Diversity of Words.

One of the most important parts of religious history involve the Babylonian Captivity. In the beginning, the Bible says that Noah's son was Shem. Shem's descendant was Abraham (who left Ur to live in Israel). Abraham had a child named Isaac, and then Issac had a child of the patriarch Jacob. From Jacob, there were the 12 tribes of Israel: Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Gad, Issachar, Joseph, Judah, Levi, Naphatali, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulun. The Babylonian Captivity has a long history, and it relates to the Old Testament and the New Testament even. The Assyrian Captivity (done by Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser V including later by Sargon II) was in ca. 740 B.C. where many of the Northern Israeli tribes were were sent into Assyria from Israel. The Northern tribes have been called the Lost Tribes of Israel. The Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles cite information about the Assyrian Captivity. 1 Chronicles 5:26 and 2 Kings 15:29 described the Assyrian Captivity involving Northern Israeli tribes. The Babylonian Captivity (involving the Southern tribes of Levi, Judah, Benjamin, and possibly Simeon) was a very tragic time of Jewish history. It involved a lot of people from the ancient Kingdom of Judah made captives in ancient Babylon, which was the city that was the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Before the Neo-Babylonian Empire grew into mighty heights, the Kingdom of Judah was a client state of the Assyrian Empire. Many Jewish religious leaders condemned some Jewish people worshiping pagan gods like the Assyrian gods (Jeremiah 7:29-30 showed Jeremiah angry at this situation). Then, Assryrians were overthrown by Babylon (which was once an Assyrian province). Egypt feared this new Babylonian Empire. Sot, they seized lands of Assyrian territory up to the Euphrates river in Syria. Babylon counterattacked. During this time period, Josiah or the King of Judah was killed in a battle with the Egyptians at the Battle of Medgiddo (609 B.C.). Egyptian Pharaoh Necho's army was defeated the Babylonians at Carchemish. There was first the Battle of Carchemish in ca. 605. B.C. This was when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon used his forces to invade Jerusalem and the rest of Israel. Later, King Jehoiakim paid tribute to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar took some of the young nobility of Judah to Babylon. The court of Jerusalem was divide in 2 parties. One group supported Egypt, and another group supported Babylon. Egypt defeated Nebuchadnezzar in a battle on 601 B.C., and Judah revolted against Babylon. This caused a three month siege of Jerusalem starting in late 598 B.C. Jehoiakim refused to pay tribute during Nebuchadnezzar's fourth year. This resulted into another siege in Nebuchadnezzar's 7th year. King Jehoiakim was killed, and King Jeconiah and his court plus many others were exiled to Babylonia. Jeconiah was Jehoiakim's son. Jerusalem fell on 2 Adar (March 16) 597 B.C. The Holy Temple of Solomon was looted. Even the prophet Ezekiel was sent to Babylon. Jeconiah's successor Zedekiah (who was Jehoiakim's uncle. He once ruled Judah for a time too) and others were exiled during Nebuchadnezzar's 18th year. During his 23rd year, more deportations happened. The deportations are dated to ca. 597 B.C. for the first one and the others are found at ca. 587/586 B.C. including 582/581 B.C. Jeremiah and others of the pro-Babylonian party issued warning, but Zedekiah revolted against Babylon. He had an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra. Nebuchadnezzar later returned defeated the Egyptians, and against besieged Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 B.C. The city wall, Solomon's Temple, and the houses of the most important citizens were destroyed. Zedekiah and his sons were captured, and his sons were executed in front of Zedekiah. Zedekiah was blinded and taken to Babylon along with other people as cited in Jeremiah 52:10-11. Judah became a Babylonian province called Yehud. Babylon appointed the Juhadite Gedaliah as governor of Israel. Many Jewish people fled. Surviving member of the royal family assassinated Gedaliah and his Babylonian advisors. Many refugees came into Egypt. Jewish communities grew in Egypt and Babylon. The exile ended with the return of Zerubbabel the Prince (who is of the royal line of David) and Joshua the Priest (a descendant of the line of the former High Priests of the Temple). The construction of the Second Temple in Zion existed in the period of 521-516 B.C. We know that Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem, the capture of King Jeconiah, the appointment of Zedekiah in his palce, and the plundering of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. is corroabeted by a passage in the Babylonian Chronicles. Jehoiachin's Rations Tables described King Jeconiah and ration orders for a captive King of Judah. Cuneiform tablets show fruits, taxes, and one exiled Judah family over four generation, all with Hebrew names. This time period saw a high level of biblical prophecy. Modern day Judaism as we know it developed greatly during this era of world history.

After the fall of Babylon to the Persian King Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C., exiled Judeans were allowed to go back to Judah. According to the book of Ezra, the construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem started in ca. 537 B.C. These events helped to shape the Jewish people and Judaism in general. Jerusalem was once destroyed, but it was rebuilt. The return of exile people back to Israel was gradual. The Iraqi Jewish people are descendants of the Jewish people who stayed in Babylonia. Ezra was the known scribe. The prophet Daniel lived during the Babylonian Captivity. His words described this time period very accurate. The prophet Daniel was a contemporary of Jeremiah (whose father was of the priesthood) and Ezekiel. The Talmud in Sanhedrin 93b even claims that Daniel was the direct descendant of King David. Daniel's name means God is my Judge. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar  (Daniel 2) was interpretated by Daniel.  The prophet Daniel said that the leader Nebuchadnezzar was the head of fine gold as mentioned in Daniel 2:32. Later, it is represented by the beat like a lion with eagle win'ts wings representing Babylon. Lion images are found in Babylon. Lions are symbols of the god Isthar and lions with wings plus dragons are the symbols of the god Marduk. The wings outline speed.




The breast and 2 arms are referred to as made up of silver as cited in Daniel 2:32. Daniel 5:28 said that this Kingdom was of the Medes and Persians. The Medo-Persian Empire lasted from 539 to 330 B.C. The bear is at times slow, but it has great strength. The Talmud refers to Persia as the bear. The King Darius defeated the Babylonian Empire. Many Hebrew people loved Cyrus, because he allowed Jewish people a lot of religious freedom and he gave them the opportunity to rebuild the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Josephus said that Astyages was the father of Darius the Mede in his book Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, 11:4. By 547 B.C., Cyrus the Great conquered Lydia in Turkey. He later conquered Persia and Media, Babylonia, and other places to form, the Achamemind Persian Empire. Cyrus is mentioned in Isaiah 44:28, 45:1-4.By 536 B.C., Cyrus issued a royal decree to allow Jewish people to return to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the Temple. Cambyses was king was Cyrus died (on 530 B.C.) and he ruled for 7 years. The book of Ezra cited other decrees as it related to Jewish people. Daniel 10:14-21 mentioned the end of the Persian Empire and the start of the Greco-Macedonian empire. After the Babylonian Exile, Judaism had a transformation of the followers of the Law and the scribes plus the Sanhedrin who wanted to follow tradition (or interpretations of the Law).


Daniel 2:32 mentioned the belly and thighs of brass. Daneil 7:6 mentioned this image as a leopard with 4 wings, 4 heads, and 4 horns. Alexander the Great's soldiers used bronze on their shied with a piece of goat skin attached to it. Daniel 8:4-5, 21, 6-7 mentioned the rise of Greece. Alexander the Great was the son of King Philip II of Macedon, which is a city state of Greece. Alexander the Great's empire was from Greece to parts of India. He came into Babylon where he died of an illness. His empire would be divided by his 4 generals. The descendants of these 4 generals would rule Israel until the coming of the Roman Empire. The four generals ruled the regions of Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Egypt. Thrace, Turkey, Bithynia, etc), and Antiogonus (Babylonia, northern Syria, Persia, etc.). After Antigonus died, Selecus I Nicator (or Ptolemy's chief general) ruled Babylonia, Syria, and parts of India. Selecus lived from 358 to 281 B.C. His son was Antiochus I (324-261 B.C.). His son was Antiochus II (261-246 B.C.). His descendant was the great persecutor of Jewish people named Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He was the Hellenistic King of the Selecuid Empire. He wanted to force Orthodox Jewish people to reject Jewish culture and embrace Greek culture. The massive persecutions against Jewish people caused the Maccabean Revolt. This revolt is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The Maccabean revolt was about Jewish freedom fighters trying to make self determination against Selecuid imperialists. The revolt is cited in the Book of the Maccabees. There was a rumor that Antiochus was killed. So, High Priest Jason gathered about 1000 soldiers to free Jerusalem. Menelaus or the then High Priest was forced to flee Jerusalem. Antiochus came back from Egypt in 168 B.C. to kill many Jewish people and restore Menelaus. Many Jewish people were sold into slavery. Men, women, and children Jewish people were slaughtered. Antiochus supported the Hellenized Jewish people to grow his empire. He wanted Zeus to be worshiped and outlawed Jewish religious rites and traditions. He put a pig in the Temple and other evil actions. The Jewish Hasmonean family were leading Maccabees. Judas ben Mattathias was from the Hasmonean priestly line. His son was Judas had the surname of Maccabee (or the Hammer). By December 14, 164 B.C., they or the Maccabees won. They rededicated Jerusalem and the Temple. Judas was killed later in a battle in Syria. His brother Jonathan was in the other regions. Jonathan made treaty with Spartans and Romans. He was betrayed and killed by a Syrian general in 143 B.C. High Priest Simon had power. He died and his son John Hyranus was the High Priest form 134-101 B.C. The Hasmoneans and other people had a civil war. Roman general Pompey controlled Israel. The Edomite Herod the Great (who was ethnically of Arabic descent) ruled Israel after the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrancus came about. He came after the last Hasmonean King of Judea named Antigonus II Mattahias (Herod handed him over to the Romans for exeuction in 37 B.C.). From Herod's time (he exeucted Hyrcanus II), we see the rise of the Roman Empire in Israel. Herod was a puppet of the Roman Empire as the Roman Senate gave him the power to rule Judea. Herod ruled until the birth of Jesus Christ.


Nothing is new under the sun. The same protests that we see in 2020 (in defending all black human lives and opposing police brutality) globally existed during the 1960's including the 1970's. Worldwide protests against the Vietnam War happened in 1969. From 1963 to 1975, some of the greatest political and social revolutions existed in human history. Rights were expanded among human beings along with the growth of the reactionary backlash. This blacklash caused Ronald Reagan to be governor of California in 1966. Reagan opposed Medicare, the California state Housing bill, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We saw a cultural revolution so profound that human beings debate its merits today. Soul music from Motown and Stax dominated the airwaves with excellent black musicians like the Supremes, the Temptations, and Martha and the Vandellas. The counterculture was abundant with hippies and Woodstock. The sexual revolution changed how some expressed their sexuality in public. The Cold War expanded in the Vietnam War, various coups, and detente. Nixon visited China, and great leaders of social activism were unjustly assassinated. The end of this era saw neoliberalism growing, deindustralization unfortunately developing more, and moderate American Presidents (i.e. Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter) take control of the American government.  That time was the peak of the post-WWII economic boom. The anti-war movement was in total strength, and black leaders from Ella Baker, Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer, and to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke their minds in advocating freedom and justice. The Soviet Union slowly declined in its influence by the 1970's Some of their leaders embraced detente with America in order for a negotiated settlement to reduce missiles in exchange for peaceful co-existence. Lives change, television changed (with U.S. TV shows displaying more risque subject matter), and it was an era of total human transformation.



During this generation, Christ-haters are abundant. I have debated and refuted them all of my life. With the advent of the Internet, more people are waking up about how evil people claim tolerance, but they want to paint a broad brush against Christians collectively. We are fortunate enough to live in this time where the truth is readily available. One major lie promoted in the Da Vinci Code and in the Holy Blood/Holy Grail movements is that the Bible was created by the Council of Nicea via Constantine during the 300's A.D. The truth is that Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire had nothing to do with the making of the Christian canon. All of the books of the Bible was created by 100 A.D. There was the Council of Hippo at 393 A.D., and the Council of Carthage of 397 A.D. at dealt with canon issues. Also, another lie is that some believe that Christians didn't believe in the deity of Jesus Christ until the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. We can look at the New Testament and early church writers long before 325 that mentions Christi's divinity and the existence of the Trinity. Theophilius mentioned the Trinity before the 300's A.D. The Council of Nicea was made up of bishops who wanted to debate theological issues as it relates to Christianity, not forming a biblical canon. We know that Pierre Plantard's Priory of Sion was a hoax being created in 1956. By the 2nd century, the Apostles Creed firmly believed that Jesus Chris is the Son of God. There is no historical evidence that Jesus married Magdalene or had children with her. Many Jewish people were celibate back then like the Apostle Paul, John the Baptist, and the Essene (who are the Jewish people who created the Dead Sea Scrolls). The Dead Sea Scrolls were about the Old Testament and didn't reference Jesus Christ. Even one part of the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas says that a woman can't go into the Kingdom of Heaven without changing into a man, which is sexist. Gnostics believe in bashing the physical existence and praising the spiritual world when both physical and spiritual entities can be good. Even the Zeitgeist documentary comes out to not only bash Christianity but all religions in promoting a Utopian society. The documentary promoted the lie that Christianity is just a copy of pagan religions, and Jesus Christ never existed (when Josephus, the New Testament, Tacticus, the Talmud, and other people back then mentioned Jesus' existence). It tries to tie Jesus with Horus when there is no evidence that Jesus was born in December 25, and  Horus was not a product of virgin birth. Jesus wasn't referred to as a solar deity. Therefore, discernment and truth remain clear and firm.



Many Knights Templar joined the newly formed Order of Christ group. They came into Portugal too. The order of Christ was created in 1319. Its headquarters became a castle in Tomar, a former Knights Templar castle. Many temperance groups named themselves after the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem was made in 1804. It's not an offshoot of the Knights Templar, but it is ecumenical of admitting Christians of many denominations in its circle.




Freemasonry have used the symbols and rituals of medieval military order in many Masonic bodies since the 1700's. This is shown in the Red Cross of Constantine inspired by the Military Constantinian Order, the Order of Malta (inspired by the Knights Hospitaller). The Orders of Malta and the Temple have imagery found in the York Rite. There are many that claim that Freemasonry is a direct descendant of the Knights Templar via its 14th century members who took refuge in Scotland and aided Robert the Bruce in his victory at Bannockburn. This theory is rejected by many Masonic authorities. Historical evidence is lacking in this theory. The York Rite is one of many rites of Freemasonry. The 3 main bodies of the York Tie are the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, Council of Royal and Select Master or Council of Cryptic masons, and the Commendary of Knights Templar. Each are governed independently, and they are part or the York rite. York is from the city of York, where according to Masonic legend, the first meetings of Masons in England took place. The first order of the York Rite is Royal Arch Masonry, the 2nd one is Cryptic Masonry, and the 3rd one is the Knights Templar.


By Timothy