This article is the seventh in a series of articles dealing in detail with the spiritual meaning behind Romans chapter 13.

Traditionalist victors

Broadcasting teachings

Selfish, conflict-avoiding-spoils

Dead, sour victors

Low-passions victors

Inferior-system victors

Jezebelian victors

Turkish victors

Spanish victors

Matriarchally-corrupted evangelists

Let us therefore consider the first pair, "rioting" and drunkenness ...

The word "rioting" was translated from the Greek word komos, which can be translated as "revel" or "carousal", and was a word used many centuries ago to describe a raucous nocturnal procession of intoxicated men who, after eating and drinking, would parade through the streets with torches and music in honour of Bacchus, the Roman "god" of agriculture and wine, or some other deity. The drunken partiers would stop in front of the houses of male and female friends and sing loudly, inviting their friends to join the raucousness. Notice, therefore, that, despite their chaos, these wild komos parades had a strong "procedural" nature to them, and they had a strong taste of "tradition". Hence, the word komos points to the teacher endowment, which, as we have shared before, is strongly procedural and "tradition-oriented" in its nature. Since the tradition of komos parades was clearly a man-made tradition backed by a false theological system, we can safely conclude that it was upheld and perpetuated by a distorted manifestation of the teacher endowment. Thus, komos points to the Girgashite spirit, since, as we have shared before, the Girgashite spirit is, in essence, the teacher endowment "gone bad".

Notice also that komos parades had a strong "proselytising" element to them, since the revellers would take to the streets in an effort to "infect" strangers with their "celebration" spirit, and they would target the houses of male and female friends to get them to join in their "celebration". As we have shared before, the heart is where the will resides, and the ministry most directly related to influencing the heart and "rallying wills" is the evangelistic ministry. Hence, we can say that komos parades were very "evangelistic" in their nature. It is evident that these parades were more "evangelistic" than "teacher-centric" at heart, since evangelists are more naturally inclined to celebrating than teachers are (teachers, in and of themselves, can be very "dry" and, at times, very "joyless"). Therefore, we can conclude that these komos parades were carried out by "evangelists" under the influence of a distorted teacher (i.e.- Girgashite) endowment.

The presence of the 2 endowments of evangelist and teacher in the komos parades is further certified by the fact that Bacchus, the "god" that these parades were often held in honour of, was the Roman "god" of wine and agriculture. As we have shared before, wine speaks of joy, and joy is, in essence, the celebration of a victory, which points to the evangelistic endowment of conquest. Agriculture, on the other hand, points to the earth, which, in turn, points to the Girgashite spirit of earthliness.

Broadcasting teachings

Now that we have discerned the 2 main "elements" behind the word komos, we can gain a more exact understanding by meditating on keimai, the verb form of the word komos. Unlike komos, the verb keimai, appears many times in the New Testament (27 times in 26 verses). The second time keimai appears in Scripture is in the following verse, translated as "set":

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." (Matthew 5:14)

In Scripture, the establishing of a city speaks of establishing a kingdom, which points to the evangelistic endowment, since evangelists are spiritual conquerors who dethrone Amorite kings and establish God's Kingdom on Earth. Therefore, we can say that Matthew 5:14 speaks of the evangelist's call to establish God's Kingship throughout the Earth. A careful study of the word "light" in Matthew 5:14 reveals that it speaks of God's light of apostolic wisdom and truth, which is "transmitted" through time and people by the teacher endowment. Therefore, we can say that Matthew 5:14 speaks of how the evangelist is to use his "broadcast" capabilities to enable the transmission (i.e. teaching) of God's truth as His Kingdom is established. This is similar, for example, to what great conquerors throughout history, such as Alexander the Great and Napoleon, have done. Once they conquer a territory, they establish new laws and leave in place mechanisms that promote a certain culture or tradition system. This is how the Greek language and culture expanded throughout much of the ancient world in time for the New Testament to be transmitted around the world in Greek. This is also how the anti-elitist, post-feudal law system known as the Napoleonic Code spread throughout most of Europe (as indicated on wikipedia.org).

Unfortunately, when the matriarchal spirit corrupts the teacher endowment and turns it Girgashite, it paves the way for evangelists who use traditions to further their conquests rather than the other way around. Instead of using their conquests to expand God's teachings and "traditions", they use Girgashite traditions to expand their own "kingship" on Earth. These distorted evangelists ride on the coattails of well-accepted human traditions, deriving joy from the stability of those traditions. Just like the revellers of Roman days, these evangelists get intoxicated on the success that these traditions enable for them, for it is through these traditions that they gain instant credibility and authority, as well as the assurance of a long and stable rule over those whom they win over. Just like the revellers of Roman days, these evangelists can engage in a long, "victorious" party through the prolonged, dark night that these Girgashite traditions make possible. This is precisely what enabled the long rule of catholic popes and clueless kings through Europe's Dark Ages. As these popes and kings drank and revelled (spiritually and literally), their temporal kingdoms remained enveloped in the darkness of the destructive teachings and traditions that solidified their kingship, leaving no room for the truly spiritual to prosper. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the 4th appearance of the verb keimai mentioned earlier is in the following verse, translated as "lying":

"And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12)

[Interestingly enough, the Greek verb in the original text of Luke 2:7 that was translated as "laid" is different from keimai.]

As indicated in Luke 2:7, the Lord was "lying in a manger" because there was no room for Him in the inn. This is what destructive teachings and traditions do to the righteous sons and daughters of God.

Selfish, conflict-avoiding spoils

The connection between the verb keimai and the Girgashite spirit of earthly traditions is emphasised by its 8th appearance in Scripture, translated as "laid up":

"And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12:19)

As we have shared before, the Girgashite spirit causes people to have an inordinate faith in visible things, which prompts them to accumulate natural things, especially when combined with the evangelistic endowment of conquest. And, as we have also shared before, Girgashites are self-centred by nature. Therefore, we can safely say that the soul that is speaking to itself in Luke 12:19 above is the soul of an evangelist who acted as a Girgashite spirit throughout his life. Such a soul rejoices as it accumulates visible sources of acceptance and authority. They are like planes that catch the jet stream of accepted methodologies, using their evangelistic abilities to make that most of that safe ride, rejoicing as the temporal "victories" pile up. These evangelists do not understand that they were to use their conquering endowment to lay down new teachings, new "traditions" that were to challenge the accepted teachings and traditions laid down by Amorite kings both past and present. This is why the 6th appearance of the verb keimai in Scripture is in the following verse, translated as "set":

"And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against" (Luke 2:34)

[Notice that Yeshua was "set for the fall and rising again" of many in Israel, not the pagan, "God-less" nations. Therefore, this speaks of conflict within the Church, something that the matriarchal pastors refuse to accept and understand.]

The word "child" does not appear in the original Greek text, and was incorrectly added by the King James translators. This mistranslation inadvertently speaks of how Girgashite king-reverers such as the KJV translators are prone to belittling the red-horse riders who rise up to challenge the status quo. All of this reveals a sad fact: komos evangelists become strongholds against God's red-horse riders. They unwittingly become satan's fortresses against God's transformative process, which begins behind the scenes as a white-horse epiphany and begins in visible form through red-horse conflict. Ironically, therefore, these komos evangelists, who are supposed to bring about God's Kingdom, end up quelling the visible manifestation of His Kingdom drawing nigh.

Dead, sour victors

Ironically, when evangelists take advantage of Girgashite traditions to get ahead, they end up as people who are actually dead, even when they are not aware of it, and even as the "joy" of their temporal victories courses through their physical beings. This is why the 12th appearance of the verb keimai in Scripture is in the following verse, translated as "laid":

"Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me" (John 11:41)

The pyrrhic nature of these evangelists' victory is revealed in the 13th appearance of the verb keimai, where it is translated as "set":

"²⁹ Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19:29-30)

As we have studied before, "vessels" are related to the teacher endowment, and to Girgashite methods when used in a negative sense. Therefore, we can say that the vessel mentioned in the verse above points to Girgashite methods. The vinegar, on the other hand, points to a different endowment. The word "vinegar" in John 19:29 was translated from the Greek word oxos, which, interestingly enough, is only used 7 times in 6 different verses, all of them referring to Jesus being offered vinegar during His torture and death. What is also interesting to note is that John 19:29 above is the only verse that uses oxos more than once. The word oxos is derived from the adjective oxys meaning "swift, quick, sharp", which only appears 8 times in 7 different verses, 6 of those verses being in the book of Revelation. The 3rd appearance of oxys is in the following verse, translated as "sharp":

"And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;" (Revelation 2:12)

As we have shared before, the Spirit of God who speaks to Pergamos is the Spirit behind the evangelistic endowment. Therefore, the fact that God uses the word oxys when speaking to the Church in Pergamos (and to none of the other 6 Churches in Revelation 2 and 3) means that oxys is eminently evangelistic in nature, pointing to the swift, blitzkrieg-style victories that strong evangelists can produce. This connection between oxys and the evangelistic endowment means that the word for vinegar, oxos, speaks of what happens when the evangelistic endowment goes bad.

As we have shared before, the evangelistic endowment is related to wine, and, as you may know, wine is produced through the fermentation of grapes. Given that vinegar is also produced through fermentation, we can conclude that vinegar speaks of the "wine" that Girgashite evangelists end up drinking through their pyrrhic victories. The Girgashite methods that these evangelists rely on to achieve their victories are like vessels that become filled with vinegar, not with the real wine that these evangelists expect. At the end of their day, these evangelists end up tasting the sourness of death rather than tasting victory. This is why the Greek verb for "taste", geuomai, is used to refer to tasting death and to the coming of His Kingdom in 3 of its 4 appearances in Scripture:

"Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (Matthew 16:28)

"And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power" (Mark 9:1)

"But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:27)

As we have shared before, the establishing of a kingdom is eminently evangelistic. Therefore, the 3 verses above emphasise the connection between "tasting" and the evangelistic endowment. Evangelists are conquerors who are called to taste victory as they topple the giants that they are sent to fight against. As a parenthesis, it is worth noting that our 5 senses are related to each of the 5 ministerial endowments; the sense of sight is related to the apostolic endowment, the sense of hearing to the prophetic endowment, the sense of taste to the evangelistic endowment, the sense of touch to the pastoral endowment (because of pastors' inclination towards soul communion and soothing), and the sense of smell to the teacher endowment (because of its linkage to memory).

As indicated in John 19:29-30, Yeshua received the vinegar and then died. The word "received" in verse 30 was translated from the Greek verb lambano, which has the connotation of "embracing" something. Therefore, when Yeshua "received" the vinegar and died, He was showing the end of the evangelists who attain their victories in life by embracing Girgashite methods and traditions and by riding on those traditions' coattails. In His sacrificial work, Yeshua was embracing the "taste of death" that these evangelists experience, thereby paying the prophetic price to restore the damage done by these self-centred, Girgashite men (and women).

{As a parenthesis, it is worth noting that Yeshua was offered vinegar twice. The first time, it was vinegar mingled with gall right before He was nailed to the cross (Matthew 27:34). The second time, it was vinegar on its own whilst He was hanging on the cross. The first time He was offered the vinegar, He rejected it because the gall that went with it represented the Canaanites' bitterness (Acts 8:23) against God's judgements. Thus, the two "vinegar offerings" refer to the 2 distorted "female" endowments: the first offering, which Yeshua separated Himself from apostolically, is related to anti-apostolic, Canaanite pastors, and the second offering, which Yeshua embraced sacrificially, is related to anti-prophetic, Girgashite teachers.}

"For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:" (1 Peter 4:3)

[This verse contains the 3rd and last appearance of the Greek word komos, translated as "revellings" here (and as "rioting" in Romans 13:13). The word "Gentiles" was translated from the Greek word ethnos, which literally means "nations". As we have shared before, nations are built around traditions and teachings passed down by teachers from one generation to the next. Therefore, to "work the will of the Gentiles" is to allow yourself to be carried by the current of these traditions and to centre your "kingdom building" around the will of Girgashites instead of the will of God's Spirit.]

We must share that it is no coincidence that we are sharing the above at this time, around the time of Billy Graham's soon demise. As you may know, Billy Graham was clearly endowed with a strong evangelistic endowment, but, as his drive to establish God's Kingdom collided with men's traditions and protocols, he chose to "go with the flow" of those traditions and protocols, seeing them as tools that could open "doors of opportunity" that would otherwise remain shut. He went out of his way not to offend anyone, especially men in great authority, for he feared that offending them would somehow diminish his access to "preach" to them. He ended up conceding so much to open these doors of access that, by the time, he got to these men, he was already a defeated man, having succumbed to the will of the Gentiles and having lost any real power to effect any lasting change in them. He also went out of his way to work within the religious system, convinced that that would ensure him the material resources and manpower to continue "God's work". In return, he made doubly sure that the souls he harvested would be funnelled into the religious system that was financing his work. By doing this, he ended up filling many spiritually lifeless churches with hungry souls that eventually died of spiritual stagnation. As all of this happened, his ministerial kingdom grew, and his name and reputation became "well-established" and "secure" amongst the Gentiles (i.e. the heathen), who stopped seeing him as a spiritual threat, seeing him more as a benevolent, grandfatherly "reverend" doing "his thang". As the years went by, however, the sourness of his pyrrhic victories began to bubble up from deep within his consciousness, slowly surfacing on his facial expression, which now resembles that of a man sucking on a very sour sweet. Instead of sweet wine, this man, and evangelists like him, shall be given sour vinegar, and they shall taste death as they realise the eventual futility of their Girgashite methods.

Low-passions victors

Besides warning against komos "rioting", Romans 13:13 also warns against "drunkenness", which was translated from the Greek word methe. "Coincidentally", just like the word komos, methe only appears 3 times in Scripture. Both of these words are listed in Romans 13:13 and Galatians 5:21. However, whereas komos's other appearance is in 1 Peter 4:3 (quoted above), methe's other appearance is in verse 34 of the following passage, translated as "drunkenness":

"³⁰ When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. ³¹ So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. ³² Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. ³³ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. ³⁴ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares" (Luke 21:30-34)

Notice how the words in verse 34 are in the context of God's Kingdom drawing near, which points to the evangelistic endowment. Notice also how verse 34 focuses on the heart, which also points to the evangelistic endowment since, as we have shared before, that is the endowment that focuses the most on the heart. The fact that methe's only appearance outside of Romans 13:13 and Galatians 5:21 is in the Gospel of Luke points yet again to the evangelistic endowment, since, as we have shared before, that is the most evangelistic of the 4 Gospels.

{As a parenthesis, it is worth noting that komos's only appearance outside of Romans 13:13 and Galatians 5:21, in 1 Peter 4:3, is no spiritual coincidence. Just like the Gospel of Luke points to the evangelistic endowment, the name "Peter" itself points to that same endowment since, as you may know, Peter was clearly the most "evangelistic" of all the apostles (Luke 5:10).}

To better understand the spiritual meaning behind the word methe and its use in Romans 13:13, we must consider its verb form, the Greek word methyo, which means "to be drunken" and is used 8 times in 7 verses of Scripture. Its second appearance is in the following verse, translated as "have well drunk":

"And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." (John 2:10)

[The phrase "is worse" was translated from the Greek verb elasson, which literally means "less", and has the connotation of something being "inferior" in age or rank]

Notice, first of all, how methyo is used in the context of wine, which, as we have shared before, points to the evangelistic endowment, thus emphasising the subtle connection between the evangelistic endowment and the words methe and methyo. Notice also how methyo is used in the context of a social gathering, in this case, the wedding at Cana, which points to the pastoral endowment, since that is the endowment most directly related with soul communion. The fact that the gathering was a wedding celebration emphasises this connection to the pastoral endowment even more, since marriage is the most intimate type of soul communion.

Inferior-system victors

As we have shared before, when the pastoral endowment "goes bad", it turns Canaanite and strongly anti-judgement. This correlates with John 2:10, since it speaks of people being given inferior wine after they are drunk because their judgement faculties are diminished by then. This connection between methyo in John 2:10 and Canaanite pastors is also present in the first appearance of methyo, in verse 49 of the following passage, where it is translated as "drunken":

"⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁷ Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸ But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; ⁴⁹ And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; ⁵⁰ The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, ⁵¹ And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 24:45-51)

[It is worth emphasising that the bad servants described by the Lord in this passage are not the "heathen unbelievers". Otherwise, they would not be described as beating their fellow servants, and they would not be saying "My lord delayeth His coming". This passage, therefore, is clearly referring to the "ministers" within the Church who are abusing their endowment.]

The above passage speaks of how the pastoral matriarchy has taken over the Church in Jesus's physical absence, lording over their fellow brethren (1 Peter 5:1-3), declaring themselves slightly "superior" to their more "inferior" laymen brethren. This correlates with how drunken people, i.e. people deprived of the ability to judge, are willing to accept and drink wine of an inferior quality, which speaks of their willingness to see themselves as slightly inferior to their "ministerially endowed" brethren, i.e. the beloved "pastors" or "shepherds" that God has so "benevolently" placed over them to guide their "unwitting" and otherwise helpless souls.

As the Church's "ministers" lord over their brethren, who are their fellow servants, they do something very destructive to God's purposes, as revealed by verse 49. The phrase "drink with the drunken" at the end of that verse speaks of how the pastoral matriarchy loves to join the radical unbelievers in their disdain for God's righteous judgements. In that sense, therefore, the Church has turned into an extension of the soul matriarchy that is prevalent in humanity, and, in doing so, it becomes its greatest stronghold, for it possesses enough spiritual elements (lacking in the unbelievers) to empower satan and entrench the soul's resistance against the spirit.

As indicated in verse 51 above, the Lord's declares the "superior" brethren as "hypocrites". As we have shared before, a breakdown of the word "hypocrisy" in Greek (and even in English) reveals that it speaks of people who "under judge", i.e. people who judge what is pleasant to their souls by a lower and less demanding standard than the one they normally use, as when a mother is more "understanding" of her son's unrighteous antics than she would be of someone else's son. A "hypocrite", therefore, is one who judges his soul and whatever his soul identifies with by a more lenient standard, abhorring anyone who dares to judge what is dear to his soul in a righteous and wise way. All of this certifies the connection between methyo, the above passage, and the pastoral matriarchy spirit that abhors God's judgements.

Jezebelian victors

The last 2 appearances of methyo are in the following verses:

"With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication" (Revelation 17:2)

"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration" (Revelation 17:6)

Notice how the last 2 appearances of methyo are in the context of a woman with great power who gets others drunk along with her. This emphasises methyo's connection to the matriarchy of the "female" pastoral ministry (and its cohort, the distorted teacher ministry). Notice also how verse 2 above speaks of the "kings of the Earth" and "fornicators", all of which points to "Amorite kings", who, as we have shared before, are evangelists gone bad. Hence, we again see how methyo and methe are related to the distortion of the evangelistic endowment.

In conclusion, we can say that the methe "drunkenness" that the Spirit warns us against in Romans 13:13 refers to how the anti-judgement Canaanite spirit of low passions can distort the evangelistic endowment. Immersed in an atmosphere where soul communion is primordial, evangelists can get seduced by the Jezebelian pastoral spirit into foregoing judgements and catering to people's low passions in order to win them over and gain authority. When that happens, evangelists end up compromising truth in a manipulative way, thereby fornicating in their hearts, using people's low passions as a means to get something from them. As opposed to "komos evangelists", who end up drinking sour vinegar, "methe evangelists" drink inferior wine, cheap wine that only tastes "great" when you lower your standards. Such are the pseudo-victories attained by these evangelists.

Turkish victors

Whilst writing this posting, the Lord reminded me of something He had said to me several months ago, and He emphasised several times that it was directly related to this word, to the point that this word could not go out without the explicit connection being made. In the midst of a brief vision, the Lord said something to me about two countries, something which I had a hard time understanding at the time. As this posting has developed, however, it has become very clear that the 2 countries mentioned in the vision represented the two groups of distorted evangelists described in the words "rioting and drunkenness" of Romans 13:13. One of the countries mentioned in the vision was Turkey, whose connection to this word lay in its largest and most important city, Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople.

As you may know, Constantinople was launched into prominence by Constantine the not-so-Great, the first Roman Emperor to publicly "convert" to Christianity. As explained on wikipedia.org, Constantine disliked religious disputes and controversies, not for philosophical or ethical reasons but for the "social instability" that they could instigate. This is why his biography is littered with examples of him adopting practices from other religions, even despite his public confession of "Christian" faith. For example, after victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, a triumphal arch featuring images of the Roman "goddess" Victoria was built to commemorate Constantine's victory; and, when the arch was dedicated, sacrifices were made to various "gods" such as Apollo, Diana, and Hercules, all of which happened after Constantine had clearly portrayed himself as a "Christian". Some years later, Constantine decreed that all citizens, both Christian and non-Christian, should observe Sunday as a day of rest; when doing so, however, he explicitly referred to Sunday as "the venerable day of the sun", a reference to the worship of the Roman sun "god" Sol Invictus that had been instituted by one of his predecessors, Aurelian. During the dedication of Constantinople, Constantine wore the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem, with no Christian symbols included during the dedication. These examples (along with others), reveal a disturbing trend in the man: he was a careful observer of the traditions pervading in society, and he latched on to the ones that seemed connected to "victory" and widespread acceptance. This is why he so went out on a such a limb and had the "courage" to embrace Christianity, which by that time had entrenched itself too deeply within the Roman Empire to either be uprooted or ignored. Hence, it can be clearly concluded that Constantine was a komos evangelist, i.e. an evangelist who rides the waves of widely-accepted traditions to conquer others and solidify his own kingdom.

Sadly enough, when Constantine gave Christianity an "official", "respectable" standing, the same komos spirit that was on him came upon the lapdog "leaders" that lorded over the "Christian" Church at the time. Ignoring what God had said through Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:1-6, these pseudo-leaders would actually go to Constantine in order to settle disputes of a "theological" nature, as when they asked him to decide the role of "Donatism" within the Church. The details of the "Donatism" dispute are not worth discussing here, for, regardless of the details, the very thought of God's people going to a semi-pagan ruler for help on spiritual matters reveals the lack of wisdom and spiritual darkness the Church had already fallen into by the 4th Century A.D. The reason why these pseudo-leaders pursued this strategy was that, just as Constantine saw the "Christian tradition" as a "wave that he could ride", these leaders saw Constantine's public profession of "Christianity" as a wave that they could ride to stomp out conflict within the Church and have victory over their rivals, thereby solidifying both the "Christian religious institution" and their own personal dominion within that institution. At the same time, many people interested in political power also experienced a "sudden conversion to Christianity", knowing that submitting to the "religion du jour" and its external traditions might give them a "competitive edge" over their rivals. This is what the distorted spirit of "Turkish, Constantinian evangelism" does.

According to wikipedia.org, Constantine replaced Diocletian's Tetrarchy and instituted the principle of dynastic succession within the Roman Empire. This again points to using the mechanism of "traditions" to reaffirm one's name and authority. In a practical sense, Constantine did enact many long-lasting administrative, financial, and military reforms, which speaks of how a kingdom can be used to broadcast new teachings and traditions. Constantine, however, became a user of traditions, rather than a promoter of them, making him a "Turkish victor" who eventually tasted the sourness of his vinegar as he died and finally stood before the presence of the God he had refused to serve in earnest throughout his life.

{As a parenthesis, it is not a coincidence that Billy Graham, a komos evangelist, also used "dynastic succession" when he handed the reins of his earthly ministry to his son Franklin, a son with a striking facial resemblance to him.}

Spanish victors

The other country that the Spirit of God referred to in the brief vision described above was "Spain". As I meditated on Spain in the context of the "rioting and drunkenness" of Romans 13:13, it became evident that Spain is directly related to the methe (i.e. "drunken") evangelists we have studied here. This can be seen when one considers the way in which Spain conquered the spiritual wasteland that is Latin America. As you may know, the Spaniards conquered many Latin American territories, not through civilised and well-defined military plans but through lies, trickery, and savage massacres that resembled more the acts of mad, drunken pirates than the acts of members of an orderly society. As they raped and plundered through Latin America, they established a very clear caste system, a system with a "superior", whiter-skinned elite and an inferior, brown-skinned underclass (a differentiation that still grips Latin America to this day). Unlike the Anglo-Saxons who colonised North America, the Spaniards did not see the New World as an opportunity to establish a new society built on higher-level principles and values. Instead, they saw the New World as a gold mine (literally), as nothing more than a place they could use to expand their wealth and world power. Unlike the Anglo-Saxons, who had no interest in mingling their higher principles with the inferior spiritual principles harboured by Native Americans, the Spaniards mingled their miniscule "ethics" and "culture" with that of Native Americans, literally mingling with them physically during their drunken stupors, fathering a mongrel group of mixed-race peoples who inherited and deliberately preserve the worst of both cultures.

As these methe evangelists drank from the inferior wine of their Latin American conquests, they enjoyed a temporary high, filling the Spanish coffers with unprecedented amounts of gold. However, as is the case with inferior wine and a cheap hangover, the joy of victory did not last very long, bringing long-lasting sorrow that far outweighed the initial joy. As history bares out, Spain's coffers became so filled with gold that it created unnatural inflation and created a permanent erosion in Spain's industrial capabilities. Because of the excess gold, Spain did not have to produce new goods and services in order to obtain goods from other countries, which led to a lazy economy that did little more than wait for the next shipment of gold from across the Pond to get its next "fix" of goods and services. By contrast, nations such as England and Germany began to focus on mechanisms to improve their manufacturing capabilities and generate real, long-lasting wealth, which led to the rise of the Industrial Revolution. As the decades went by, and as the gold slowly petered out, Spain became stuck in a cycle of perennial underdevelopment, becoming one of the poorest and most stagnant economies in Europe for many, many, many decades after its lethal gold overdose from Latin America. This is what happens to "Spanish victors" who indulge in low passions and cheap "wine".

Matriarchally-corrupted evangelists

Earlier, we saw how the Girgashite spirit (the distorted teacher) corrupts the evangelistic endowment, producing komos evangelists. We also saw how the Canaanite spirit (the distorted pastor) corrupts the evangelistic endowment, producing methe evangelists. However, further study of the passages where the Greek words komos, keimai, methe, and methyo appear reveals that both the Girgashite and the Canaanite spirits are involved in producing komos and methe evangelists.

Even though komos evangelists are primarily the result of the evangelist kowtowing to Girgashite traditions, a Canaanite "touch" of appeasement and false unity is required to quell any internal or external desire to defy the established procedures and protocols. In a "can't-we-all-get-along" spirit, the komos evangelist endeavours to embrace diverse (and even contradictory) procedures and protocols from diverse sources in order to have a dominion effect on the greatest possible number of people. This is why komos evangelists tend to develop an "ecumenical" streak, which is evident in komos evangelists such as Billy Graham and Constantine the not-so-Great.

In the same way, even though methe evangelists are primarily the result of the evangelist embracing Canaanite low passions and anti-judgement hatred, a Girgashite focus on the visible is still required. This is why the unrighteous servants of Matthew 25:45-51 (quoted above) got drunk only after their lord was gone and was no longer visible. This is also why they went so quickly into excesses of violence and drunkenness, for they beheld the magnitude of their lord's possessions and said to themselves, "We can act as if all of this is ours now!!". This why the Spaniards turned so drunken and corrupt when they beheld the magnitude of gold and natural resources in the New World.

In conclusion, both the "female" endowments of pastor and teacher enter into the corruption of the evangelistic endowment, turning some evangelists into komos evangelists and others into methe evangelists. This is how destructive the pastoral matriarchy is to the evangelistic endowment.

There is more to say regarding Romans 13, but we shall do so (if God allows it) in a future article.