I am sure you have all heard about Cyrus, the great Persian ruler. There were actually three of them:
Cyrus 1, Cyrus the Great and Cyrus the Younger. You can read about them here: Cyrus I, Cyrus the Great, and Cyrus the Younger.
So what do they have to do with Armstrongism? Well, I thought you would never ask! It seems the resident Australian couch potato called Neville Stevens, is blabbering on about Cyrus being the spirit ruler of the demonic realm. Neville claims Cyrus is a demon who now has great regret that he rebelled with Lucifer several years ago.
All that can be said with certainty is that the Book of Malachi was written some time after Ezra and Nehemiah were commissioned by Cyrus, the ruler of the Medes and Persians, to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus actually came to power as a Mede. The Medes lived in the region where Ninevah was their capital. We know this region today as the homeland of the Kurds. So the Kurds are the Medes of old. (You’ll recall that the Prophet Jonah was sent to Ninevah with a message, and the people there repented). But there is something else of interest relating to these people; these are also the descendants of the Assyrians – the vast empire which conquered the northern Ten Tribes of Israel. Just to confirm that this ‘Cyrus’ did reign over the ancient Assyrians, Ezra refers to him as the KING OF ASSYRIA: Ezra 6:22 “For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the KING OF ASSYRIA, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.” We won’t get into a long discourse about the identity of this ‘Cyrus’, but he wasn’t human! He is a spirit ruler of the demonic realm, and one of the few who has haunting regrets about joining Satan in his rebellion against God long ago – after which they were exiled to earth. God actually calls Cyrus a servant, because he does his best to make amends for his behaviour in the past. Nevertheless, accolades for Cyrus are not warranted other than to say he’s a cut above the rest of the spirit world and he is willing to cooperate with the Great God.
Neville Stevens is the spiritual deviate from Australia that had has small group of weirdo's try and take over the alt.w.w.wcg newsgroup several years ago. These are mentally disturbed individuals who proudly boasted that they would be given swords at the return of Jesus so they could kill all who oppose Jesus and who oppose Neville. You can still read their weird ramblings on the alt newsgroup.
Doesn't this guy with his dirty t-shirt just make you want to join up and follow him?
All that's missing is his can of Foster's.
Some have popped up over the years claiming that the Nevillites were not violent people because Neville is a meek man.
Here is what Neville says will be happening when Jesus returns. Notice what the people he claims are the true followers of God will be doing:
If you want to wallow in the filth on his web site you can find a lot of posts talking about his followers being agents of God with their swords as they kill all who oppose God . Zion MinistryThere’s also a subtle warning in this for those who like to judge God’s servants as transgressors. These self-righteous creatures have chosen to ignore the Law and the Prophets, but feel fully justified in accusing the servants of God of being transgressors. Sin is the transgression of the Law, so it’s perfectly obvious who the real transgressors are! The servants of God will be armed in accordance with Christ’s instructions, and they will take the Kingdom by force! So now is a good time for Christians to modify their views, particularly the Churches of God to whom the Book of Revelation is addressed (Rev 22:16). If they don’t, then others will be brought in, and they will be thrown out! Then there will be much gnashing of teeth!Oddly enough, they’ve already started dying like flies, and their followers have the gall to send me notification of their deaths! Why would I care?