our English terms paralegal and paramedic. In medicine the word PARA is used to denote something disordered or abnormal. The second half of the word is the Greek LOGOS which is translated to mean the WORD OF GOD, as in Jn. 1: 1. Ah—the great Traducer, the Translator, the Interpreter, the Beguiler is he who causes us to NOT REASON GOD'S WORD CORRECTLY. The deceiver adds an idea along side of God's Word — the form added to the essence, the letter added to the spirit, the shadow promoted instead of the substance, and the results are very DISORDERED AND ABNORMAL! Eve did not correctly reason the things the Traducer communicated to her conscious mind and this whole world of illusion, deception, sin, pain, limitation, sorrow and death is the tragic result!

Earlier I pointed out that the second half of the Greek word DIABOLLOS (Devil) means "to throw or to cast, or to cast right through." Another word that has been quickened in my spirit is "input". We get "input" from the negative realm of spirit — the spirit of our carnal mind. This dart throwing of the adversary refers to thoughts, beliefs, concepts, ideas, feelings, moods, desires, etc. injected into your conscious mind out of the invisible realm. Though we may be alert for danger from without, the greatest danger always lies within ourselves. Both our ability and our wisdom are but foolishness in the sight of God, and should we consciously or unconsciously set our hearts upon them, we find ourselves leaning upon our own meager resource, devoid of the Spirit of God, and abandoned to our own devices. With what holy unction does the apostle Paul exhort the saints, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand, ..above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked" (Eph. 6: 13,16). 

You want to watch that crafty Translator within! In the temptation of Jesus we discover this wily adversary-coming upon the Master with Bible in hand, so to speak. "It is written!" — this was the glittering weapon, the fiery dart, the master-stroke of the Traducer. "If Thou be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread." "It is written!" he thundered as he offered the kingdoms of earth to Jesus if He would bow to the shrewd worldly wisdom the Traducer outlined in His mind by which He could have conquered even the might of the Roman empire. An easy way to popularity was pointed out — it was suggested that He cast Himself from the pinnacle of the temple. No harm would come to Him for God had promised to send His angles to care for Him. And the multitude, amazed, would follow Him. What gave immeasurable force to the Traducer's suggestions was his appeal to the awful authority of God's Word. He cast about the things he offered the glow of Divine approval. He enforced his ideas with the sacred sanction of the scriptures. It was with the Bible in hand that he approached the Son of man. "It is written!" If the Word of God supports it, if the Bible sanctions it, why it must be good. How the Traducer loves to come to us with the Bible in his hand! It casts about him such a holy air. But here is where we discover the awful depths of the Traducer's duplicity. He is no stranger to the scriptures, and he will quote the Word when such a procedure will serve his purpose. When he deals with a chosen one of God, obviously, he must meet such a one upon the high plane on which he lives. He could get nowhere by suggesting the gross sins of the flesh to one separated unto God. It must be through the Word. It must be through a carnal, twisted, literalistic and erroneous understanding of that Word — the letter that killeth. The letter killeth, and Satan has the power of death! The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are the same tree in the midst — the tree of knowledge is the outer form of truth, whereas the tree of life is the spirit of truth. To be carnally minded is death, says the apostle. How much plainer can it be that the crowning work of the Traducer is to put a natural, carnal, reasoned, intellectual interpretation to the Word which is spirit and life. He takes the language of SPIRIT and translates it into the perverted, garbled dialect of fleshly wisdom and carnal understanding. People sometimes accuse me of spiritualizing away the Word of God. How, I ask, can you spiritualize something that already I-S SPIRIT AND LIFE? The danger lies not, precious friend of mine, in spiritualizing away the Word — it is, rather, in canalizing away that which is SPIRITUAL! To bring the spiritual thrust and essence of the Word down to the low lands of carnal forms of religion is the subtilty of the Serpent. Ah, what a Translator he is! What a liar and deceiver! And all the time he is quoting the Word of God and rejoicing in what a really sound "fundamentalist" he is.

There isn't a vice you cannot justify, there isn't a doctrine, however contrary to the heart of God, you cannot prove, there isn't a religious methodology you cannot deify, there isn't a Babylonian garment you cannot glorify, by appealing to the scriptures. All have an, "it is written" to fall back on, The damnedest lie can be made to appear true. All the Traducer needs to do is to quote scripture. Every dirty heresy abroad, every false cult, all find in God's Word their foundation. "They that are unstable and (spiritually) unlearned wrest. . . the. . . scriptures unto their own destruction" (II Pet. 3: 16). I have learned that one can prove or disprove anything with scripture. Brethren sometimes write to me trying to engage me in lengthy debate over some point of doctrine—the letter that killeth. The hour is too late, the time too short, the purposes of God too urgent, my friend, to give myself and the precious time and energy Father has placed in my care to such foolish wranglings and carnal disputations. This is not a moment to jot every doctrinal "i" and cross every creedal "t". There is a truth that runs like a golden thread throughout all the pages of Holy Writ, teaching us that the elect whom God has chosen must become aware of the abiding presence and indwelling life of the Spirit. Students of theology, poor souls, pour over their musty volumes, they learn all the arguments and proofs of the doctrines about God, but the almighty God Himself they do not know. They become ineffective and spiritually impotent because they have separated Truth from the Person, knowing the form, standing on the letter, reciting the doctrine, articulating the facts, but having no vital, living relationship with Him who alone IS THE TRUTH. A lifetime of walking with God has taught me that it is possible for one to know all the arguments and appear to have all the answers, but still be a stranger to the heart of God. I testify to every man who reads these words, however, that the moment any man begins to know //Him wonderful changes take place in his understanding, for to know Him is to be like Him. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Cor. 3: 18). His Word is SPIRIT, His Spirit is LIFE, and His Life is POWER to transform, to awaken our consciousness to the abiding reality of Himself, to raise our being up into that heavenly, eternal sphere where I AM THAT I AM.

My good friend Elwin Roach, in his PATHFINDER PUBLICATIONS, some time ago wrote a series of timely articles on this subject of The Traducer. In closing I would share a portion of the wisdom that flowed from his anointed pen.

"When we hear religious teaching and acquire knowledge, if the thoughts are not coming from the Spirit of Christ (the anointing), they are passing through this soothsayer (traducer) before reaching our minds. This is the sayer who is soothing, he is lying, and is calculating. He is the translator for the humanistic, Adamic mind. The Traducer is very accomplished at what he does. Therefore, we should become more cautious WHAT we are hearing and HOW we are hearing, as Jesus warned in Mk. 2: 24 and Lk. 8: 18. Men and women alike have the tendency to try and grasp any and all things with their own minds that has been so logically put together by this brilliant Traducer, but let us be reminded of this: The carnal mind cannot receive the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned, and there is nothing about it which desires the things of God, for that mind is enmity against God (I Cor. 2: 14; Rom. 8: 7). However, as we have already mentioned, the Traducer does make the word of God pleasing and understandable to this dusty mind. Very often, when we read the Bible, the words coming off its pages go through the channel, through the dia, that thing in the mind called the traducer, the translator. This is what has produced so many fictions, frictions and factions in the church. The Traducer has helped to form many thoughts, ideas, reasonings, imaginations, images and idols — in other words, A LOT OF WIND, A LOT OF WINDY DOCTRINES! This translator is very consistent, for he can only translate one way. He always conveys dusty thoughts and carnal revelations, because this is all that the mind of man can receive. All scriptural truth (the reality of God) comes from above, even from Jesus who is the truth, the Lord from heaven. In other words. THE TRADUCER VEILS THE TRUTH, while JESUS IS TRUTH REVEALED!"