Prayer ~ It’s all in the name

Many of us partake in some kind of prayer or worship or meditation. What many of us don’t realize is the name we invoke during prayer. Our ancestors from Antiquity understood quite well this difference. The great leaders from ancient days understood and believed they were Archons, to become as gods in the spiritual realms. Because of the amount of aggression, warfare and the need to rule and conquer other peoples what they did not realize was what kind of Archon they would become. Today, this also translates into any kind of role of leadership. This means Business Owners, Managers, Supervisors etc.

In all ancient scriptures we find a mix of these archons which communed with mankind and in each case provided a name by which to call them. What the masses do not completely understand is when reading from scriptures and reading the names that were given to the ancient prophets; we are in fact calling forward this deity to be present with us.  

When the assembly of the Council od Nicaea began to settle Christological issue of the nature of The Son and his relationship to God the Father they included the Old Testament which is almost verbatim to the Jewish Torah - The Pentatuach (http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm) and other orthodox Jewish scriptures. They did not consider to edit out the names of the Archons daemons, those souls who’s powers are more destructive to humanity.

Through Christ, we avoid those dark powers however, we

must all do our good work and not “READ” or “Speak” the

names of those gods written in the Old Testament. This is the

true cause of disastrous struggles amongst Christians lives

today. We always question why bad things (except death)

happen to us, this is the primary cause.






However mankind is still capable of making independent wicked choices and our only protection is to maintain our focus on Christ and the True Father.  

In Revelations we are warned about the False Christ coming to man in the form of the lamb, this Armageddon is at the soul’s level and those daemon archons will attempt to come to us as gods.  

Archon (Gr. ἄρχων, pl. ἄρχοντες) is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord," frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule," derived from the same root as monarch  hierarchy, and anarchy.

Gnosticism

In late antiquity the term archon was used in Gnosticism to refer to several servants of the Demiurge, the "creator god" that stood between the human race and a transcendent God that could only be reached through gnosis. In this context they have the role of the angels and demons of the Old Testament. They give their name to the sect called Archontics.

In the Hellenized form of Gnosticism either all or some of these names are replaced by personified vices. Authadia (Authades), or Audacity, is the obvious description of Yaldabaoth, the presumptuous Demiurge, who is lion-faced as the Archon Authadia. Of the Archons Kakia, Zelos, Phthonos, Errinnys, Epithymia, the last obviously represents Venus. The number seven is obtained by placing a proarchon or chief archon at the head. That these names are only a disguise for the Sancta Hebdomas is clear, for Sophia, the mother of them, retains the name of Ogdoad, Octonatio. Occasionally one meets with the Archon Esaldaios, which is evidently the El Shaddai of the Bible, and he is described as the Archon "number four" (harithmo tetartos).

In the system of the Gnostics mentioned by Epiphanius we find, as the Seven Archons,

• Iao
• Saklas (the chief demon of Manichaeism)
• Seth
• David
• Eloiein
• Elilaios (probably connected with En-lil, the Bel of Nippur, the ancient god of Babylonia)
• Yaldabaoth (or no. 6 Yaldaboath, no. 7 Sabaoth)

 

Hebdomad

A characteristic feature of the Gnostic concept of the universe is the role played in almost all Gnostic systems by the seven world-creating archons, known as the Hebdomad (ἑβδομάς). These Seven are in most systems semi-hostile powers, and are reckoned as the last and lowest emanations of the Godhead; below them—and frequently considered as derived from them—comes the world of the actually devilish powers. There are indeed certain exceptions; Basilides taught the existence of a "great archon" called Abraxas who presided over 365 archons (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, i. 24).

 

 

 

 

 

The ancient astronomy taught that above the seven planetary spheres was an eighth, the sphere of the fixed stars.^[6] In the eighth sphere, these Gnostics taught, dwelt the mother to whom all these archons owed their origin, Sophia (Wisdom) or Barbelo. In the language of these sects the word Hebdomad not only denotes the seven archons, but is also a name of place, denoting the heavenly regions over which the seven archons presided; while Ogdoad denotes the supercelestial regions which lay above their control.

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

From time to time, laity of the Orthodox Church in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople have been granted the title of Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to honor their service to Church administration. In 1963, Archons were organized into a service society dedicated to St Andrew. This Archon status is not part of the Church hierarchy and is purely honorary.

An Archon is an honoree by His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, for his outstanding service to the Church, and a well-known, distinguished, and well-respected leader of the Orthodox Church (at large).

It is the sworn oath of the Archon to defend and promote the Orthodox Church faith and tradition. His main concern is to protect and promote the Holy Patriarchate and its mission. He is also concerned with human rights and the well-being and general welfare of the Church.

As it is a significant religious position, the faith and dedication of a candidate for the role are extensively reviewed during consideration; the candidate should have demonstrated commitment for the betterment of the Church, Parish-Diocese, Archdiocese and the community as a whole.

 

Judaism and Christianity

The N. T. several times mentions the "prince (ἄρχων) of the devils" (δαιμονίων), or "of the this world," or "of the power of the air;" but never uses the word absolutely in any cognate sense. In Leviticus (LXX.) Αρχων (once οἱ Ἄρχοντες, Leviticus  20:5) represents, or rather translates, Molech. The true biblical source of the usage however is Daniel  10:13-21 (six times Theodotion; once indistinctly LXX.), where the archon (שַׂ֣ר, "prince" A. V.) is the patron angels of a nations, Persia, Greece, or Israel
; a name (Michael) being given in the last case only.

The Book of Enoch (vi. 3, 7; viii. 1) names 20 "archons of the" 200 "watcher" angels who sinned with the "daughters of men," as appears from one of the Greek fragments. The title is not indeed used absolutely (τ. ἀρχόντων αὺτῶν, Σεμιαζᾶς, ὁ ἄρχων αὐτῶν, bis: cf. ἱ πρώταρχος αὐτῶν Σ.), except perhaps once (πρῶτος Ἀζαὴλ ὁ δέκατος τῶν ἀρχόντων), where the Ethiopic has no corresponding words: but it has evidently almost become a true name, and may account for St Jude's peculiar use of ἀρχή (Jude  1:6).

Christians soon followed the Jewish precedent. In the 2nd century the term appears in several writers alien to Gnosticism. The Epistle to Diognetus (7) speaks of God sending to men "a minister or angel or archon," etc. Justin (Dial. 36) understands the command in Psalms  24:7-9 (ἄρατε πύλας οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν LXX.) to open the heavenly gates as addressed to "the archons appointed by God in the heavens."

Psalm 24:7-9

English Standard Version (ESV)
 Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord, strong and mighty,
    the Lord, mighty in battle!
⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates!
    And lift them up, O ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.

The first spurious set of Ignatian epistles enumerates "the heavenly beings and the glory of the angels and the archons visible and invisible" (Ad Smyrn. 6), and again "the heavenly beings and the angelic collocations and the archontic constitutions" (i. e. order of provinces and of functions), "things both visible and invisible" (Ad Trall. 5); the meaning being lost by the time of the interpolator, who in one case drops the word out, and in the other gives it a political sense. The Clementine Homilies adopt and extend (xi. 10, ἐν ᾅδῃ . . . ὁ ἐκεῖ καθεστὼς ἄρχων) the N. T. usage; and further call the two good and evil ("right and left") "powers," which control the destiny of each man, "rulers" (archons, vii. 3), though more commonly "leaders" (ἡγεμόνες).

 Greek theology

The mythology of ancient Greece knew gods, daemons, and heroes. Θεοὶ ἄρχοντες (ruling gods) appear in the subsequent philosophy of Plato (pHAEDR. 247 A). However Philo never alludes to archons: in a single passage (De Mon. i. 1) ἄρχοντες is merely correlative to ὑπήκοοι.

Presently the syncreticism of the later Greek philosophy found room for archons, which appear in Neoplatonism and claimed Plato's unwritten tradition. They are inserted by the author of the book dE nYSTERIIS aEGPTIORUM (ii. 3-9), and even it would seem by his questioner pORPHRY, below gods, daemons, angels, and archangels, and above heroes (omitted by Porphyry) and departed "souls," in the scale of invisible beings whose presence may become manifest. It may be only an accidental coincidence that about the end of the 2nd century "Archon" was one of the names given by the Platonist Harpocration to the "Second God" of Numenius (Proclus in Tim. 93 C).

For all the series of the ruling Gods (θεοὶ ἄρχοντες), are collected into the intellectual fabrication as into a summit, and subsist about it. And as all the fountains are the progeny of the intelligible father, and are filled from him with intelligible union, thus likewise, all the orders of the principles or rulers, are suspended according to nature from the demiurgus, and participate from thence of an intellectual life.
I found this excellent blog who also speaks to this topic. Here is what he says about the mark of the beast;

 

Seal of God – Mark of Beast

 

 

Count Goblet D’Alviella wrote, “Now nothing is so contagious as a symbol unless perhaps a superstition; they are all the more so when combined together, as they generally were among the nations of antiquity, who scarcely adopted a symbol without attaching a talismanic value to it.” The Migration of Symbols, pgs. 18, 19. This understanding of symbols is very apropos for this section of the study. A major question, as readers of the Tanak/Bible, that we need to ask ourselves, in light of the passages of Yechezqel [Ezekiel] and Revelations, concerning the seal of god and the mark of the beast, is what is the actual difference between the two? Another question would be is what are these seals and marks that are placed on the foreheads and arms? Students and scholars have studied this subject from a theological point of view for thousands of years. Linguistics has been applied, searches into the early church father documents to see what they had to say on the matter (being a little closer time wise, to the composition of the book of Revelations, as well as the Talmud for the passage in Yechezqel. Despite all the searching, people are still at a loss as to what the seal and mark are, though many  have claimed to understand and have the answer as to “who” the beast is, which keeps changing of course (such as Nero, various popes, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Kissinger, Sadat, Hussein),  their prophecy falls to the ground unrealized.

 

I remember in the 70’s and early 80’s some Christian authors and pastors believed the mark of the beast was the charge card. More recently it has been applied to barcodes and RFID chips. While I am not claiming to have all the answers, I am hoping to provide some archaeology and historical texts to the situation, for you to make a better informed decision on the subject, should you feel so inclined.

 

Reasons for marks and seals, historically, have included an association with or ownership by a deity; a talisman (protection to ward off evil) or permanent amulet of their deity; to designate families, clans, or tribes; as well as the later guilds and tradesmen, which was sometimes family oriented; and throughout history, marks and seals have also been used to designate a slave or the disposition of a slave, such as if one tried to runaway; then there is the applications of marks and seals to designate noble birth and caste systems. Tied into a number of these factors is that of ownership, whether that of gods or of personal ownership. While you may be asking what any of this has to do with the biblical passages, bear with me and perhaps it will become as obvious to you as well.

 

An example of the various types of marks and for various reasons is from John Potters Archaeologia Graeca (Antiquities of Greece), “But it must not be forgotten in this place, that slaves were not only branded with stigmata for a punishment of their offences, but (which was the common end of these marks), to distinguish them, in case they should desert their masters; for which purpose it was common to brand their soldiers; only with this difference, that whereas slaves were commonly stigmatized in their forehead, and with the name or some peculiar character belonging to their masters, soldiers were branded in the hand, and with the name or character of their general. After the same manner, it was likewise customary to stigmatize the worshippers and votaries of some of the gods: whence Lucian, speaking of the votaries of the Syrian goddess, affirms, 'They were all branded with certain marks, some in the palms of their hands, and others in their necks: whence it became customary for all the Assyrians thus to stigmatize themselves.’ And Theodoret is of opinion, that the Jews were forbidden to brand themselves with stigmata, because the idolaters, by that ceremony, used to consecrate themselves to their false deities. The marks used on these occasions were various. Sometimes they contained the name of the god, sometimes his particular ensign, such were the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the trident of Neptune, the ivy of Bacchus : whence Ptolemy Philopater was by some nicknamed Gallus, because his body was marked with the figures of ivy leaves. Or, lastly, they marked themselves with some mystical number, whereby the god's name was described. Thus the sun, who was signified by the number 608, is said to have been represented by these two numeral letters XH.”- pg. 75. Below is an example of the alphabetical numerical system used.

 

 

 

There are also different types of marks. Some marks are made with materials that can be washed off; then there is the more permanent tattooing, bands or crowns holding a symbol, and branding or scarring. There are also various designations as marks such as a particular hair style or hairlock, cuts or shaving or even the wearing of a particular headdress/turban.

 

Before we get into the Yechezqel passage, which was written during the Babylonian exile to the Mesopotamian territories, lets define some terms that come up in the Tanak, archaeology and history that precedes the time of the exile.

 

Owth is a Hebrew word that means sign, signal, symbol or token. An example of this is the mark/sign of Qayin [Cain] that he received after killing Hebel, his brother. Bereshiyth [Genesis] 4:15, “and to him YHWH said, "all who kill qayin, sevenfold he will be avenged."  and YHWH set a sign [owth] so that no one would kill him, all who found him.” While this mark or sign is not described, most scholars speculate that it was a mark on his body that would be understood to others, therefore, it is also speculated that it was on his head so that it was visible to anyone he came across.  Mind you, what the sign is, is purely speculation.

 

While I do not like to speculate without any other information, and biblically, there is none, having researched the histories and comparative mythology of the early pastoral Indo-European cultures that took over the agrarian (plant oriented) cultures, and established an animal sacrificial system, that in their eyes was required by the gods and definitely more pleasing to the blood thirsty gods, this account seems to be more one of the two different systems, than of real brothers. The Proto-Indo-Europeans conquered the agrarians and subjected them to servitude, which would account for a mark or sign of their slave/caste status.

 

Thawah (tawah) [thau, waw, he] is the term used in Yechezqel for the act of marking. It is used one other time in I Shmuel 21:13, when Dawiyd was trying to act crazy before the Felishthiym [Philistine] king Achish. “and he changed his behavior before their eyes, and pretended himself to be insane in their hand, and marked on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall onto his beard.” Clearly this marking is something visible to our eyes.

 

Thaw (thau) [thau, waw – the spelling of the last Hebrew letter - z] means a mark or sign. Besides the passage in Yechezqel, it is also used only one other time in the Tanak. Iyob [Job] 31:35, “oh that i had one to hear me. see, my mark [thau, waw]. let shadday answer me, and  let the man of my contention write an account.” Unfortunately, this passage does not shed light as to the contextual meaning of the word mark and what kind of visible mark he had on him for others to see.

 

An important point that needs to be made is the type of script being used at the time of the exile (the time period for the writing of the passage of Yechezqel) and what the letter Thau [z]   looked like then. In the Paleo-Phoenician, which Hebrew derived from, the thau from 1000 BCE, until the modern Squared Aramaic looked more like an X. The following are archaeological examples from different time periods: Moabite 9^th century BCE -  , Lachish 6^th century BCE - , and the older Samaritan script - . This is important because some people believe that the mark was a cross, similar to the cross that they use to represent the crucifixion cross, which is more like a T and therefore the seal of god on the forehead of the believers was a cross, prophetic of the cross of Christ. Not so.

 

Throughout the Tanak, there are examples of practices or rituals that began with just the king or high priest, was perhaps done once a year and then later, came to be applied to a larger percentage of the population or was observed more frequently. For example, Pesach was a once a year observance in the Tanak and even in the gospels of the New Testament. But Christianity took this practice and made it a communion to be taken each week or even more frequently if one went to more services in the week. Another example is that of Yom Kippuriym [Day of Atonements]. This practice began in Babylon with the cleansing of the temple, performed by the high priest of the temple. When adopted by Judaism, it still remained as a practice of the high priest and once a year, but began, during the rise of Rabbinical Judaism (the lay scholars), to be applied to all the priesthood and then to the general population. This applies to a seal and mark.

 

The following subsections are in a basic chronological order according to the archaeology and history for each subject matter, so unfortunately, there will be some unavoidable jumping around as each new subject is dealt with. Primarily, I am dealing with countries who have a similar patriarchal Indo-European base to their beliefs as part of that expressed in the Bible, especially the Mesopotamian and Medo-Persian territories where the Jews were in exile. It is necessary to cover a number of peoples to see the context and potential origins of these practices.

 



http://www.lebtahor.com/StumblingBlocks/worthlessdeities.htm#Mark

—Proclus, The Theology of Plato