666, the Number of the Beast

      King Solomon taxed his subjects exactly 666 talents of gold a year, as it says in the Bible,

 

Solomon's annual gold revenues totaled 666 talents.[1] 

 

Six-Six-Six is the number of the beast, according to the book of Revelation.[2]  Thus, King Solomon is a prototype of the Antichrist.  Solomon also had a host of vices which the Bible records: 

      Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.[3]  A concubine is a female slave who gets used as a sex toy.  

      Solomon "turned toward other gods, and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh."  Therefore, he built temples for these pagan gods.  Among them was the Ammonite god Molech.[4]  Molech was believed to enjoy the smell of burning children, so the ancient Hebrews burned their own children in sacrificial fires to this god.[5] 

      Even so, Solomon was actually more concerned about making his own house bigger than building temples for the gods.  His royal palace was so big that it took thirteen years to build it.  In contrast, the extravagant temple at Jerusalem only took seven years to build.[6] 

      To finance his building projects, Solomon sold twenty of Israel's cities to his friend King Hiram of the Baal-worshipping Phoenicians,[7] thereby disenfranchising his own people for the sake of his selfish and idolatrous aggrandizement.  King Hiram of the Phoenicians is the same Hiram whom the Freemasons honor when they haze new members of their fraternity.  The Freemasons also deeply respect Solomon and the Jerusalem temple he built, and they worship the letter "G" for "Genitalia" – in this they copy the example of their progenitor, Solomon, whose voracious sexual appetite was exemplified by the number of women he kept. 

      Solomon's influence was so nefarious that a later king, Hezekiah, who "did right in the eyes of Yahweh," actually stopped using some of his books in worship services.[8]

      This was the same Solomon discussed earlier, who built the temple at Jerusalem, who abolished Abiathar's priesthood, and who established Zadok the son of Aaron as the sole high priest of Israel.[9]  Zadok was the first high priest to govern the Jerusalem temple priests, and these priests were responsible for the Priestly text.  We should ask, since Zadok politically supported Solomon against his brother, and since he did this despite the fact that Solomon was given over to so many idolatries and other crimes, and since he did this even before King David had named his heir, thus disregarding David's authority as king and Prophet, then what does this say about Zadok?  And if these accusations are true, then how can we possibly believe that the God of Israel actually gave his seal of approval to the dominance of the Aaron-Zadokee priesthood that wrote the Priestly text?

 

Temple of Demons

      Many ancient traditions assert that Solomon was heavily involved with the demonic realm, and that the integrity of Jerusalem was compromised as a result.  In the words of one ancient Christian tradition,

 

Solomon, whom David fathered by adultery, built Jerusalem with the help of demons which gave him power.  When construction was complete, he kept the demons in the temple.  He locked them up in seven jars and left them there in the jars for a long time.  When the Romans came to Jerusalem, they found the jars, and straightway the demons escaped their jar prisons.  Then the jars became pure.  Nowadays, the demons influence ignorant people, and they are still in the world… but these things are mysteries.[10]

 

Is this true?  Was the temple at Jerusalem built by demons?  And did these demons continue to live in the temple after it was built?  The tradition is actually a lot older than this text.  An earlier text called The Testament of Solomon includes a passage with a command allegedly given by the arch-angel Michael to Solomon saying,

 

You must put all the demons, both female and male, in prison, and you must build Jerusalem with their help.[11] 

 

The text continues, describing all the various demons who helped build the Jerusalem temple.  Many are quite hideous and vulgar.  Josephus adds that Solomon had a special way of controlling the demons by means of a ring, which he placed in the nostrils of those who were possessed.[12]  Solomon could direct demons in this fashion.

      Mohamed too, in the Qur'an, indicated that there was black magic associated with Solomon's time, although he attempted to exonerate Solomon himself, because he mistook Solomon for a Prophet. 

 

The blasphemy did not come from Solomon, but from the evil ones who taught the Babylonian witchcraft that came down with Harut and Marut.[13] 

 

In his commentary on this verse, Islamic theologian Abdullah Yusaf Ali identifies Harut and Marut as angels who came down from heaven and were tempted.[14]  This ties together with Enoch, which also states that the lustful angels taught witchcraft and sorcery to humans.[15]

      Other texts also record the legend in these words:

 

Solomon was a joke because he thought he was the Messiah.  He was puffed up by the six.[16]

 

Solomon built the temple with demons.[17]

 

The demiurge was troubled and asked 'How powerful is the Man who is above us?'… The third kingdom proclaims he was born of a virgin… Solomon dispatched an army of demons to capture the virgin.[18] 

 

Like the dragon of Revelation who chases the child and the woman,[19] Solomon is accused of trying to capture the virgin mother in order to destroy the Christ child.

 

Animal Sacrifice

      Why was there a tradition that the Jerusalem temple was the residence of demons?  There is actually a very good reason, and it is based on mainstream scholarship.  To understand it, one must first understand the reasons for the practice of animal sacrifice.

      Some folks assume that animal sacrifice is weird or Satanic, because modern witches and Satanists are about the only people who practice it today.  However, the ancient meaning of animal sacrifice was substantially different from Satanism.  When the ancients slaughtered an animal for food, they knew they had killed a living creature.  They felt guilty, or pondered what happened to the deceased animal’s soul.  To atone for killing it, they sacrificed the animal to their god.  The smoke from the altar transported the soul of the animal toward heaven, where it attained unity with the god.  This was mutually beneficial for both the animal and the god.  The animal could rest in peace, and the god acquired the power of the animal's life force.  Thus sacrifice was the moral and compassionate thing to do on behalf of the animals you ate, and it also served your god.

      Both the Bible and the apocryphal texts clearly teach that the souls of animals remain in the blood even after death.[20]  Therefore, the ancient Hebrews refrained from eating blood, believing their abstention would facilitate the passage of deceased animals into the afterlife.  This is demonstrated in Enoch, where the angel-human crossbreeds "sinned against birds, wild animals, lizards, and fish" by eating their blood,[21] and also in Jubilees, which states, "Nobody among you should eat blood," for, "you should not allow the soul to be eaten with the flesh… there is no limit to the days this law applies, it is forever."[22]  Both Jubilees and Genesis even personify spilled blood, saying that Abel's blood "complained" and "cried out" because Cain slew him.[23]  Furthermore, it is the reason why both Old and New Testaments prohibit the consumption of blood, and it is why blood was always poured out on the altar according to Old Testament Law.[24] 

      Of all the Old Testament regulations, the prohibition against eating blood was one of the few that James the brother of Jesus insisted the non-Jewish Christians abide by.  Such was the absolute importance of the doctrine.[25]  Christianity does not require vegetarianism.  Nevertheless, the earliest Christians and Hebrews still cared for the souls of the animals they ate, because they refrained from eating their blood, thus respecting the soul rather than consuming it.  The only blood Christians are allowed to eat is the blood of Christ, and likewise, the gospel of Christ gains strength by eating the blood of the martyrs – each feeding on the other's life force.

 

The Centralization of Sacrifice

      Animal sacrifice was practiced in the ancient Hebrew faith, but not in today's Jewish and Christian faiths?  Why?  The answer is found in the Priestly text, which Jews and Christians have unfortunately and unwittingly inherited in their Bible.  The Priestly text commands that sacrifices should only be performed in the place where God resides, at the altar of his tabernacle, which is assumed to be the temple of Jerusalem, since that is where the tabernacle has resided since the days of Solomon.[26]  The Priestly command to sacrifice at only one central location is as follows:

 

Any Israelite who kills a cow, lamb, or goat in the camp or outside the camp, and fails to bring it to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it to Yahweh, in the tabernacle of Yahweh, blood will be upon that person.  They have shed blood, and they shall be cut off from their people.[27]  

 

Deuteronomy is even more poignant:

 

Take care not to burn your sacrifices in every location you see, but in the place Yahweh chooses within one of your tribes, there you must bring all your sacrifices.[28]

 

Today, an Islamic shrine sits on the spot where the ancient tabernacle of Jerusalem used to sit.  Consequently, no sacrifices are performed. 

 

Sacrifice Outside Jerusalem

      Yet virtually every "righteous" individual who performed animal sacrifices in the Old Testament directly violated this regulation.  Abraham sacrificed everywhere but in Jerusalem.  He built altars at Shechem, Bethel, and Hebron, and these altars were used for animal sacrifice.[29]  As Abraham journeyed south, he passed right over Jerusalem, not even stopping there.  His son Isaac was no different.  Isaac built an altar at Beer-Sheba, but not at Jerusalem.[30]  Before them, Noah built an altar and sacrificed animals somewhere in Mesopotamia.[31]  Moses asked Pharaoh to "let my people go" so that they could sacrifice animals out in the middle of the Egyptian desert.[32]  None of these altars were even close to the so-called "holy city" of Jerusalem.  Clearly, the idea that animal sacrifice can only occur in Jerusalem is a false doctrine of the priests, and is easily disproved by the earlier texts of the Bible. 

      What’s more, the Priestly text never mentions any of these sacrifices.  It omits the story of how Noah sacrificed after the Flood, of how Abraham and Isaac sacrificed at random locations in Canaan, and of how Moses attempted to sacrifice in the sands of Egypt.  These omissions were not accidental.  The Priestly text intentionally omitted these for the purpose of deceiving people into believing they had to sacrifice only in Jerusalem.  They did this because they depended upon the revenue generated when all tithes and sacrifices came to Jerusalem, where they were located.  To allow the people to sacrifice elsewhere was simply bad business.  The almighty dollar is the reason why Jerusalem became the city of the Almighty.  Follow the money.  Just like modern corporations which violate anti-trust laws, the Jerusalem temple priests wanted to monopolize the market for religion by destroying all competition.  To do this, they invented forgeries and distorted Israel's true history, telling everyone they must pay tithes and sacrifices to their Jerusalme temple.

      In the early times, for the first six centuries after the Hebrews entered the Promised Land, the Hebrews continued to sacrifice anywhere they wanted, and the God of Israel was perfectly satisfied with this arrangement.  The Hebrews set up altars on the mountain tops, which they called high places.  Jerusalem had no special status.  Jerusalem was just one of many high places.  For example, David sacrificed in his hometown of Bethlehem, a rather insignificant town.[33]  Solomon sacrificed animals to Yahweh on high places outside Jerusalem, and Yahweh rewarded him for it.  Solomon also sacrificed animals in Jerusalem, but Solomon is not said to have received any reward for sacrificing in Jerusalem.[34]  The Prophet Samuel also sacrificed on the high places, and so did Saul.  God rewarded their sacrifices with the gift of prophecy.[35]  Such was the disposition of the God of Israel, that he rewarded people for sacrificing outside the so-called "holy city" of Jerusalem.   If people got a sudden urge to eat meat or make a sacrifice, makeshift altars were created on the spot.[36]  No special location or temple was required. 

      Even after the temple at Jerusalem was well established, God’s Prophets continued to sacrifice outside of Jerusalem.  For example, Elijah, who prophesied a century after the Jerusalem temple was up and running, sacrificed on Mount Carmel, and God confirmed that Elijah was justified in doing so by consuming the sacrifice with fire.[37]  Likewise Samson’s parents.  Moreover, a large number of Yahweh-worshipping kings throughout Judah’s history had a favorable policy toward the high places outside of Jerusalem, including Azariah, Amaziah, Jehoash, Jehoshaphat, and Asa.[38]  All of these kings lived after the Jerusalem temple was already established, and all of them recognized that sacrificial altars outside of Jerusalem had a right to exist.  They did not destroy the high places.  These kings were more ancient and thus closer in time to Moses than the Priestly text, and so their opinions hold preeminence. 

 

The Corruption of the Elohist Torah

      As long as the Hebrews sacrificed to Yahweh on the high places, Yahweh continued to bless them with freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land.  Evidently, God was quite happy with the high places. 

      Then, one day, an eight-year old boy named Josiah ascended to the throne, and his priests convinced him to tear down all the high places and leave only Jerusalem.[39]  It appears the boy king was easily manipulated by the priesthood, for these priests supposedly "found" a holy book that had been missing from the Bible for hundreds years,[40] yet scholars believe they largely invented it.  The book was Deuteronomy, which, like the Priestly text, commands the Israelites to sacrifice at only one central location.[41]  This explains why Josiah tore down the high places.  The name "Deuteronomy" means "second giving of the Law," and it is likely that it was the second edition of the Elohist Torah.  The original Elohist Torah was not compatible with the Priestly text; therefore, it was reworked into Deuteronomy.  This can be deduced from who "found" Deuteronomy in the temple – namely Hilkiah, who was related both to Abiathar's priesthood at Anathoth and also to Zadok's priesthood at Jerusalem.[42]  Insofar as Hilkiah was the child of both traditions, he sought a merger of the two, and thus we have the book of Deuteronomy, which merges Elohist and Priestly doctrines.  This is further substantiated by a tradition that Ezra omitted part of the Elohist Torah, and justified this omission by referencing Deuteronomy in its place.[43]

      The priests loved Josiah, so they formulated a false prophecy that the young king would live long and die peacefully.  Yet, in actual fact, Josiah would later die in battle at a young age.[44]  Obviously, God wasn’t filling the mouths of the Jerusalem priests with prophecy!  Rather, these were the false prophets Jeremiah so frequently mentions.  Josiah’s religious reformation lasted exactly thirteen years.[45]  By the end of those thirteen years, Josiah lay slain, Judah’s armies were defeated, and the Hebrew nation had lost its ability to sustain itself.  The once lofty kingdom of David was reduced to a puppet state.  Over the next twenty years, the Hebrew kings played political stunts with their Babylonian overlords, until finally, Babylon utterly destroyed them in the siege of Jerusalem.  The temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was burned to the ground.  The lucky survivors were exiled to Babylon, where they remained for 70 years. 

      Thus, within a generation of Josiah’s religious reforms, the Hebrew nation went from freedom to slavery.  If one chooses to view history theologically, then one should revise the book of Kings in this light.

      Why did Yahweh abandon his chosen people in the middle of the greatest religious reformation of they had ever accomplished?  Why did God punish Israel at a time when they were obeying Torah Law better than they ever had in the past?  The answer, I believe, resides in the fact that the theology of Kings is wrong.  That is to say, Josiah was not a great reformer, but was rather a heretic, and Yahweh punished Israel with the Babylonian exile because of his heresy.  To the king of Assyria, this was obvious, as he says,

 

You tell me that you trust in your God Yahweh.  But isn't this the same God whose altars Hezekiah has dismantled, telling you to worship only at the altar in Jerusalem?[46]

 

The logic of the king of Assyria was simple:  Hezekiah tore down Yahweh's altars on the high places.  Therefore, Yahweh punished Hezekiah – as the Bible tells us and archaeology confirms.  Hezekiah was besieged in Jerusalem and kept locked up like a caged bird, and he was forced to loot the temple and give its treasure to Assyria.  The Assyrians even claimed Yahweh had commanded them to invade.[47]  The next king to remove the high places was Josiah, and he was slaughtered at Megiddo, whereupon Israel effectively lost its sovereignty.[48] 

      This theological interpretation, which reduces Jerusalem and its temple to heresy, is perfectly compatible with Jesus and the New Testament, as Jesus says, "Believe me, the hour is coming when you won’t worship the Father on this mountain nor in Jerusalem."[49]  Likewise Saint Paul, "The Lord of heaven and earth doesn’t live in temples made by hands."[50]  Also, the gospels frequently state that Jesus worshipped on mountain tops, an action analogous to early Hebrew worship on the high places.  Moreover, Josephus informs us that the Essenes refused to sacrifice at the Jerusalem temple.[51]  Apparently, components of the original Hebrew faith had survived in the Essene sect, but had been forgotten by other Jewish sects.  Jesus resurrected the true Hebrew religion from corruption.

 

Recap

      The foregoing arguments have shown that the six-day creation account in Genesis 1 comes from the Priestly text, and that the Priestly text is a forgery.  Moreover, Jesus Christ rejected the Priestly text, as do scholars and ancient critics.  The people who wrote the Priestly text operated in a temple that was the home of demons.

      Yet for all this, there is still one more accusation that can be brought forward against Genesis 1.  The creation account in Genesis 1 is the Whore of Babylon.