Nimrod the Mighty Hunter
Before (against)
the LORD (Genesis 10:9)

Now Ahaziah fell . . . and was injured, so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury” (II Kings 1:2, 16).

“Origins”

Dear Brethren,

Its is sometimes shocking while growing up in our world and having been educated in a system that has already been laid out for us by parents, religion, school teachers, and in the higher levels of education, to discover the origins of most of our cherished beliefs go all the way back for the most part to the ancient world of Nimrod and his mother wife Semiramis.

While searching the internet with the subject of Nimrod in mind, I made a discovery that made a connection to a question that has long puzzled and perplexed me in view of the medical profession and my belief in Jesus Christ as My Healer.

To lead into the answer to this troubling question it is necessary to go back a short time after the death of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.

Divine Healing and Physical Sin

There was a booklet written and co-authored by Mr. Joseph Tkach and Mr. Bernie Schnippert that basically nullified the booklet written by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, both booklets on the subject of “The Plain Truth about Healing.”

Sometime later articles were also written by Dr. Donald Ward and Mr. Bill Bradford that expressed their own belief on the subject that substantiated what had been written in their booklet: there is no such thing a physical sin!

To pave the way for this new teaching, Mr. Tkach stated to the Church that Mr. Armstrong had told him prior to his death there was something he had missed in his booklet, The Plain Truth about Healing, 1979 Publication, and he was asked to find and correct it.

Mr. Tkach then said he had found the problem: “It was Physical Sin! There is no such thing as Physical Sin!”

And since he had been appointed the new Pastor-General by Mr. Armstrong to replace him, virtually everyone believed him; while a few were left puzzled and perplexed by this new teaching.

In retrospect, it can easily be seen this was not true by comparing what Mr. Armstrong had written in the last year of his life, the MYSTERY OF THE AGES, 211-213, and two of his last letters written to the Church members, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, volume II, pages 640-641. The last letter was written 52 days before his death substantiating what he had written on the subject of healing and physical sin. He had not changed his long held doctrinal belief and teaching at all.

Sometime later, Mr. Tkach told those of in the ministry we were no longer to ask for the application of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin – implying – physical sin!

He did not say we should not pray for those requesting to be anointed for healing, but rather the members were to be encouraged to seek the help they needed from the medical doctors and their medicines; this was extended to advising the use of psychologists.

On the surface there appeared to be no problem with any of this; and it is presumed virtually all of the ministry complied, believed, practiced, and taught what had been said by the new Pastor General.

This seemed to be innocent on the surface, but in reality where was this taking the Church? What was behind this new teaching?

A Disconnection from Jesus Christ our Healer

In the letter that Mr. Armstrong had written that would accompany an anointed cloth to the one who had requested it, he wrote: “1Healing expresses a deeply personal relationship between an individual and his God.”

Satan the devil knew that by removing PHYSICAL SIN from any connection with divine healing it would seriously affect the deep personal relationship between God our Father and His beloved Son Jesus Christ.

This would lead to the real loss of meaning of the morsel of bread that each member partakes of during the Passover service and therefore severely affect any relationship that one might have with Jesus Christ in two ways:

1) The real meaning of the morsel of bread that a member partakes of during the Passover service would be removed and the member would be taking the Passover unworthily and suffer the penalties. The apostle Paul wrote:

“Therefore whoever EATS THIS BREAD OR DRINKS THIS CUP OF THE LORD in an UNWORTHY MANNER will be GUILTY of the BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD. But let a man EXAMINE himself and so let him EAT OF THE BREAD and DRINK OF THE CUP. For he who EATS and DRINKS IN AN UNWORTHY MANNER EATS AND DRINKS JUDGMENT to himself, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD’S BODY. For this reason MANY are WEAK AND SICK among you, AND MANY SLEEP” (I Corinthians 11:27-30).

2) The member would no longer have a real knowing and trusting relationship with God our Father and Jesus Christ; therefore the connection would be removed between them and can only be restored with truthful knowledge that would lead to godly repentance.

Though many members would still go through the formality of asking to be anointed for their healing with hope, from observation it appears that instead of looking to Jesus Christ with real believing faith with trust in Him for healing the members began placing their trust and faith in medical science. Their connection for faith in divine healing had for the most part faded away.

The Originator of Medical Science

Nimrod had a direct connection with that old Serpent, Satan the Devil; and his use of Nimrod would go far beyond his death—to the end of his reign on earth. And what Satan was able to accomplish through him would come to severely affect Israel, the chosen nation of God that was the center-piece of His Master Plan – and far worse, the Church of God.

This brings me to the long-time puzzling and perplexing question in my mind: Since Medical Science has the representative symbol of the twin snakes wrapped around a pole—what is its origin and meaning?

Historical Writings

I went on the internet to try and find any historical writings on the subject and had my mind surprisingly opened to find the answers to this troubling question.

Nimrod revealed

Article by Bible archaeologist Dr. David P. Livingston, Associates for Bible Research

The Bible states…

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." The centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh in Shinar (Genesis 10:8-10).

Gilgamesh is Nimrod

How does Gilgamesh compare with “Nimrod?” Ancient historian Josephus says of Nimrod,

Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah-a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny-seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his own power.

He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers! (Ant. I: iv: 2)

What Josephus says here is precisely what is found in the Gilgamesh epics. Gilgamesh set up tyranny, he opposed YHWH and did his utmost to get people to forsake Him.”

Nimrod and Medical Science

Though it may appear to be unbelievable, we shall see that other than being a great hunter and a champion of the people by keeping the people safe from wild animals, history records Nimrod as the one who began Medical Science this side of the Flood.

He was the physician that King Ahaziah of Israel sought after his severe injury wanting to know whether he would live or die: Now Ahaziah fell . . . and was injured, so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury” (II Kings 1:2, 16).

Satan’s Great Deception, page 122, Dr. C. Paul Meredith:

“Baal-zebub was Nimrod: “BAAL-ZEBUB, the god of Ekron (II Kings 1:3-4) the patron god of medicine, was none other than Nimrod (Hislop, p. 279). Here we see Israel partaking of the mysteries of Semiramis and worshipping Nimrod in this form also, by depending on healing from him through doctors and drugs. Luke 11:15 shows the real power behind Baal-zebub – it was the “chief of demons” – Satan.”

The Representative Symbol of Medical Science

Note the meaning of the representative symbol of the Medical Profession that connects with Satan the Devil:

Crystallinks.com: As a symbol for medicine, the caduceus is often used interchangeably with the Rod of Asclepius (single snake, no wings), although learned opinion prefers the Rod of Asclepius, reserving the caduceus for representing commerce.

Historically, the two astrological symbols had distinct meanings in alchemical and astrological principles. Some medical organizations join the serpents of the caduceus with rungs to suggest a DNA double-helix.

The symbol's origins are thought to date to as early as 2600 BC in Mesopotamia, and there are several references to a caduceus-like symbol in the Bible, namely in Numbers 21:4­9, and 2 Kings 18:4. During the Exodus, Moses was instructed by God to fashion a pole upon which he was to position a serpent made of bronze; when looked upon, this Nehushtan, as it was called in Hebrew, would spare the lives of the Israelites stricken by venomous snake bites.

The intent was that people would look upward and be reminded to pray to God, but eventually the meaning was forgotten and this symbol was apparently worshiped by the Hebrew people until the reign of Hezekiah as described in 2 Kings 18:4.Walter Burkert has two figures in his book which show a rod with two intertwined snakes winding around a central axis from Mesopotamia in 2200 BC, and a similar image from Crete in 700 BC.

It was used by the astrologer priests in the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, and has been associated with the Gnostic Corpus Hermeticum and Kundalini Yoga, where it is thought to be a symbolic representation of the "subtle" nerve channels the "ida", "pingala", and "sushumna" described in yogic kundalini physiology.”

Wikipedia Encyclopedia: The serpent and the staff appear to have been separate symbols that were combined at some point in the development of the Asclepian cult.^[3] The significance of the serpent has been interpreted in many ways; sometimes the shedding of skin and renewal is emphasized as symbolizing rejuvenation ^[4], while other assessments center on the serpent as a symbol that unites and expresses the dual nature of the work of the physician, who deals with life and death, sickness and health.^[5] The ambiguity of the serpent as a symbol, and the contradictions it is thought to represent, reflect the ambiguity of the use of drugs^[6], which can help or harm, as reflected in the meaning of the term pharmakon, which meant "drug", "medicine" and "poison" in ancient Greek^[7]; we know that today antidotes and vaccines are often compounded from precisely the thing that caused the poisoning or illness. Products deriving from the bodies of snakes were known to have medicinal properties in ancient times, and in ancient Greece, at least some were aware that snake venom that might be fatal if it entered the bloodstream could often be imbibed. Snake venom appears to have been 'prescribed' in some cases as a form of therapy.^[8]

The staff has also been variously interpreted. One view is that it, like the serpent, "conveyed notions of resurrection and healing", while another (not necessarily incompatible) is that the staff was a walking stick associated with itinerant physicians.^[9] Cornutus, a philosopher probably active in the first century CE, in the Theologiae Graecae Compendium (Ch. 33) offers a view of the significance of both snake and staff that is worth quoting at length:

Asclepius derived his name from healing soothingly and from deferring the withering that comes with death. For this reason, therefore, they give him a serpent as an attribute, indicating that those who avail themselves of medical science undergo a process similar to the serpent in that they, as it were, grow young again after illnesses and slough off old age; also because the serpent is a sign of attention, much of which is required in medical treatments. The staff also seems to be a symbol of some similar thing. For by means of this it is set before our minds that unless we are supported by such inventions as these, in so far as falling continually into sickness is concerned, stumbling along we would fall even sooner than necessary.^[10]

A Direct Connection between Physical Sin and Divine Healing

With the foregoing in mind hopefully we can understand the strategy of Satan the Devil to use the apostate Pastor General to mislead the Church by saying that he had found the problem with the booklet on Healing by Mr. Armstrong – as being physical sin!

This was intended by the Satanic power behind his human leader to begin taking the Church over a few short years in time into full-blown Protestantism. However it was first needful to begin removing our intimate relationship with God our Father and Jesus Christ by removing the real meaning of the morsel of bread that we partake of during the Passover service.

From there it would be downhill in removing all of the doctrinal teaching – one after the other!

Is it a Sin to Seek Help from Medical Science?

The Plain Truth about Healing, 1979 Publication, Page 72, Mr. Armstrong

“I have made it plain that God’s Church does not condemn medical or other doctors—nor sit in judgment of those who are weak in faith and rely on MAN. There is much doctors can do for us today.

I have given the BASIC PRINCIPLE: God does for us what we humans cannot do. One could get into endless arguments and controversy on technical specific issues of what we may go to man for and what to rely on God to do. I've given the broad guidelines. The church will encourage God's people to believe God -- rely on God -- to say, with the apostles,". . . Lord, INCREASE OUR FAITH (Luke 17:5).

God does not expect his ministers to make your decisions for you -- and God's Church will not sit in judgment of you if you go to a doctor but God says one of his benefits, for which he makes no charge is that he offers you the loving services of a miracle worker -- the living Jesus Christ!

To be continued—

Your brother and servant in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Don Billingsley

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The pictures above are intended for educational purposes only.