12-19-2001

Yahweh continues to give signs and warnings concerning the impending judgment on a wicked and apostate church, and one such sign was given Tuesday morning (12-18-2001) as the largest church in the U.S., a Gothic Cathedral in Manhattan, caught fire and was heavily damaged. The details revealed in an Associated Press article on this event are highly revealing.

(AP) New York, Dec. 18

Fire broke out Tuesday morning at the historic Cathedral of St. John the Divine, with black smoke billowing 40 feet high from the Episcopal church that has been under construction for more than a century. Part of the roof appeared to have caved in but no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire, seven days before Christmas, was not yet known.

Up to 200 firefighters were called to the scene at 7 a.m., about an hour before the first mass of the day at what is believed to be the nation’s largest church, as smoke poured from a gift shop in the rear of the church and scores of onlookers stood by.

The fire was brought under control within 2 1/2 hours. It had largely been contained to the gift shop area, outside the main sanctuary, fire officials said. They said they expected smoke and water damage throughout the building - the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. Two rare tapestries may have been damaged.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

"We were crying all the way down here," said Margaret Hurwitz, whose son Nicholas, 12, goes to the nearby Cathedral School.

Hurwitz and her son went to find out whether it would be open; other children were seen leaving the area, crying and carrying book bags.

"You know, after the World Trade towers, you want something to be secure," said Hurwitz. "This is where we came that day..."

CHRISTMAS SERVICES

Church officials said they were optimistic that holiday services would be held next week. "Thus far, we are confident of what we have been told - we’ll be able to continue services in a few days," said Henry King, president of the board of trustees of the cathedral...

Thousands of people visit the cathedral every day, and half a million a year, cathedral spokesman Jere Farrah said. Two masses are traditionally held on Christmas, each of which typically attracts 5,000 people.

The cathedral is home to many priceless artifacts, according to Farrah, including a collection known as the Barberini Tapestries, which date to the 17th and 18th centuries. The tapestries, woven on the pope’s official looms, depict the life of Christ. It is uncertain if the tapestries were damaged in the fire...

Cathedral organist Dorothy Papadakos said the organ was the city’s fourth largest and dates to 1910.

"We were going to do ‘The Messiah’ in two days," she said, "but I don’t think it’s going to happen."

[end article excerpt]

Undoubtedly, the Father is bringing a message to the church concerning her impending judgment. Just a mere three months ago the world was shocked to witness the destruction of the World Trade towers not far from this church. Quite prophetically the towers represented Trade and commerce, being filled with banks and brokerage firms. The towers sat at the junction of Church Street and Liberty Street on New York’s Manhattan Island.

We are told that Yahweh confirms everything by two or three witnesses, and here in close proximity and close time frame we have the stories of two disasters that bear strong witness of coming judgment. What I will share with you about this latest calamity will certainly shock many. The Father is signifying that the sins of an apostate church have come to full measure and judgment is imminent. Even as the apostate church is referred to as Babylon, the Great Harlot in Revelation, and we are told that the merchants and citizens of the earth wept from afar as they saw the smoke of her burning, even so, in this article we are given accounts of those weeping as they watched the burning of this decadent church.

On the surface it may seem that this is simply a sad story about a church that suffered from a fire, but as we delve into the story we see much more. Let me begin by sharing some facts about this Episcopalian cathedral.

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine is as liberal of a church as you will find anywhere. In the 1940's it was used as a launching point to promote the need for a one world government. John Foster Dulles and his supporters formulated a "Six Pillars of Peace" statement that set out the need for world organization. These people fanned out across America visiting 102 cities, and they began with a convocation in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

This same church hosts an organization called The Temple of Understanding which is committed to bringing all of the religions of the world together. In their own brochures they state that "The Temple of Understanding maintains a strong commitment to the integrity of each religion or faith tradition and believes that each can better remain true to itself by honoring the truths inherent in all traditions." This same pamphlet issued by the organization states "The Temple of Understanding is a Non-Governmental Organization affiliated with the United Nations."

The Fall 1998 Temple of Understanding Newsletter explains their position on supporting interfaith belief in this way,

Interfaith is most fundamentally respect. At the bottom line it is respecting different traditions, different religions, different faiths. It is coming to an understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of them. And then most important, it’s coming to a love of them. You can be Jewish and you can really fall in love with Buddhism. You can be Buddhist and really fall in love with Christianity. You can be a Mohawk Indian and really fall in love with Islam.

What apostasy has been preached from this church and has been carried around the nation and world! No wonder God warns,

These are merely some of the apostasies of this church. This same Cathedral at one time had a naked female "Christ" called Christa, who was hung on a cross. Around 1994 the church also hosted a Pulitzer Prize winning play called "Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes." Part of the play held in this cathedral contained an AIDS prayer that said in part:

Let us pray. God: A cure would be nice... Enlighten the unenlightened: The Pope, the cardinals, the archbishops and priests, even [Cardinal] John O’Connor, teach him how Christ’s kindness worked: remind him, he’s forgotten, make them all remember, replace the ice water in their veins with the blood of Christ, let it pound in their temples... Your silence, I must tell you, so steadfastly maintained, even in the face of our appalling need is outrageous... So many have died this year alone: In case you were absent, God, or absent-minded... Where, God, are you?... So a cure for AIDS. For racism too. For homophobia and sexism, and an end to war, to nationalism and capitalism, to work as such and to hatred of the flesh... Don’t expect that we will forgive you if you allow us to be endangered... Be thou more sheltering, God. Pay more attention.

What blasphemous things have been sanctioned in this church! Yet this church is a picture of the church of the entire nation that has departed from truth, that has adopted a mindset of man first, and of God existing to meet the needs of man. As obscene as these words are, they are no more repulsive to a holy God than the widespread teaching of prosperity and material blessing that is rampant in so many evangelical and charismatic congregations. It all stems from a man-centric focus and it relegates God to a position of serving man and his lusts and desires.

Satan has perpetuated his own original error upon the church. We are given this account of Satan’s fall.

Satan profaned the sanctuaries of which he was formerly the guardian. In the abundance of his trade he profaned them. In the same way the church has defiled itself with commerce and trade, and its judgment will be the same as Satan’s. Is it just coincidence that the fire in this cathedral was centered in a large gift shop that was just behind the main sanctuary? There are money changers in the temple once again and zeal for God’s house, which temple we are, has consumed the Messiah and He will thoroughly purge His house. These events with the World Trade towers and this cathedral are merely physical symbols attesting to the fact that judgment must begin in the house of God, and then it will spread to the world at large.

It has been said that "The church began as a movement in Jerusalem. It became a philosophy in Greece, an institution in Rome, a culture in Europe, and a big, wealthy enterprise in America. But God is coming back for a movement."

Certainly the church has profaned its sanctuaries by its traffic, and remember, the sanctuaries are our bodies, not some building. The saints are lusting and striving after the material possessions of the world and they seek the acclaim and praise of the world. The saints are in love with the world and church has become big business. One can look at this AP article and see this quite clearly.

In the New Testament we have positions of service known as deacons, elders, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Yet what are the offices associated with the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine? The first person mentioned in association with this church is a man named Henry King and he is the president of the board of trustees. This is a title taken straight from the world of commerce. The second person mentioned is the spokesman for the cathedral. Again, this is a title used by major corporations to refer to the one who has authority to issue press releases and public announcements.

But Yahweh has testified even further in giving us an incredible witness in the names of these persons. Henry King is the overseer at this church, and his name is a double testimony of one who is a king. There were eight kings of England named Henry, six kings of France, and seven kings of Germany. The name Henry literally means "home ruler". This man, his name and position speak of the corruption that has arisen in the body of Christ in contrast to the expressed teaching of Christ.

Yes, the church has become a big business and there are kings which lord over these entities. The largest church in our nation has a president whose name twice attests to his being a king rather than a servant. This is an abomination unto God. What a testimony the Father has set here before our eyes. But let us look at the name of the spokesman for this same church.

In the AP article we are informed that the name of the cathedral spokesman is Jere Farrah. Here is the etymology of the name Jere from the website www.behindthename.com .

JERE (male) Short form of Jeremiah

JEREMIAH (male) "Yahweh uplifts" from the Hebrew name Yirmeyahu. This was the name of one of the major prophets of the Old Testament, author of the Book of Jeremiah and (supposedly) the Book of Lamentations. He lived to see the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th century BC.

What a correlation! Jeremiah was the name of the prophet who saw judgment come upon Jerusalem and Judah due to them participating in the same type of sins that fill the church today. We are told in this definition of the name that Jeremiah lived to see the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, and here we have this latter day Jere who is describing the burning of an apostate church.

Furthermore, the last name of this spokesman is Farrah and we have this etymology which is derived from another web site:

FARRAH (f) "burden bearer" (Arabic)

Even as Jeremiah had a burden to bear in proclaiming the impending judgment and destruction of Jerusalem, this Jere, knowingly or not, has a similar burden to bear as he proclaims to the world the destruction by fire of this Gothic cathedral which typifies the judgment of the church.

There is yet another testimony in this event in that it is clearly pronounced that this cathedral is constructed in a style that is called Gothic. It should be apparently clear upon reading the following definition of Gothic that what is represented in the architecture of this building is clearly exhibited in the activities held inside of it. The following definitions are derived from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.

3. a. Of or relating to an architectural style prevalent in western Europe from the 12th through the 15th century and characterized by pointed arches, rib vaulting, and a developing emphasis on verticality and the impression of height.

5. often gothic Of or relating to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate.

6. gothic Barbarous; crude.

Truly, this church and many others like it have tried to give the impression of height, of speaking lofty and grandiose things, but their words are mere fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate, being void of any real truth. What has been built to appear as beautiful, majestic, and regal in the eyes of men, drawing many to come and gape in wonder at the magnificence of the edifice, is in Yahweh’s sight barbarous and crude. Even as the disciples gaped at the wonders of Herod’s Temple, yet Yahshua informed them that not one stone would be left standing upon another.

I have shared in an earlier article that the last days were prophesied to be a day of great judgment and that men would flee from one calamity only to be met with another. Is this not what is revealed here. The bystander quoted in the AP article said that she came to this church on the day of the World Trade Center disaster to find comfort and consolation, and now the place of consolation has become a site of disaster. This is a prophetic foretelling of the days we are entering.

What should the saint do? If you have not yet heeded to Lord’s call to "come out of her, my people" then you need to do so at once. Failing to do so, one will find themselves "participating in her sins, and partaking of her plagues." The scriptures testify that the judgment of the apostate church will come quickly, even in one day. She will go from a place of sitting as a queen to being a site of sorrow and mourning before the eyes of all those who have consorted with her.

May the Father bless you with peace and understanding in these days.

jbherrin@heart4god.8k.com Website: http://heart4god.8k.com