There is another disturbing similarity between the ancient
legends, and what is found in God's Word. Earlier, we saw in
the Book of Isaiah, that Lucifer's goal was to what? Allow
me to share those verses with you again:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet
thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the
pit."
Isaiah 14:12-15, KJV

Notice that those verses specifically say "I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds". So Satan the dragon, the subtle serpent, wanted to
ascend where? He didn't just want to ascend to the heavens;
more specifically, he wanted to ascend to "the sides of the
north"; just like Draco the dragon of the ancient legends,
which guarded the North Pole! But, God casts Satan down to
the ground! Thus, Jesus said:

". . . I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
Luke 10:18b, KJV

At this point, I would like to share something else with you
which has mystified me for many years; for decades in fact.
It is something I have wondered about a number of times. Why
is it that the Devil is so obsessed about the polar regions
of the sky? Why does the Prophet Isaiah specifically tell us
that Lucifer's desire is to ascend above the height of the
clouds, even above the stars of God, and to occupy the sides
of the north? What is it that draws this demon there? Is it
possible that the Scriptures offer us a small clue? Perhaps.
Several decades ago, I discovered another verse which I find
equally intriguing. This verse is found in the Book of Psalms
and reads as follows:

"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is
mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great
King."
Psalms 48:2, KJV

It is interesting to note that the verse from Isaiah, and
the above verse from Psalm forty-eight, are the only two
places in the entire King James Bible where the phrase "the
sides of the north" is used. Lucifer is desperate to occupy
this place, and the second verse seems to tell us why: That
is where Mount Zion is located; the city of the great King;
and do notice that in the King James Bible, the word "king"
is capitalized.

We could easily rationalize that the phrase "mount Zion" is
referring to the city of Jerusalem, and "the great King" is
referring to King David, or perhaps to some other great king
who ruled Israel. If we consider that the Prophet Isaiah was
prophesying about the haughty king of Babylon, and how God
was going to defeat him, we could interpret these verses as
meaning that the Babylonian king had his eyes on Jerusalem,
(which he most certainly did), as did the Assyrians as well.
We could also posit that the phrase "stars of God" represents
the people of God; or in this case, the people of Jerusalem.
As I have shared in other articles, such as "The Children Of
Light: Are You One Of Us?", there are a number of places in
the Bible, where the writers use symbolism and allegory. For
example, the Prophet Daniel wrote:

"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the
stars for ever and ever."
Daniel 12:3, KJV

Finally, we could easily interpret the phrase "mount of the
congregation" to mean Mount Moriah, which was the most holy
place in Jerusalem, where the temple was constructed. That
is also where Abraham offered up Isaac, which is why Mount
Moriah is also deemed sacred to the Muslims as well, being
as Abraham is the father of both peoples. So, from a human
perspective, this seems like the right interpretation of the
verses; because to conquer Mount Moriah, was to conquer all
of Jerusalem. The loss of the Temple Mount would cause a
severe loss of morale for the people of Jerusalem.

However, I am not fully convinced that this is what those
verses are describing. For a long time now, I have suspected
that there might possibly be something much deeper, and much
more wonderful, than what appears on the surface. In other
words, those verses could have a double meaning; that is, a
superficial meaning, as I just described for you, and a much
deeper, esoteric, spiritual meaning, for those who know how
to see it.

For one thing, the ancient city of Jerusalem was by no means
the "joy of the whole earth". It undoubtedly was to the Jews
who lived there, of course, but cities like Babylon, Nineveh,
Rome, Alexandria, etc., were much greater, richer, and more
powerful in the Gentile world. Furthermore, Israel is by no
means located "on the sides of the north"; and Jerusalem is
not located "on the sides of the north" either. The city is
actually located more or less in the central area of Israel,
in Judah. Considering also that Satan is a spiritual being,
I'm not convinced that he would be content with possessing a
city on Earth, even if it was Jerusalem; although he surely
was behind the enslavement, slaughter and death of the Jews
which occurred there.

There is also the issue of the capital letter "K" being used
with the word "king". That could have been the result of the
whim of the translators; or it may have been intentional, in
order to denote the greatest King of all; God Himself. Of
course, being as the Temple was located there, God did make
His habitation in Jerusalem for a time, until the Jews just
totally rebelled against Him, and He was forced to destroy
Jerusalem and the Temple on more than one occasion.

Given the manner in which Isaiah wrote the previous verses,
as well as Satan's keen interest in conquering "the sides of
the north", and God's equal determination not to allow Satan
to do so, I suspect that those verses may be speaking of a
different Mount Zion; that is to say, an eternal Mount Zion;
the great City of God, which would undoubtedly bring joy to
the entire Earth. It is this wonderful Eternal City, that is,
the New Jerusalem, which God's Word informs us will someday
descend from Heaven, which all the devoted Patriarchs of the
Bible sought for; and it is the very same Holy City that all
God-fearing Christians desire today as well. We find this
wonderful place mentioned in such verses as the following:

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they
had been mindful of that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now
they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he
hath prepared for them a city."
Hebrews 11:13-16, KJV

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell
with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be
any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things
new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true
and faithful."
Revelation 21:2-5, KJV

By comparison, earthly Jerusalem is a city which has been
filled with violence, blood, death and sorrow for millennia,
including the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Sadly, the
violence, blood, death and sorrow continues to this day as
well, because there can be no peace, without the Prince of
Peace reigning in our hearts and lives.

Continuing my speculations regarding the earthly Jerusalem
versus the Heavenly Jerusalem, (or New Jerusalem, as it's
called in the Book of Revelation), if what the Apocalypse
has to say regarding this wonderful city is to be taken in
a literal, physical sense, then we can only conclude that
when the time arrives for it to come down to the Earth, it
must by necessity approach the Earth from a very specific
direction. Is it possible that the Scriptures are offering
us clues that it will descend over the North Pole; that is
to say, "the sides of the north"?

If this is true, and I admit that this is merely my personal
speculation, might this possibly explain why the evil dragon
which is mentioned in legend, myth and the Bible, has been
jealously guarding the north, and has even sought to control
it for all of this time? Is it also a coincidence, that in a
chronological sense, in the pages of the Book of Revelation,
New Jerusalem descends from God after the red dragon has been
taken out of the way? As you will recall, that old serpent is
cast out of the heavens during the Great Battle with Michael
the Archangel and the Heavenly Host; and is ultimately cast
into the Lake of Fire following the Millennial Reign of Jesus
Christ, as we see here:

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever."
Revelation 20:10, KJV



Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files.  We Use Hermes II


--- Hermes Web Tosser 1.1