Pope Benedict XVI flashes decidedly un-Christian handsigns

Grace and peace to a peculiar people, and greetings to the children of wrath.

Lately I have been meditating a great deal on the Antichrist, and if you have read our article, The Identity of Antichrist, then you know we contend he is none other than the current Roman Catholic pope, Benedict XVI.  I was concerned that some would have difficulty reconciling my contention that the Abomination of Desolation is an idol that the Antichrist worships and that the world will be required to worship, when Daniel 11:37, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and Revelation 13:4 all say that the Antichrist will demand that the world worship him.  I realized that I had no logical argument for this seeming disparity.  I was also concerned that some would not buy my explanation of why Daniel 11:37 says that the Antichrist would not “regard any god,” when we are told in the next verse that he would honor “the god of forces.”

As I meditated on this, it occurred to me to return to the book of Daniel and Chapter 3, which explains how Nebuchadnezzar built an image of gold, which he demanded that the Babylonians worship.  While reading, the Spirit also lead me to Daniel 4.  These two chapters explained the mystery of the Abomination of Desolation even better and helped me to understand why the Antichrist will demand that the world worship him, while mandating that all worship the Abomination of Desolation as well.  As the reader will soon see, there is a very good reason why the Antichrist will not have a problem with the world worshipping an idol as well as him, and why he will not regard any god, yet honor the god of forces.

First, as you may recall from our article on the Antichrist, Hislop writes that the Goddess of forces was worshipped since antiquity as Diana and Diana of Ephesus.  Recall also that Diana was called Rhea and Cybele, as well as other names, and that all of these were merely aliases for Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, the first king of Babylon.  Now listen closely.  If all idolatry originated from Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar was Babylon’s greatest king, then it is not only possible, but highly probable, that Nebuchadnezzar also worshipped the Goddess of forces and that the idol that he built and commanded all to worship could have been Diana.

For proof of this, let us go to Daniel Chapter 4.  Now, recall that when Daniel was brought to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, he was renamed Belteshazzar.  This is what Nebuchadnezzar says about the name Belteshazzar:  

“Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god” (Daniel 4:8).

Easton’s Bible Dictionary says this about the name Belteshazzar:

“Belteshazzar – Beltis protect the king!, the Chaldee name given to Daniel by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 1:7).”

So, Nebuchadnezzar says that the name Belteshazzar was derived from the name of his god, and we see that this god was named Beltis.  Now, Hislop has this to say about Beltis:

“The very name by which the Italians commonly designate the Virgin, is just the translation of one of the titles of the Babylonian goddess.  As Baal or Belus was the name of the great male divinity of Babylon, so the female divinity was called Beltis (Hislop, 20).

Bel or Baal, which means “Lord,” was just another name for Nimrod.  Beltis, therefore, being the female counterpart of Bel, was none other than Semiramis, who, as we know, also went by the name of Rhea, Cybele, and Diana—The Virgin.  

You must understand the importance of this.  The Bible tells us that when Nebuchadnezzar built his idol and stood it in the plain of Dura in Babylon, he ordered that all should worship this idol or perish (Daniel 3:6).  According to what we have just learned, it is highly likely that the idol that Nebuchadnezzar set up was Beltis also called Diana, The Virgin.

Now the Book of the Revelation tells us that the False Prophet will do the same thing that Nebuchadnezzar did:

“And he (the False Prophet) had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:15).

Death will again be the penalty for those who will not bow down to the goddess Diana. That means you and me.

Now, you may ask why the similarities between Nebuchadnezzar and his idol and the Antichrist and his idol are so important and what this has to do with reconciling the Antichrist desiring all worship himself, yet allowing his idol to also be worshipped.  It is because the Antichrist, in point of fact, will be the new Nimrod, who was worshipped as a god (Genesis 10:8).  In keeping with the principle of duality, sacred to the Mystery Schools, if there is a god, there must also be a goddess.  The Antichrist’s idol, then, which, as we have seen, goes by the names of Cybele, Rhea, Diana, and Beltis (which are only aliases for Semiramis, the first deified queen), will be that goddess: the counterpart of the Antichrist—the god-man.

This is why the Antichrist is referred to as “the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (Revelation 17:8).  Nimrod was the world’s first king.  He was not a godly man, which is evident by his name.  The name Nimrod is based on the Chaldee root mrd, which means “to rebel.”  The Jewish Encyclopedia says that Nimrod was “he who made all the people rebellious against God.”   Nimrod and the Babylonians practiced witchcraft, which included child sacrifice and cannibalism.  Tradition holds that for these crimes and others, he was killed by his great-uncle, Shem, the son of Noah and the father of the Semetic peoples, which includes the Jewish nation.  

The Antichrist will be the incarnation of Nimrod, and for this reason, the Bible says that the Antichrist shall not “regard…the desire of women” (Daniel 11:37).  His consort will be the goddess Semiramis—Diana or Beltis, if you will, whom Hislop says was called, “the Queen of Heaven” (p. 103).  As many of you may know, the Roman Catholic Mary is also called the Queen of Heaven as well as The Virgin.  Paganism returns with a vengeance.

Hopefully, this resolves any perceived discrepancies in our reasoning.

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

Copyright © 2011-2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®.  All rights reserved.