Apollyon Rising 2012 - Book Review

Joseph Herrin (02-19-2014)

I have been reading a number of books in preparation for a new series of writings. This is one of the reasons I have not been posting many writings of late. Much of my present time is being spent in research, collating notes, and clarifying various ideas for this new series. I had not intended to read Apollyon Rising 2012 as I had a general impression of the author and his books as being sensational, straying far into areas of conjecture while advancing claims that are not Biblically sound. My impression of the author was not formed from having read any of his books previously. I had, however, watched some videos on YouTube where Tom Horn was interviewed, and read excerpts of his ideas on various sites where he was quoted.

I was familiar with the fact that Tom Horn was writing some wildly popular books. It was reported that combined print and e-book sales of Apollyon Rising 2012 exceeded one million copies on its first day of availability. That was enough to assure it a spot on the New York Times Bestseller List. I am wary of highly popular books for I understand that in the last days before the return of Christ that truth is despised by the majority (including those in the church), and that the multitudes will turn aside to myths and fables. The apostle Paul in writing to Timothy describes the character of the last days as that in which men will heap up to themselves teachers to tickle their ears, telling them the things they want to hear. He also describes it as a time when “men will not endure sound doctrine.”

There have been many books in this generation that have done exceptionally well in sales, but which contain dangerous deceptions and doctrinal error. Among them are the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, The Shack by William Paul Young, The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson, The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen, and Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo. All of these books have some appeal to the masses. Nevertheless, these best selling books are filled with false teaching and deception, and are leading Christians into ever increasing spiritual error and darkness.

I am consequently wary when another Christian best seller comes along for I know that even as truth was rejected by the masses in Christ’s day, the same situation remains to this very hour.

John 15:20
“Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

After three and a half years of ministry, there were only 120 dedicated disciples of the Lord gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in obedience to Yahshua’s instructions. The multitudes that had clamored around Him when He was performing miracles and feeding thousands had proven their true character. When their Messiah’s words became difficult to embrace, and the cost of following the Savior was revealed to be exceedingly high, the multitudes returned to the comfort of their false beliefs, and the leavened teachings of the Pharisees. The apostle Paul in writing to the saints in Thessalonika shared the following admonition.

II Thessalonians 2:1-3
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Yahshua Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first.

The word “apostasy” is defined as a falling away from truth. It shares a similar root with the Greek word for “divorce.” Apostasy is a divorcement from truth to be wed to myths and fables. We are plainly told that Christ’s return will be preceded by a state of apostasy in the church. It is the remnant who will hold fast to the truth. The vast majority of Christendom will fall away into deception and error.

There is good reason to be wary of best selling books that the church is devouring in great numbers. A sober-minded disciple of Christ should question whether there is present in the book something that is “tickling” the ears of the readers. Sensationalism sells. People are naturally drawn to conspiracy theories, and to claims that excite their minds and imagination. There is present in the nature of the Adamic man a tendency that wants to chase ambulances to learn the details of the latest tragedy, or to scan the headlines to find out the salacious facts of the most recent scandals.

I have commented before that whenever I post writings on current events, or expose the evil workings of this world system, the readership of the Parables Blog shoots up. As a case in point, the recent series I posted on the history of the Bible which was titled Yahweh’s Book had a small, but steady following. There were between 400-600 readers of this series according to the Google analytics that are provided to users of their blogging sites. When in the midst of this series I posted a writing titled In the Presence of Evil, about the bizarre sign language displayed by an erratic personality at Nelson Mandela’s memorial and commented on the train wreck where the engineer’s name was Rockefeller, readership quadrupled for that post. After finishing the Yahweh’s Book series I posted a writing about the Illuminati message presented during the last Super Bowl and readership was six times the average for the Yahweh’s Book series.

Why does this occur? Were these two popular posts more important than what was being communicated in the Yahweh’s Book series? I do not believe this to be the case at all. Yet, there is something present in these popular posts that “tickles” the ears, for even truth can be sensational. Many more people are attracted to that which is exciting, scandalous, or provocative, than those who are attracted to the serious and sober truths that comprise the majority of important subject matter.

Book authors, editors, and publishers understand this. There was a time when I first began writing books more than a decade ago that I sought to get my writings published by a Christian publishing house. I submitted several books to a number of publishers, but was shown no interest. One of the reasons cited for the rejection was that my writings diverged too much from what is considered “orthodox” belief today. Undoubtedly, another reason was that my books focused much on the cost of Christian discipleship, and a message of suffering has little appeal to the masses. Publishing houses make money by selling books. They are more interested in what sells than they are in promoting truth.

I sought the Father regarding the matter of getting my books in print and distributed by a publisher of Christian books and I sensed Him saying this was not an avenue He wanted me to pursue. There is too much commercialism present, too much pressure from publishers and editors to coerce the writer to give the people what they want. Yahweh instructed me to make my writings freely available on the Internet in various forms, and to trust Him to lead the people to the books whom He wanted to read them. The Spirit of Christ counseled me to rest in this matter, for in looking only to the Father for my daily provision (instead of publishing houses), and by choosing not to promote my books through carnal means, I would be relieved of the pressures to give people what they want. I would be freed up to listen to that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit who would guide me to write on the subjects of God’s choosing.

I do not claim to have been perfect in this. Throughout the course of my ministry I have battled against the temptation to write on subjects I sensed would be popular. I have a pretty good sense of what is popular. I could easily let my site devolve into a prophecy/conspiracy/doomsday website that would attract much higher numbers of readers. I have been invited to speak on some popular Internet radio shows, and to post my writings on sites that generate millions of views a month. In response to one owner of a very highly trafficked site who had contacted me, I told him that the articles of mine he was familiar with were only one part of what I focused on. I told him that in addition to writing about a Biblical understanding of current events that I also focused much on establishing Christians in sound Biblical doctrine, and in exhorting believers to embrace a Spirit-directed life. I wrote much on the necessity of laying down one’s will, plans, and desires, that the believer might take up the cross and follow wherever Christ would lead. The man never wrote me back. He was evidently not interested in my having a regular column on his site if all of my writings were not sensational and ear tickling.

For those who are concerned, please rest assured that I am not about to abandon the pattern of following the Spirit of Christ that I have walked in for the past 14 years of ministry. I do not find it an attractive prospect to abandon writing about the topics the Father directs me to in order to give people what they want. I fear God. I want to honor Him with my life, with my labor, and by yielding the reins of my life to His direction and control. The lure of popularity and riches is quite feeble in comparison to my desire to hear Yahweh say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” The acclaim of man and the material success of this world are both fleeting and precarious. An inheritance with Christ in glory is of far greater worth.

I would have you be aware, however, of the temptations faced by Christian men and women who write books, have websites, churches, or some other type of following. These individuals are faced with frequent, and at times powerful pressures that would urge them to produce what is popular. Such ones must choose to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the voices of this world that they might be guided by the Spirit alone.

Many have turned aside at some point. They may have had some niggling thoughts warning them that they were straying from the narrow path of obedience to God. Yet, the voice of conscience can be overridden when the profits and praise that attend popularity begin to be entertained in one’s mind. Slowly, or quickly, a man or woman can depart from a path of soundness and end up selling out to the highest bidder. They may still believe they are promoting truth, but the Spirit of Christ is no longer the One determining what subjects they devote their life and labors to. When this occurs they often lose the ability to discern between truth and error.

   

Back in 1998 Tom Horn wrote a book titled Spiritual Warfare - The Invisible Invasion. This does not sound too sensational, and the book cover is certainly tame in comparison to his more recent writings. I have not read the book, but the reviews on Amazon indicate that numerous readers view it to be “fundamental,” a “traditional approach,” and to be promoting “time tested and proven principles of spiritual warfare.” Although the subject of demonology does excite the soul to some degree, many reviewers of this book viewed it as taking a pragmatic and reasoned approach to the topic. This book, published 16 years ago, was followed seven years later by The Ahriman Gate, a novel co-written by Thomas Horn and his wife Nita in 2005.

The ad line at the bottom of the front cover states, “The most intense piece of Christian fiction in a long time.” National Book Review

Listed under Book Description on Amazon’s site is the following information.

This supernatural thriller tells the incredible story of a young Marine and his sister who discover information connecting the U.S. Government with UFO's.

Review
"...brings the reader face to face with the return of the Nephilim... a little too close for some folks!" -- Dr. Lynn Marzulli, Best Selling Author Of

"...the world is right on schedule, winding down. Our redemption is ever closer..." -- Cal Thomas, LA Times Syndicate, on the Transgenic Research of The Ahriman Gate

"Dr. and Mrs. Horn are obviously conversant with ancient Biblical sources, and make good use of it in their novel." -- Legendary Ufologist Dr. I.D.E. Thomas

"Scared the Hades out of me! Then I realized, that's what it's SUPPOSED to do!" -- Historian of the Year, Egyptologist Dr. Donald C. Jones

"Thomas Horn... has got his answers, and I've got to tell you, they'll put chills down your spine!" -- Barbara Simpson, The Babe in the Bunker, On Coast to Coast
From the Publisher

The words “intense,” “supernatural thriller,” “Nephilim,” “the world is... winding down,” “Scared the Hades out of me,” and “chills down your spine,” reveal the character of this book. Not only is it a work of fiction, but it is written to tickle the ear, excite the soul, and inflame the emotions. Sadly, once one has begun to go down this path, it is very difficult to arrest one’s momentum. If an individual is working with editors and publishers, they will be encouraged to give the readers more of what they want in an effort to generate sales. It becomes increasingly hard to step back and produce a less thrilling, more subdued and well reasoned tome.

In 2009 Tom Horn published Apollyon Rising 2012. Although Tom Horn has said publicly that he is NOT a date setter, the year 2012 was clearly listed in the title of this book. No one could escape the massive build-up of anticipation regarding the year 2012. Speculation was rife as frequent mention was made of the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012 and other prophecies that suggested that 2012 might be the end of the world as we know it. Clearly, the book’s publisher sought to play upon this sensationalism by emphasizing the year 2012 in the title of this book.

Before focusing on the actual subject matter of the book, I would make mention of what Tom and Nita Horn have written since this book was published. The runaway success of Apollyon Rising has led to a profusion of books being released much more rapidly than their previous writings. In January 2011 Tom and Nita Horn published Forbidden Gates: How Genetics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Synthetic Biology, Nanotechnology, and Human Enhancement Herald The Dawn Of TechnoDimensional Spiritual Warfare.

In July 2011, just 6 months later, Tom Horn led a group of authors in publishing a compendium of writings titled Pandemonium's Engine: How the End of the Church Age, the Rise of Transhumanism, and the Coming of the bermensch (Overman) Herald Satan’s Imminent and Final Assault on the Creation of God.

 
In September of the same year Nita Horn was similarly involved with a compendium that was titled God's Ghostbusters: Vampires? Ghosts? Aliens? Werewolves? Creatures of the Night Beware!

In November of 2011Tom Horn released The Researchers Library of Ancient Texts: Volume One The Apocrypha - Includes the Books of Enoch, Jasher, and Jubilees.

This book reveals the extra-Biblical sources from which Tom Horn derives many of his theories and claims relating to what he believes will occur in these last days, as well as what he claims occurred in the ancient past. His next book would relate to another extra-Biblical source, St. Malachy’s prophecy of the Popes that was recorded in 1595. This book is titled Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope Is Here.

The book Petrus Romanus was co-written by Tom Horn and Cris Putnam. One thing publishing houses will at times do when they have a very popular author, is to supply him/her with a co-author, or even a ghost writer, who will write books in the popular author’s name. Anyone familiar with Tom Clancy, author of The Hunt for Red October, will recognize that this is a procedure adopted by various publishers. It enables them to get more books out in a short period of time, and it also allows them to introduce new authors who will themselves become popular by association and be able in turn to sell millions of books. Note that in the book above that Thomas Horn’s name is listed before Cris Putnam’s. This does not necessarily mean that Mr. Horn wrote most of the material. He was, however, the more recognized name.

Later in 2013 Horn and Putnam had another book published. Notice that on the cover of Exo-Vaticana that Cris Putnam’s name is listed first. How much of the book was written by either man is hard to tell. I suspect most of it was written by Putnam, but it still has the advantage of bearing Thomas Horn’s name, insuring a great many sales.

Following up the year 2012, and giving some explanation to what he thinks may have occurred in that year, Tom Horn published two books that relate back to the year 2012. Evidently, the world as we know it did not end in 2012, so some explanations are made about what may have actually taken place. In August of 2013 Thomas Horn published Zenith 2016: Did Something Begin in the Year 2012 that will Reach its Apex in 2016?

In November of 2013 he released Nephilim Stargates: The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers. With this, he was able to get three books published that took advantage of the hype centered around the year 2012.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Tom Horn (and his wife) have given themselves to producing sensational writings. God’s Ghostbusters? Nephilim Stargates? These titles intentionally evoke images of the fantastic fictional productions that come out of Hollywood. Ghost Busters was the name of a 1984 Hollywood film that featured Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Sigourney Weaver. It was billed as a supernatural comedy. Surely Nita Horn and those who joined with her in this compilation of writings must have known that adopting the name Ghostbusters would cause people to view their book with a lack of sobriety.

A few days ago I watched a video where Tom Horn was speaking at a conference sponsored by Mike Hoggard. One thing that struck me was the demeanor of Tom Horn. He was telling jokes, and frequently laughing as he was giving his presentation on some of the material contained in Apollyon Rising 2012. His demeanor appeared to me to be incongruous with the seriousness of the subject matter he was discussing.

This causes me to reflect upon the fact that many people are being conditioned to talk about the most sober and serious subjects, including the arrival of the antichrist, the slaughter of vast portions of the world population, and even the triumph of Satan over the people of God, as if they were discussing some fictional movie they just saw at the theater. I am concerned that Christians are merely being titillated by what they are hearing, viewing, and reading. Many are having their ears tickled, but the information being presented to them is not having the sobering effect upon them that it should. This is at least partly attributable to many of the authors and speakers who are presenting the information. They are failing to manifest a sober spirit in their communications. If a man stands in front of a crowd of people and tells them exceedingly dark things, yet he acts nonchalant, manifesting a carefree attitude, and does not impress upon the people the need to walk in the fear of God and get their spiritual life in order, then he has done a disservice to the people of God.

Looking back over the covers of these books, what I am impressed with is sensationalism, and entertainment. The last book on Nephilim Stargates makes a clear reference to the multiple television series that have arisen around the science fiction theme of stargates, or portals, that can transport beings from one location in the universe to another.

A Stargate from the Television Series

The impression I am left with as I look at the subject matter and book covers that Thomas Horn’s name is associated with is that there is a mixing of Hollywood sensationalism and Biblical truth. There is a confusion of science fiction and spiritual reality. I am therefore immediately on my guard in reading these writings to discern where truth has given way to fiction, and to discern where error, conjecture, and falsehood have intruded into what is being presented as a Christian and Bible based view of the world, both ancient and modern.

In the video I have mentioned, Tom Horn states that although he makes reference to numerous extra-Biblical sources, that he does NOT place any of them on the same level as Scripture. I did not find this to be accurate when reading Apollyon Rising. The manner in which extra-Biblical sources were cited, and conclusions drawn from them, evidenced that the author was using them to interpret the Bible.

I had started reading one of his books that he had co-written with Cris Putnam at the suggestion of a brother in Christ a few weeks earlier. The book, Exo-Vaticana, may have been more the product of Cris Putnam than Tom Horn. I did not get very far into the book when I became troubled by numerous statements that I found both doubtful and very poorly reasoned and supported. I wrote the following to this brother:

Hello Brother (Name Withheld),

I have begun reading the book Exo-Vaticana. It is possible that part of the end-times deception will include fallen angels masquerading as an advanced alien race who appear as the saviors of mankind. The authors are certainly intent on building a case for such a possibility. At the same time, I do believe they are wresting some pretty dubious interpretations of Scriptures in support of their thesis. What I wanted to comment on at this time, however, is an unusual thing that occurred this morning.

I had never heard of Cris Putnam until you mentioned this book to me. This morning a sister in Christ wrote to me in response to my most recent post on the Satanic symbolism of the Christmas tree.

A Rockefeller Christmas - Redux
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-rockefeller-christmas-redux.html

This sister began her letter by telling me how much God had shown her about the substitution that has occurred in Christianity whereby the feasts of Yahweh have been replaced by pagan holidays. She spoke of the vileness of the "holidays" and she seemed to be tracking right along with what my own writings were saying. However, at the end of her e-mail she stated that she still decorated a Christmas tree in her home every year, and she saw nothing wrong with it. To support her actions she sent me a link to a brief article posted by Cris Putnam on his website where he asserts that the Christmas tree has no pagan origins.

http://www.logosapologia.org/?p=5376&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+LogosApologia+%28Logos+Apologia%29

I at once recognized the name Cris Putnam as being a co-author of the book Exo-Vaticana, and I considered this an unusual coincidence that I should pay attention to. I read his brief article, finding it wholly dissatisfying, especially for a man who claims to be a researcher. He has certainly NOT researched this issue about the origins of the Christmas tree. In my response to this sister in Christ, I shared the following with her:
---
The decorated Christmas tree can be traced back to the ancient Romans who during their winter festival decorated trees with small pieces of metal during Saturnalia, a winter festival in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture.
[Source: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/trees/traditions.cfm]

A far more scholarly account of the ancient pagan origins of the Christmas tree and the candle lighting can be found in Alexander Hislops' excellent book The Two Babylons. I will cite a pertinent section from that book.

The candles, in some parts of England, lighted on Christmas-eve, and used so long as the festive season lasts, were equally lighted by the Pagans on the eve of the festival of the Babylonian god, to do honour to him: for it was one of the distinguishing peculiarities of his worship to have lighted wax-candles on his altars. The Christmas tree, now so  common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm-tree denoting the Pagan Messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of Adonis, the Sun-God and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognised as the "Man the branch." And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas-eve, and the appearance of the Christmas-tree the next morning. As Zero-Ashta, "The seed of the woman," which name also signified Ignigena, or "born of the fire," he has to enter the fire on "Mother-night," that he may be born the next day out of it, as the "Branch of God," or the Tree that brings all divine gifts to men. But why, it may be asked, does he enter the fire under the symbol of a Log? To understand this, it must be remembered that the divine child born at the winter solstice was born as a new incarnation of the great god (after that god had been cut in pieces), on purpose to revenge his death upon his murderers. Now the great god, cut off in the midst of his power and glory, was symbolised as a huge tree, stripped of all its branches, and cut down almost to the ground. But the great serpent, the symbol of the life restoring Aesculapius, twists itself around the dead stock, and lo, at its side up sprouts a young tree--a tree of an entirely different kind, that is destined never to be cut down by hostile power--even the palm-tree, the well-known symbol of victory. The Christmas-tree, as has been stated, was generally at Rome a different tree, even the fir; but the very same idea as was implied in the palm-tree was implied in the Christmas-fir; for that covertly symbolised the new-born God as Baal-berith, * "Lord of the Covenant," and thus shadowed forth the perpetuity and everlasting nature of his power, that after having fallen before his enemies, he had risen triumphant over them all.
*
Baal-bereth, which differs only in one letter from Baal-berith, "Lord of the Covenant," signifies "Lord of the fir-tree."

Therefore, the 25th of December, the day that was observed at Rome as the day when the victorious god reappeared on earth, was held at the Natalis invicti solis, "The birth-day of the unconquered Sun." Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivus--the slain god come to life again.
 [End Excerpt]

It does trouble me that Cris Putnam is manifesting an intellectual bias and is misrepresenting the truth of this matter. It does cause me to wonder what liberties he is taking in the Exo-Vaticana book in order to cause the "facts" to fit his hypothesis. I would definitely counsel great scrutiny in testing all of the claims in this book.
[End of letter]

Although I had some reservations regarding Tom Horn’s writing, due to what little familiarity I had with them I did not judge him by the errors of Cris Putnam. It was highly concerning, however, that a man whose primary occupation is a researcher and author could err so egregiously in suggesting that the Christmas tree has no pagan origin. Clearly the Christmas tree has no Biblical origin. Nowhere do we read in the Old Testament Law that God commanded the Israelites to bring a fir tree into their homes, to decorate it and adorn it with candles, as part of one of their annual feasts. Nowhere in the New Testament do we read of the apostles or churches commemorating the birth day of Christ at all, which certainly did not occur on December 25th. Nor do we have any mention of the apostles passing down a tradition of adopting the fir tree as a symbol of the eternal life of the Son of God. The origins of this practice are entirely pagan.

As I was doing research on the series I am at present preparing for, I came across a website that included some excerpts from Thomas Horn’s book Apollyon Rising 2012. Some of what was stated was explaining precisely the subject I was investigating at the moment, so after some consideration I purchased the book. The Preface is quite lengthy and was written by Christian J. Pinto, a filmmaker who has produced the documentary series Secret Mysteries of America’s Beginnings. I have watched the documentary, and found both it and the Preface to this book to be well composed. Claims are well documented. Sources are abundantly cited. Well reasoned explanations and arguments are presented in support of the thesis that America’s government was formed by men who were not Christian in their beliefs or actions. Indeed, these men manifested very much the spirit of antichrist.

What Christian J. Pinto wrote was continued by Tom Horn in the first part of the book. The first five chapters written by Tom Horn focused on America’s founding fathers, their associations with secret societies, and their influence in the design of the nation’s capital as a Masonic city, the Great Seal with its occult symbolism, and various other evidences of the dark underpinnings of America’s government. Tom Horn, like Christian J. Pinto, included copious references, and other than a couple of statements that deviated from the main focus of these opening chapters, I found what was written to be excellent. I began to question my former opinion of Tom Horn and his writings for what he was sharing was not unlike the information I have set forth in the book Dragon Flood. Nor did I note a tendency toward sensationalism. The author’s arguments and claims were well-reasoned, and amply supported by historic evidence.

Around chapter 8, however, the wheels began to fall off. What had been rolling along so well suddenly veered off into great conjecture and very poor exegesis of the Scriptures. As Horn began to build a case for Nimrod being changed into a Gibborim, which he equates to the offspring of the Nephilim (the fallen angels), he began to make claims and to express conjecture that is readily refuted. Following is an excerpt from his book:

While I believe the theory of DNA corruption as an intended method for halting the coming of Christ has merit, an alternative reason the Watchers may have blended living organisms exists. This theory is original with me and grew from my need to incorporate the voluminous historical texts, which described this peculiar history, into a consistent account that corresponds with Scripture...

Let me stop here and share a few comments. Thomas Horn is building upon a thesis he has already expounded where he contends that before the flood of Noah all mankind’s DNA had become corrupted due to tampering by the fallen angels. This is not an uncommon theory, although the manner in which Tom Horn believes the DNA corruption occurred is unusual. Many have put forth the argument that due to the cohabitation of fallen angels with human women, the genetic make-up of man became corrupted. Out of these unions came the mighty men of old. These were giants, and beings of great strength. It is suggested by some that ONLY Noah and his family remained the pure seed of Adam. They contend that this is the meaning of the following Scripture.

Genesis 6:9
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
KJV

Some suggest that the phrase “perfect in his generations” does not refer to Noah being a morally righteous man, but that it is in fact a reference to his genetic make-up. Tom Horn embraces this view, for in his book he writes:

That God had to send such a universal fiat like the Flood illustrates how widespread the altered DNA eventually became. In fact, the Bible says in Genesis 6:9 that only Noah and by extension his children were found “perfect” in their generation. The Hebrew word for “perfect” in this case is tamiym, which means “without blemish” or “healthy,” the same word used in Leviticus to describe an unblemished sacrificial lamb. The meaning was not that Noah was morally perfect, but that his physical makeup-his DNA-had not been contaminated with Nephilim descent, as apparently the rest of the world had become.

The Bible does not support the conclusions set forth here. First, God declares to Noah the reason that He is going to destroy all mankind in the flood. In declaring the reason to Noah, Yahweh makes no mention of the Nephilim or contaminated DNA.

Genesis 6:13
And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

Yahweh specifically mentions the violence of man. In this same passage, we are given additional insight into the cause of the flood and the reason for which Noah found grace.

Genesis 6:5-9
Then Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yahweh was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So Yahweh said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh... Noah walked with God.

The Bible contrasts here the wickedness of men on the earth and the righteousness of Noah. It is not the genetic makeup of Noah that is declared to have caused Noah to find grace in the eyes of Yahweh. It is Noah’s righteousness. This is a truth supported elsewhere in other Scriptures. The Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit, names Noah among the most righteous men to ever have walked upon the face of the earth.

Ezekiel 14:12-14
Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, "Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves," declares Yahweh God.

It is clearly stated in this passage from the prophet Ezekiel that Noah was viewed as righteous in the eyes of Yahweh. In a generation when all flesh had corrupted itself with violence, and the thoughts of their hearts were evil continually, only Noah walked with God.

From where did these aberrant ideas arise? Thomas Horn states that he is seeking to reconcile “the voluminous historical texts” with the Biblical account. What he is identifying as historical texts are books of deceptive origin. Volumes such as The Book of Enoch, The Book of Jasher, and Jubilees are known by scholars as pseudepigrapha. This word literally means “a falsely attributed writing.” The prefix “pseude”comes from the same source as the prefix of the English word pseudonym. A pseudonym is a false name that an author uses when publishing a writing. For example, Samuel Clemens used the pseudonym Mark Twain. Even so, books that are identified as pseudepigrapha are known to be false writings masquerading as that which is authentic.

Although the Bible mentions a Book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13, II Samuel 1:18) and the writings of Enoch (Jude 14), the original writings referred to have been lost. The books that exist today bearing these names are much more recent writings than the originals. They have been produced by deceivers who have sought to pass them off as copies, or translations, of the originals. These books can hardly be described as “historical texts.” They are in fact historical impostors.

It is a fool’s errand to try to reconcile the Biblical account of history with lying and deceptive sources such as these. One will end up in the same error as those who seek to interpret the Bible through the framework of The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon distorts and corrupts the account of the Scriptures. It is not coincidental that The Book of Jasher, a book many Christian writers today have embraced as authentic to their own hurt, is published in Salt Lake City, Utah, the home of the Mormon religion. Mormon’s hold The Book of Jasher (published by their own people) to be an accurate English translation of the original book named in the Bible.

Thomas Horn suggests that the fallen angels did not merely cohabit with women, but that the angels used some unknown ancient science to manipulate the DNA of mankind, combining human DNA with angelic, animal, and plant DNA. Recently, a sister in Christ wrote to me and asked the following:

I have a question...so in 2 Samuel 23:20....the lion like men of Moab....does that suggest that they are a type of hybrid or is it more of a fierce type fighter and warrior? How do I look this up? I understand that there is symbolism used in the Bible and also some words are literal in their meaning.

When I read her question I was curious as to where she had come up with such a novel interpretation of Scripture. I had never heard anyone suggest previously that the Bible describing men as “lion like” could possibly be interpreted to mean that they were a part human, part animal hybrid. After reading Apollyon Rising 2012 I now recognize the source of this notion. Thomas Horn promulgates this interpretation of the Scriptures in his book.

Other books such as “Jubilees” add that this interspecies mingling eventually resulted in mutations among normal humans and animals whose “flesh” (genetic makeup) was “corrupted” by the activity, presumably through crossbreeding (see 5:1-5; 7:21-25). Even the Old Testament contains reference to the genetic mutations that developed among humans following this time frame, including “men” of unusual size, physical strength, six fingers, six toes, animal appetite for blood, and even lion-like features (2 Samuel 21:20; 23:20).

Jubilees is another example of pseudepigrapha that Thomas Horn has included among that which he defines as “voluminous historical texts.” It is NOT an authentic historical text. It is a falsely attributed writing. This book is defined as pseudepigraphal rather than simply apocryphal because it pretends to have been dictated to Moses, and to be older than the book of Genesis. Scholars have established a more accurate date of origin as somewhere between 150-160 B.C.. This is more than a millennia after the life of Moses.

Regarding this spurious interpretation of the Biblical mention of lion-like men, I shared the following with the sister who wrote to me.

Hello (Name Withheld),

To describe men with attributes of a lion is an example of using simile or metaphor. Following is a definition of these two English terms.

Simile:
a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”

Metaphor:
a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”

You began by asking about the following verse of Scripture.

II Samuel 23:20
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab.
KJV

The inclusion of the word "like" indicates that this is a simile. Two unlike things are being compared, men and lions. I would mention that some Bible translators differ on the actual meaning of this passage. The word lion in Hebrew is "ariel." Some have understood this to be the name of the men's father rather than a reference to a lion. Following is how the New American Standard Bible renders this same verse.

II Samuel 23:20
Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab.
NAS

Neither of these translations are intended to convey that these men were actually part lion. The original author of the book of II Samuel was not speaking of hybrid men. There is no mention of animal/man hybrids anywhere before or after this passage in the Bible. The only mention of mixed flesh breeding is between the sons of God (angels) and the daughters of men. Their offspring were giants and mighty men. They were called by the names Nephilim, Anakim, Zamzummin, Rephaim, and Emim.

The same lion like description is given to the men of the tribe of Gad who joined David in the wilderness.

I Chronicles 12:8
And from the Gadites there came over to David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains.

Such descriptions were used to convey information about the countenance of these men. Their faces represent their countenance. It is a way of saying these were men of a fierce countenance. A similar thing is spoken by David about Saul and Jonathan.

II Samuel 1:23
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, and in their death they were not parted; They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

I see no evidence anywhere in the Scriptures that would indicate that any of these men were a type of hybrid. Indeed, there is no evidence I am aware of anywhere to suggest that men and beasts have shared DNA to arrive at some type of hybrid creature. Such thoughts have to be relegated to the realm of implausible speculation.
[End Letter]

Thomas Horn goes on to write much on the subject of transhumanism. He strongly advocates the idea that the angels used some form of unknown science to alter mankind’s DNA in ancient times and that they will do so again at the end of this age. He argues that Nimrod had his DNA altered during his life, and this began to transform him into some type of super human entity. Thomas Horn writes:

Earlier we pointed out how Apollo is reanimated on earth in the end times when “the Beast” ascends from the bottomless pit and goes “into perdition” (into Apolia, Apollo...) The story of Nimrod (Gilgamesh/Apollo/Osiris) in the book of Genesis may illustrate how this could happen through genetic influence or a retrovirus of demonic design that integrates with a host’s genome and rewrites the living specimen’s DNA... Genesis 10:8 says about Nimrod: “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.”

Three sections in this verse indicate that something very peculiar had happened to Nimrod. First note where the text says “he began to be.” In Hebrew this means “to become profaned, defiled, polluted, or desecrated ritually, sexually or genetically.” Second, this verse tells us exactly what Nimrod began to be-“a mighty one” (gibbowr, gibborim), one of the offspring of the nephilim... And the third part of this text says the change to Nimrod started while he was on “earth.” Therefore, in modern language, this text could accurately be translated to say:

And Nimrod began to change genetically, becoming a gibborim, the offspring of the watchers on earth.

Wow! I am astonished that Mr. Horn would suggest that Genesis 10:8 “could accurately be translated to say” that which he suggests. There is a vast difference between the following two sentences.

Genesis 10:8
Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.
[New American Standard Bible]

Genesis 10:8
And Nimrod began to change genetically, becoming a gibborim, the offspring of the watchers on earth.
[Thomas Horn Translation]

The three sections of this verse that supposedly prove that “something very peculiar” happened to Nimrod, are readily understood without such a fantastical explanation. The Hebrew word chalal that is rendered as “he began to be” is defined in the following manner by Strong’s Concordance.

chalal; a primitive root [compare OT:2470]; properly, to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively, to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an "opening wedge"); denom. (from OT:2485) to play (the flute):

We see that this word has a wide range of meaning. Following is another instance of this word in Genesis.

Genesis 9:20
And Noah began (chalal) to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

I chose this verse because it is the closest in proximity to Genesis 10:8. It is the same book, written by the same author, and is used in a similar circumstance. Even as Genesis 10:8 tells what Nimrod began to be, Genesis 9:20 tells us what Noah began to be. We have no record of Noah being a husbandman prior to the flood. Yet at some point Noah “began to be” an husbandman and he planted a vineyard. Similarly, Nimrod was not always a mighty one on the earth, but at a certain point Nimrod “began to be” a mighty one. It seems reasonable from the context of the passage that Nimrod’s might was related to his prowess as a hunter in the same way that Noah was accounted a husbandmen by virtue of his planting a vineyard.

Genesis 10:9
He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh; therefore it is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh.

Secondly, the Hebrew word gibborim is NOT used exclusively to refer to descendants of the Nephilim as Thomas Horn suggests. This is a very common word used widely throughout the Old Testament. Although the offspring of the angels and women may legitimately be described as “mighty” or “gibborim,” they are NOT the only ones described as mighty.

Yahweh is described as “gibborim.”

Deuteronomy 10:17
For Yahweh your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty (gibborim) and awesome.

The strong warriors of Israel were described as “gibborim.”

Joshua 8:3
So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty (gibborim) men of valor and sent them away by night.

Would one dare to suggest that Joshua chose 30,000 descendants of the Nephilim from among the tribes of Israel to go fight Yahweh’s battle? There are many more instances where the term gibborim is used to describe the mighty warriors of Israel.

Gideon is called a “gibborim.”

Judges 6:12
And the Angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, "Yahweh is with you, you mighty (gibborim) man of valor!"

If God hates the descendants of angels and women, would He choose one to be a judge over Israel and a deliverer of His people?

Jepthah was also described as a “gibborim.

Judges 11:1
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty (gibborim) man of valor...

I do not agree that something “very peculiar” is indicated by the Bible describing Nimrod as gibborim. Thomas Horn is reading into the Scriptures that which he wants to see.

Thirdly, there is nothing peculiar about the statement that Nimrod began to be a mighty one “on the earth.” The earth is, after all, where mankind resides. Nimrod’s fame was a terrestrial one. He slew animals and he built cities on the earth. The realm of Nimrod’s might was “on the earth.” The same Hebrew word (erets) translated as “earth” is used to describe Nimrod’s earthly kingdom

Genesis 10:10
And the beginning of [Nimrod’s] kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land (erets) of Shinar.

These two verses are in the same passage, being separated by only one verse. Considering that Nimrod became the ruler of a domain on earth, perhaps the very first king on the earth, is it not appropriate to say that “he began to be a mighty one on the earth”? Nimrod may have been the first man to gain ascendancy over other men, serving as a ruler of a kingdom. He is the first man named to have had a kingdom. This explanation of the meaning of Nimrod being a “mighty one” is far more plausible than to embrace the Thomas Horn Translation.

Genesis 10:8
And Nimrod began to change genetically, becoming a gibborim, the offspring of the watchers on earth.
[Thomas Horn Translation]

I thought it profitable to provide this review of the book Apollyon Rising 2012 as these ideas are gaining traction. I am encountering them more frequently in the letters I receive from others. It is needful for the saints to test all things carefully. I admonish those who read this blog to practice due diligence in examining all things. The Scriptures are before you. Biblical study tools are at your disposal. The recent series Yahweh’s Book was written to demonstrate the need to test all things carefully as well as to show the saints what tools are available for them to do so.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.


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