Jesus Triumphant Quotes

“Armageddon” was a word that meant a climactic battle for the “mount of assembly,” the very seat of divine power in the heavens. Hermon was the mount of assembly for the gods of the earth. Zion was the mount of assembly for Yahweh in Jerusalem. Belial had used the term to express the clash of kingdoms that was coming between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdoms of earth. A clash of cosmic mountains. The prophet Ezekiel called it the Battle of Gog and Magog.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“The Jews love their mythic connections. The Son of God, a Son of David, the original Messiah king of Israel.” Eleazer knew all too well about the promised Son of David.   “Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.   “A son of Zeus!” said an amused Artabanus. “You jest,” said Antipas, “But you are more in on the joke than you realize.” Antipas wanted to ingratiate himself with the foreign ruler. He kept the amusement going like a master of chorus in a Greek play. “Rumors have been spreading that this Nazarene was born of a virgin!”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“The narrative was of a virgin (Virgo) who would bear the promised seed and pay the price of justice (Libra) to overcome the “wounder of the heel” (Scorpio). This promised one would be a conqueror (Sagittarius the archer), who would be the scapegoat of atonement (Capricorn), and bring living waters for his people (Aquarius the water-bearer). Those people would be blessed though bound (Pisces the fish). Their blessings would be consummated through a ram of sacrifice (Aries) who would become a ruling leader (Taurus the bull), a king with two natures (Gemini the twins). He would hold his people fast in his grip (Cancer the crab), and would ultimately reign as king over the earth (Leo the lion).”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Belial continued with the sincerity of a politician. “You will have your earthly inheritance without all the death and destruction and bloodshed of the Day of the Lord.” And then he spilled the barley. “All I ask is one teeny tiny thing in return. All you have to do is fall down and worship me.” Jesus looked Belial in his eyes, deep dark pools of malevolence. He whispered back, “Be gone, Accuser. For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Belial continued with the sincerity of a politician.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Over a millennia, Belial had built up the small Latin republic in the west that ultimately became an empire. As the heavenly Prince of Rome, Belial’s ownership eventually dominated the entire world as Rome conquered all under her power. Since earthly powers and heavenly powers were linked in their spiritual reality, Belial was the chief archon, the god of this world. He parceled out land and power to the other gods out of his own bounty and rule. Belial whispered, “All of this power and glory is mine. All of it. Caesar is my puppet, his governors are my whores, and his undefeated military machine is my right arm of power. You stand no chance against me, Messiah.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Yahweh saved the sons of Israel for himself, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and claimed the land of Canaan for their inheritance. The only problem was that Canaan was already under the dominion of Ba’al, Asherah and other gods. And Canaan was the land of giants, the Seed of the Serpent. Joshua ben Nun and David ben Jesse had cleansed the land of its unclean inhabitants with the Wars of Yahweh. But Israel’s constant adultery with the gods of Canaan lost them their inheritance, and over the years, they were chastised by one nation after another. Assyria, Babylonia, Media-Persia, Greece, and now Rome.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“After the Flood, the Great Nimrod of Babel had unified all the world under his sovereign authority. He built a ziggurat tower, a sacred cosmic mountain to the heavens where humanity sought divinity in their godless unity to storm heaven.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“The Babylonian Magi, whose tradition was influenced by the teachings of the exilic prophet Daniel, had followed the final sign in the heavens that pointed to the birth of Messiah. It was written that when the constellation Virgo was on the horizon, clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, with twelve stars above her head, she would give birth to a divine king. This was because the king planet Jupiter aligned in conjunction with the king star Regulus over her head creating a bright star. The Magi observed that sign in the year 750 AUC, seven hundred and fifty years from the founding of the city of Rome. The star Regulus is in the constellation of Leo the Lion.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“And the most imaginative sign was the story of redemption that he embedded within the very structure of the twelve constellations that revolved around the earth. The narrative was of a virgin (Virgo) who would bear the promised seed and pay the price of justice (Libra) to overcome the “wounder of the heel” (Scorpio). This promised one would be a conqueror (Sagittarius the archer), who would be the scapegoat of atonement (Capricorn), and bring living waters for his people (Aquarius the water-bearer). Those people would be blessed though bound (Pisces the fish). Their blessings would be consummated through a ram of sacrifice (Aries) who would become a ruling leader (Taurus the bull), a king with two natures (Gemini the twins). He would hold his people fast in his grip (Cancer the crab), and would ultimately reign as king over the earth (Leo the lion). Yahweh’s enemies eventually subverted the original intent of the constellations and twisted the entire system into a form of idolatry that worshipped the stars instead of Yahweh as the determiner of destinies.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Let them think they were “free,” that they had complete autonomy from all other sources of influence or control outside of themselves. Let them think they were the ultimate arbiters of their decisions and destinies, masters of their fate, captains of their souls. That gave him even more control because they no longer trusted Yahweh, but rather their own will to power. His nemesis said it well, they were all slaves of sin. Belial was their master. Yahweh has mercy on whom he has mercy and compassion on whom he has compassion. Well, I have malice on whom I have malice and contempt on whom I have contempt”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Inside was the holy place, a huge candelabra, some incense stands, and then the curtained Holy of Holies where the Ark of Covenant housed their god Yahweh. Or at least that is all Longinus had been told by his rabbi informant.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“the next smallest court, the Court of Priests. This was where the animals were cut and bled and burned on the large horned altar of unhewn stones that stood before the Temple, while a chorus of priests played their instruments and sang hymns of praise to the deity. A bronze laver stood nearby for what appeared to be cleansings. The Temple façade stood sixty feet high behind the altar, with its golden roof visible from anywhere on the entire temple mount.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“The Temple itself had several courts of increasing holiness as well. Though Longinus could see inside these walls from his highest tower perch, no Roman could ever set foot in them. First, there was the Court of Women shaped much like a cross. It amused Longinus to find such a reflection of their instrument of death in the Jews’ structure of supposed life. This was about two hundred feet square, and evidently, women could go no further than this court, though all worshippers brought their animal sacrifices here.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“in a way, even this festival and its cultic rituals were an expression of contempt for Rome. Tensions were high, tempers flared, and rioting mobs were a constant threat in this volatile environment. And this year brought with it the added insurrectionists and their contagious madness of Messiah expectation. The Roman forces were on high alert. The entire temple complex was over a thousand feet long and just under a thousand feet wide. The largest area, the outer court, or Court of the Gentiles, was open to all, both Jew and Gentile alike. It had marble flooring and was lined all around by porticos. Here animals were sold for sacrifices, like a marketplace, and worshippers could congregate or wait in line for their sacrifices. Upon closer approach to the Temple itself, in the center of the temple area, a screen with an engraved sign warned Gentiles not to proceed upon pain of death. Like every temple in the world, the closer one got to the inner sanctum or Holy of Holies in the temple, the more sacred the space became, and the fewer who were allowed to go further.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“What if his ministry is to bring judgment upon Israel so that salvation would be open to all who believed him, including the Gentiles?” She stared at him. Could it be true? Would they have the guts to ask Jesus about such a thing? What if they were wrong? He said, “Jesus is the stone that Israel’s leaders and her people, the builders, rejected. But that stone will be the cornerstone of God’s new temple and holy city. And he will crush all those he falls upon.” “Those who reject him?” “Yes. Days of Vengeance for those who would not recognize the day of Yahweh’s visitation.” “But the Jewish nation will reject her own Messiah?” He dared not say. It would be a heresy to suggest such things. But it was perfectly consistent with the prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachai, they had all spoken of Israel’s repeated spiritual adultery with the gods of Canaan, and their abominations. Could the Day of the Lord spoken of in Joel be a Day of the Lord against Israel? Was their march to Jerusalem a march to destruction?”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“The parables he just taught on this very overlook of Gehenna carried the same message.” He concluded, “As if Jerusalem will be destroyed again.” She said, “I have always assumed his words were about the judgment of the nations.” He protested, “But he seems to be prophesying that our people will reject his kingship, rather than accept it. And they will be judged just like a pagan nation.” “How could that be?” she asked. “He has always said that he has come to minister to Israel.” “Yes. But remember the tenants in the parable? They kept rejecting the landlord’s plea to bring him the fruit of the vineyard. And when the landlord sent his son, they killed him too. They wanted to steal his inheritance.” “So, the son in the story is Jesus, and the tenants are his people, Israel?” Her voice was thoughtful. He nodded. “Do you remember what Jesus said the landlord would do to the tenants?” She nodded. “He would put those miserable wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants.” He said, “And then he told the Pharisees and chief priests and their followers to their faces that the Kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given to a people producing its fruits.” “The only people other than the people of God are the Gentiles. But he said his ministry was to Israel.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“The prophet Jeremiah.” It had only been a couple days earlier. Simon quoted what he could remember, “‘Behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when this place shall no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies.’” She asked him, “That was about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians when they took them into exile, right?” Simon stared out into the void. “The prophet said their bodies would be food for the scavengers of heaven and earth. That the inhabitants of the city would turn to cannibalism. And then he said that Yahweh would make Jerusalem like a Tophet.” She said, “It must have been a horrible time to be alive.” He said, “Have you noticed that Jesus’s parables and stories are increasingly sounding very similar to that previous destruction of Jerusalem?”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Within minutes, the other angels followed the sound of the collapsed tunnel and found Mikael’s location. They were able to dislodge enough of the rock and pull his broken body from the rubble. He had been severely crushed. Gabriel held him. “I can bring him back to the surface to heal.” Raphael said, “That leaves five. We can split up and try to surround the mole. He can’t hide here forever.” They heard the sound of a howl. “Dire wolves,” said Uriel. “We can’t chase him here forever.” Dire wolves were vicious, fanged black hounds of hell almost as tall as a man. Raphael said, “He must have bred them down here. There could be dozens.” “Or hundreds,” said Uriel. The angels could kill dozens of the wolves. But hundreds was another matter altogether. Several of them had almost been overwhelmed by a hundred dire wolves in the days of the giant King Arba, while rescuing Abraham and Sarah from the clutches of the Anakim in Kiriath-arba. They were rescued by a hundred archers. But they didn’t have a hundred archers down in this dungeon of dread darkness. “Take Mikael to safety,” said Uriel. “The rest of you draw the wolves back up to the surface.” They looked at Uriel with fear. Gabriel said, “No, Uriel. We can do this together.” Uriel grasped the leather harness of the special weapon strapped to his back. “I must do this alone.” They all knew what it meant. Uriel had the most sensitive senses. He was the best tracker of all of them. Gabriel protested more, “I will not let you.” “You have no choice.” They heard the sound of wolves getting closer. “And I have no time to quibble with you, Gabriel. Leave — all of you. Draw them after you.” Gabriel teared up. What Uriel was going to do was akin to suicide for humans. Raphael said, “He’s right.” They agreed silently. Gabriel went and grasped his friend in a bear hug that he didn’t seem to want to let go. “My brother.” “Stop your pouting, Gabriel. It’s only until the judgment.” Gabriel pulled away with an angry look in his face. It softened, and he said with a smirk, “You will finally outdo me, little friend.” Uriel gave him a dirty look. Little friend. There was still time to tease. “I outdid you a long time ago,” said Uriel with a grin. Gabriel added, “But there is still Armageddon. You don’t know what I might be capable of.” Uriel said, “Go. We’ll have all eternity to debate that.” They turned to leave. But their delay had lost them time. The underworld dire wolves were upon them. Fifty glowing eyes locked on them, approaching slowly, ready to pounce. There was only enough room to fight against one or two wolves at a time through the narrow passages. Gabriel stood at the back, carrying the broken form of Mikael, who was starting to heal, but not able to fight yet. The other four approached the wolves in single file.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Molech had the advantage. This was his turf and his dwelling. He had spent much of his time over the millennia below the surface, which made his skin pale white and his eyes unable to see well when up above on the surface. But down below, he was the god of the underworld. He could see better than even Mikael’s preternatural night vision. Mikael didn’t know what he was running into down here. He arrived at a fork in the small tunnel. He looked at the dirt and could see that his adversary had gone to the right. Mikael followed. The tunnels were quite small, only big enough for the bulky eight foot deity to move, with little leeway. For Mikael, there was more room because he was smaller, but not by much. He stopped again. Another split. But this time, three options. He took the middle way. Mikael figured that by now, his comrade archangels would have moved the stone away and were on their way to join him. He felt his pathway was circling back. When he saw another crossroads, he realized what he was now inside: a maze. The mole god had burrowed out a complex labyrinth of tunnels that seemed to Mikael a web of confusion. The rock was harder and the dust sparser, making it even more difficult for Mikael to follow his prey’s foot prints. About the only thing he could follow now was the creature’s stench. He heard the sound of footsteps in the dark, not far from him. He picked up his pace, trying not to make as much noise as the clumsy brute was making. He turned a corner and saw the deity jump down into an opening in the rocky floor. When he reached it, he saw it was an opening that led deeper still, to a lower level. He heard the voices of his comrades in the distance, shouting for him. He decided he would take this one time to give some direction, even though it would also warn Molech. But he needed his comrades. He shouted, “Down here, Angels! There’s an opening to a deeper level!” Then he jumped. He landed twenty feet below. Before him, a new opening to a new maze of tunnels. He thought, This has been one busy little worm. He followed the smell. His opponent now knew how close he was. Mikael turned another corner and saw the god waiting for him, before bolting down a pathway. Mikael responded instinctively to the sight of the fleeing divinity. It wasn’t until he was almost upon the pathway that it registered in his mind that he was being led into a trap. He slid to a stop. It was too late. He heard the sound of a release being tripped and rocks shifting. Above him. A triggered cave-in crushed him beneath a ton of rock. He was completely immobilized. He could not get to his weapons. He could only see through a thin crevice of some rocks as Molech walked up to him, laughed and spit at him, before disappearing deeper into the network of twisting tunnels.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“He was surrounded. Seven archangels. There was only one reason why they would be here. But he had been preparing. He was not going to let that happen. He was going to gi --. He was suddenly tackled to the ground by the angel from above. The attacker had moved down from the perilous height with surprising speed. Mikael wrestled with Molech to get control. This was the strongest of the archangels. Molech would not ordinarily have much of a chance. But the god had just received sacrifice and was stronger at the moment than Mikael could be. Molech kicked Mikael off him and launched him into the air. The angel hit the bronze statue of Molech with a clang. The large eight foot tall metallic image fell to its side. The remains of the sacrifice scattered to the ground. Mikael shook himself out of his dizziness, to see the deity escaping into the rocky crag of a cave entrance. He picked himself up and ran after the coward. Mikael saw a large stone rolling across the entrance from inside some special groove. He only had a second or two before the stone completed its roll, blocking off the hunter from his prey. He dove and made it through the opening, just as the huge stone slammed shut. He was locked inside the cave with his nemesis. By the time the other angels arrived and moved the stone, Molech would be long gone. Mikael had to go it alone. He bolted off into the darkness of the underground tunnel.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“His worshippers were now few and not as bold. They hid in the crags of the rocks and engaged in their abominations in the dark, as opposed to the good old days when they did it in broad daylight. But it was still a foothold, a talon into the heart of Israel. And thanks to Belial’s Rome, the Jews were not allowed to punish “idolaters,” as they called them. They could shun them socially, but they could not harm them as they could under the Mosaic law of oppression. Those hateful, bigoted worshippers of one god, were forced to be more tolerant and inclusive in their treatment of other deities and their sincere believers. One day, they would also get back to allowing pedophilia love and the beautiful acts of passing their children through the fire. Then Molech could breathe free and reign again. Molech’s breathing suddenly constricted, as if a boa were tightening around his neck. He saw two figures on the walls of the city, looking back down at him. Even from this distance, he knew who they were. Archangels. He shivered. He looked nervously around the valley.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Josiah had found the lost Book of the Covenant and instituted massive moral, legal and cultic reforms. That evil, scheming iconoclast tore down all the high places, the statues of Ba’al, the Asherim, and idols of all the host of heaven. He defiled Molech’s own main tophet at the confluence of the Kidron and Hinnom valleys. He spread the bones of the dead over the valley to make it ritually unclean for sacrifices. It was a great setback for Molech. The prophet Jeremiah had even pronounced Gehenna as a “Valley of Slaughter” for the Day of Vengeance.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Molech, he had wormed his way right into the heart of Israel even with his so-called detestable practice. Ha. Several kings of both Judah and Israel certainly enjoyed his “detestable practice,” without complaint. Ahaz and Manasseh were his favorites. They made their own sons to pass through the fire. Manasseh, one of the longest reigning kings of Judah, had been so effectively won over to Molech that the Jews were exiled to Babylon as a punishment for his misdeeds. Because of that exile, they had lost their Book of the Covenant that had contained the very words and instructions of Yahweh.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Molech achieved much as the underdog among deities, which was worthy of his pride. He had managed to burrow his home into the Valley of Hinnom, called Gehenna, right under the walls of the holy city itself. What other god came as close? Asherah had seduced her way into the high places of the Israelites with her Asherim, or wooden cult objects, and teraphim, which were little statues of her depicted as the consort of Yahweh. “Yahweh and his Asherah” was the phrase. Ba’al gained much ground through the vices of the Tyrian princess Jezebel who had been married to King Ahab of Israel. She instituted Ba’al worship in Israel, with a temple and altar in the capital city of Samaria, a worship that had plagued the fanatical Jewish priesthood for generations. The northernmost tribe of Dan, near Panias, never freed themselves from the grip of Ba’al’s golden calf worship ever since the early days of the divided monarchy.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Molech’s signature achievement was his tophet altars where worshippers “passed their children through the fire.” They were usually bronze statues of himself with a bull’s head, seated with outstretched arms to place the child over the flames. It was so bold and brilliant that Ba’al had stolen his idea and used it for his own altars. The muscle-bound brute didn’t have an original thought in his puny little skull. Molech made himself invisible to his worshippers, as the Watcher gods typically did in these latter days. In primeval days, the days of Noah, they had walked amongst men and engaged in the open. It was almost as if the growth of knowledge and technology had the deleterious effect on humans of blinding them more and more to the spiritual world around them. It was just as well. The gods could achieve things through hiding that they could not through visible means.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Ashtart, the goddess of sex and war, who tread through rivers of blood and bizarre sexual perversity had the gall to call him detestable. Ba’al, the most high bully and mightiest ego of the pantheon, treated him like a retarded child. Dagon, that fish of the Philistines, didn’t let him build any temples in Philistia. And that bitch Asherah ignored him, even though her Phoenician people had a distinct liking for his practices. All of these divinities scoffed, spurned and spit on him from their arrogant lofty high places of privilege and bigotry. And yet all of them, every single one of them, were gone. Bound in their pride in Tartarus by the archangels. Molech alone was left. He had played his game with craftiness and savvy. He had survived them all. The fools. Now, I spit on you. He hocked with his throat to gather a clump of mucus, saliva and worms, and spit on the ground as if on their graves. He lifted his chin with pride of status and took in a deep whiff of the pleasant scent of child sacrifice now burning on his altar.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“That is why you don’t want the Nazarene dead. If he does have a hidden force of arms, then their uprising combined with yours will become an earthquake that begins with Jerusalem and rolls out through all of Judea and the Galilee. But if this Jesus is a fraud, then all his followers will no doubt move over to you as deliverer, and you can execute the Nazarene at your will after you take the crown from Antipas.” Gestas was proud of how inventive his simple warrior brother had become with his impromptu acting. He had encouraged the messianic aspirations of Barabbas without the cheap tactic of flattery. Gestas threw in, “And I know exactly how we can nail this on the Romans and get away with it.” Barabbas smiled, looked to Eleazar for approval, and said, “Well, it looks like you two have just saved your lives from hanging.” Barabbas thought privately that he would still have to kill this Jesus afterward, to consolidate his own power and authority as Messiah over Israel.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“But you only have fifty men. That is no longer a large enough force for an uprising.” Barabbas smirked. “But it is enough for an assassination that is carefully orchestrated to cause an uprising.” “How so?” said Demas. “The Passover is arriving. Thousands of Jews will be filling the holy city with their devotion to Yahweh and their hatred for Rome. But so too will the Herods be there. If we can assassinate the high priest and Herod, we would bring enough chaos to turn the mob mad with vengeance.” Gestas said, “But how will you gain the support of the crowds if you Jews murder your own leaders, Herodian or not?” Eleazar answered, “We will nail it on the Romans somehow.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant

“Eleazar jumped in, “Is that what the Nazarene claims?” “Well, not explicitly,” said Gestas. “But the point is that whatever he means, he has the charisma to make the crowds believe him. And that is a necessary component of any good uprising. A believing mob.” Barabbas continued to think about it. Eleazar said, “Where is the Nazarene now? What are his plans?” Gestas said, “We believe he is on his way to Jerusalem.” Barabbas said, “I am on my way to Jerusalem. How can you say he is not my competitor, if we both plan to deliver Zion?” Now Demas and Gestas knew Barabbas was deluded into believing he was the Messiah. Eleazar was no doubt considered his Elijah.”
― Brian Godawa, Jesus Triumphant