Leon du Preez and Goddess Sophia
Prophet Leon du Preez and the Goddess Sophia of Wisdom
As the Christian church falls head over heels into apostasy, self appointed Prophet Leon du Preez and his Encounter Church have a new member: the Goddess Sophia (or “Wisdom”) which Leon du Preez in all his “gnostic wisdom” is willing to impart to you, he says:
Leon du Preez – 23/06/2019
WISDOM is better than RUBIES.
https://www.globalnpo.org/ZA/Centurion/665380093629984/Encounter-Christian-Church—ECC
The Sophia anointing makes doubt non-negotiable. Wisdom says “I will speak truth and righteousness.”
Some churches have too many seeds. Take one good seed and duplicate that pure seed.
Those who love Sophia will receive wealth as their inheritance. May your mindset change to say “I want wisdom in my life”. Get deliverance from ignorance in your life. Sophia can be imparted. An example of this is seen in Joshua who carried the wisdom of Moses.
Wisdom says “I was right beside Him as a master craftsman. Before anything was created, I was there”.
The one who finds Sophia, she enlightens; those who hate her, love death. Who is Wisdom that was with God from the beginning? It is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). If you are saved, there is no reason not to have Sophia wisdom.
“SUNESIS”, which is the third dimension, means a quickness in understanding.
For further studies, read Proverbs 8:1-36, Ephesians 3:1-4
A little History of Sophia Worship
“Sophia” is a transliteration of the Greek noun meaning “wisdom.” In Hebrew, the word for wisdom is “chok-mah.” In the Old Testament (especially Proverbs 3 and 8), and in several apocryphal texts,1 wisdom is personified as a woman. Some understand this personification of wisdom as nothing more than a literary device. Others are convinced that wisdom is intentionally personified as an aspect of divinity, or as a goddess, distinct from God.
Sophia appears to be gaining popularity among feminist theologians and among some secular women interested in goddess worship. One recent example of Sophia’s popularity was an ecumenical Christian conference, “Re-Imagining … God, Community, the Church”, which was held in November 1993 in Minneapolis. The conference was part of The Ecumenical Decade: Churches in Solidarity with Women, a program of the World Council of Churches. Sophia was a recurrent theme throughout the conference.2
However, interest in Sophia is not a new phenomenon. In Gnosticism,3 a heresy in the early Christian church, Sophia is sometimes portrayed as a divine being superior to God, who reprimands God for arrogance. In other Gnostic texts, Sophia is a mischievous spirit who indirectly creates a world so evil that God has to rescue it by sending another emanation named Jesus. According to these texts, Jesus taught that we are rescued from evil and returned to God through knowledge (gnosis).4
More recently, the Shakers have understood Sophia as the fourth person of the Godhead. A Russian Orthodox priest named Sergei Bulgakov has taught that Sophia is the essence of the Trinity, the glue that binds Father, Son and Holy Spirit together.5
Thus Sophia has been gaining popularity in Christian circles for many years. For a growing number of Christians, Sophia is the feminine symbol of divinity desperately needed to balance the patriarchal emphasis of the Church.
The central question is whether “sophia” is to be understood as a person or as a concept, as a divine entity or as an abstract attribute of God. The answer to this question is the subject of much current debate.
Susan Cady, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig, authors of Wisdom’s Feast, argue that Sophia is in fact the female goddess of the Bible.6
For Cady, Sophia is a real biblical person. “She is a co-creator with the Hebrew God, she is a heavenly queen, she is messenger from God, and she is God’s lover.”7 Cady goes on to say that Sophia is “divine, creating, judging, and ruling just as God is.”8
Catherine Keller of Drew University Theological School insists that Sophia preaches, prophesies, judges and promises security to those who obey her. “Like the spirit,” Keller writes, “this Sophia is at once something humans may seek as their own and something given by God of God’s own nature.”9
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza argues that Sophia is the God of Israel expressed in the language and imagery of the goddess.10 For some feminist theologians, including Cady, Sophia is the pre-incarnate Christ; Sophia was a divine entity which took the form of a male human to accommodate patriarchal culture.
For those who understand her as a divine entity, Sophia has become an important link between traditional language for God and feminist spirituality. Proponents of Sophia worship claim that Sophia as a name for God is used to remind us that God has a feminine side and that solely masculine images and names for God are inadequate.
https://www.cbeinternational.org/resources/article/priscilla-papers/who-sophia
Let’s go back to see what Leon du Preez said above “The one who finds Sophia, she enlightens; those who hate her, love death. Who is Wisdom that was with God from the beginning? It is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). If you are saved, there is no reason not to have Sophia wisdom.”
Unfortunately for Leon du Preez (and the spirit that’s giving him his wisdom) the answer he gave it totally incorrect and blasphemous. It was not Wisdom (Sophia) who was with God from the beginning. It was the Word (Jesus Christ) who was with God from the very beginning.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
So who is Leon du Preez presenting to his church followers… none other than:
The Goddess Sophia – “Feminine Jesus” crucified
The goddess Sophia in the book “The Shack”
Mary Kassian a member of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and the founder of Girls Gone Wise has a thought provoking critique of The Shack written from a woman’s perspective. Kassian said:
It is a well-known fact that the Emergent Church has a great affinity for feminine spirituality and hence their bountiful use of the name “Sophia,” the Greek goddess of wisdom, when they refer to Jesus being the Wisdom of God.
“The Shack contains terribly wrong concepts about God. Plain and simple. If you think it doesn’t, then you’re well on your way to accepting the image of the Christa on the cross. In a few years, you’ll be hanging her up in your church. I don’t think I’m overstating the case. In my book I’ve carefully documented the way it happened in mainline churches. The arguments used to justify their feminist Christa are the same ones the Shack uses to justify its feminized version of God. In essence, there’s no difference between the artistic image of a feminized Jesus (a.k.a. “Sophia”) hanging on a cross and the artistic image of a feminized Aunt Jemima Papa god in a book. If the latter doesn’t offend you, then the former really shouldn’t.” (Emphasis added).
https://cbmw.org/uncategorized/re-imagining-god-in-the-shack/
Please read more on The Book The Shack to get a greater understanding of the in-roads Sophia has made into the church.
Tom Lessing said : “In Matthew Fox’s book called “A New Reformation!” he writes that we are in fact confronted with two churches: one expressed by the image of the Punitive Father, personified by a rigidly hierarchical church structure, repression of the feminine, . . . and the other expressed by the feminine figure of Wisdom, personified by a Mother/Father God of justice and compassion. It is time for Christians to choose whom it will follow: an angry exclusionary god or the loving open path of wisdom (Emphasis added).”
To break this down into layman’s terms, what Matthew Fox’s saying is: are you for Jesus Christ and His Church ( the angry exclusionary god ) or are you in a church that forms part of the Mother Harlot Roman Catholic Church (the loving open path of wisdom)
BACK TO ROME AND ISLAM
Tom Lessing said: “In an article I found on the Internet the Black Madonna and Sophia are said to feature prominently in Islam, as it does in the movie The Shack. Here are a few excerpts from the article.”
The Goddess Remains the Esoteric Heartbeat of Islam
“The secret veiled power of the Divine Feminine is thus actively at work within Islam. Its esoteric forms uncompromisingly address the Divine with the masculine pronouns, but its esoteric qualities are all feminine. The Goddess remains the esoteric heartbeat of Islam. She is the beloved of Sufis, ‘the ultimate image of God the Beloved — the breaker of all images in the shrine of the heart. She is the form leading beyond form, the obstacle to the Way and the Way…’”
… we have to remember that militant Islam, like muscular Christianity, is only one side of the coin. The reverse is a dazzling mirror-image of Sophia who, in the persons of Fatima and Mary, upholds the Divine Feminine within Islam…
Both Mary and Fatima are reverenced within esoteric Islam, for they are both mothers of the Logos, the Word. . . .
The nature of both the Black Goddess and Sophia are brought out in Islam. The exoteric fulminations about women, so similar to those found in Christianity and Judaism are, of course, negative polarizations of the devouring Goddess, yet this exists side by side with the positive image of the Ka’ba, Islam’s Black Madonna. within Islam, the Divine Male and female principles are typified by the Pen and the Guarded tablet. The Pen is God writing upon the tabula rasa of the World-Soul, which preserves the veiled tradition of Sufism.
The quotation which leads this chapter is the paradoxical foundation of Islam’s veiling of the Divine Feminine. Ibn Arabi’s exposition of this paradox may help us to understand it better. ‘The Absolute manifested in the form of woman is an active agent because of exercising complete control over man’s feminine principle, his soul. This causes man to become submissive and devoted to the Absolute as manifested in a woman. The Absolute is also passively receptive because, in as much as it appears in the form of a woman, it is under man’s control and subject to his orders. Hence to contemplate the Absolute in woman is to see both aspects simultaneously, and such vision is more perfect than seeing it in all the forms in which it manifests itself. That is why woman is creative, not created. For both qualities, active and passive, belong to the Essence of the Creator, and both are manifested in woman.
Sophia is herself the ‘interpreter of ardent desires.’ The mystical vision of Ibn Arabi portrays the longing of all for Sophia: The aspirations and desires of all seekers are attached to her, yet she is essentially unknown to them; hence they all love her, yet none blames another for loving her. Similarly, every individual soul and the adherents of every religion seek salvation, but since they do not know it, they are also ignorant of the way that lead to it, though everyone believes he is on the right way. All strife between people of different religions and sects is about the way that leads to salvation, not about salvation itself.
But Sophia is also the reconciler of differences, for her love belongs to everyone: ‘She manifests herself everywhere, like the sun; every person who holds her deems that she is with him in her essence, so that envy and jealousy are removed from their hearts.’
Caitln Matthews, Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom,
The Aquarian Press, 1992, p. 179-90
Most Christians attending Leon du Preez Encounter Church seem to be blissfully unaware that they are opening themselves to pure idolatry and demonic possession as he lays hands on this church goers to impart this or that anointing. Leon du Preez is not the first to depict the God of the Bible in such a hideous idolatrous way. Kenneth Copeland, one of Rome’s latest lackeys, said the following:
“Adam was made in the image of God. He was as much female as he was male. He was exactly like God. Then God separated him and removed the female part. Woman means ‘man with the womb.’ Eve had as much authority as Adam did as long as they stayed together.”
Kenneth Copeland (Sensitivity of Heart, KCP Publications, 1984, p. 23).
Androgyny is not something new in religion. It appears in just about every conceivable religion. In the Encyclopaedia of Love in World Religions, we read the following:
Androgynous myths can be seen in ac-counts of creation, as well as in the diverse spiritualities and religious figures embraced by the world’s religious traditions. Myths of creation often invoke powerful androgynous imagery that reflects an understanding of primordial union. Rashi and Abraham ibn Ezra, two renowned medieval Jewish commentators, interpreted the creation of Adam as told in the book of Genesis as an androgynous myth, because God originally created man and woman as one. When God created woman, he effectively separated the female side from the androgyne Adam. This understanding of creation as originally undifferentiated also finds its way into Christian esoteric speculation.
The image of the splitting androgyne is especially prevalent in Hinduism. In the Vedic period, the figure of Dvaya-Prithvi or “Sky-Earth” is another primordial androgyne who subdivides into masculine, feminine, and neuter parts. In the Upanishads, the figure of Purusa subdivides into male and female parts to begin the process of creation. In the Puranas, a later series of Hindu mythological texts, Prajapati divides into male and female parts, which then incestuously copulate.
Encyclopaedia of Love in World Religions, Volume 2 p. 54
What should we make of this in the light of Leon du Preez depiction of God as simultaneously male and female? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that he deliberately wants to unite all his followers under one banner called Universalism. With a single swoosh of Leon du Preez’s prophetic pen (which you can buy his handwritten notes for R1000 a pop) he seems to have managed to throw Paul’s and John’s Holy Spirit inspired words in 2 Corinthians and Revelation 18 out of one of the Encounter Church’s broken windows.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4).
Leon du Preez ‘secret entity’
She is Wisdom Incarnate, the Goddess of all those who are wise.
Leon du Preez – 23/06/2019
“SOPHIA” is the type of wisdom to gain insight into spiritual reality. Sophia cries out and has a voice (refer to Proverbs 8:1-6). First, Solomon was speaking about wisdom, then wisdom possessed him as a secret entity and spoke directly.” [Emphasis added]
https://www.globalnpo.org/ZA/Centurion/665380093629984/Encounter-Christian-Church—ECC
King Solomon and Holy Sophia
Sophia (pronounced sew-fee’ah) in Greek, Hohkma in Hebrew, Sapientia in Latin, Celtic goddess-figure Sheela-na-gigs – all mean wisdom. The Judeo-Christian God’s female soul, source of his true power is Sophia. As Goddess of wisdom and fate, her faces are many: Black Goddess, Divine Feminine, Mother of God The Gnostic Christians, Sophia was the Mother of Creation; her consort and assistant was Jehovah. Her sacred shrine, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, is one of the seven wonders of the world. Her symbol, the dove, represents spirit; she is crowned by stars, a Middle Eastern icon, to indicate her absolute divinity.
Sophia is found throughout the wisdom books of the Bible. There are references to Her in the book of Proverbs, and in the apocryphal books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon (accepted by Catholics and Orthodox, found in the Greek Septuagint of the early Church).
She is usually associated with wise King Solomon. 1 Kings 4:29-31 tells us that God gave wisdom to Solomon, and that he became wiser than all the kings of the East and all the wise people of Egypt.
“Wisdom 8:2, 16, 18” tells us that Solomon was seen as married to Sophia. (apocryphal texts)
The Song of Songs – known as Song of Solomon or Canticle of Canticles – speaks of Solomon’s marriage to Holy Sophia.
“Wisdom 9:8-11″ tells us that Sophia instructed Solomon in building the Temple! (apocryphal texts)
The Jews revered Sophia. King Solomon even put Her right in the Temple, in the form of the Goddess Asherah.
[DTW note: Asherah, or Ashtoreth, was the name of the chief female deity worshiped in ancient Syria, Phoenicia, and Canaan. The Phoenicians called her Astarte, the Assyrians worshiped her as Ishtar, and the Philistines had a temple of Asherah (1 Samuel 31:10). Because of Israel’s incomplete conquest of the land of Canaan, Asherah-worship survived and plagued Israel, starting as soon as Joshua was dead (Judges 2:13).]
After the reforms of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:1-7), there was a threat that the veneration of Sophia would come to a halt – there was even more of a threat when patriarchal Christianity took over the world.
[DTW note: Gideon too led a crusade against Asherah-worship (Judges 6:25-30) so did King Asa (1 Kings 15:13)]
Due to her continuing presence in the world and her “so called” presence in the Bible, veneration of Sophia continued in the Eastern tradition with the construction of the Hagia Sophia and the Russian Catholic liturgical service to Sophia combined with the assumption of Mary on May 15.
The Russian Orthodox Church has also a school of “Sophiology” to explore the theology of Sophia without contradicting the Russian Orthodox theology.
Yet the Eastern Christians are not the only Christians to venerate Sophia.
Sophia was very likely venerated by early Followers of the Way, and her veneration has survived in the West today in the form of Gnosticism.
Gnostics see her as one of the aeons, one of the quasi-deities who live in the ethereal realm known as the pleroma.
Gnostics believe that she gave birth to or brought about the creation of a negative aeon, who later came to be called an archon, called the Demiurge, creator and ruler of this world.
Gnostics see the Demiurge as the God of the Old Testament, with his strict rules and chains that bind the people of the Earth. Gnostics believe that Sophia and the Father God (not the Demiurge) sent Yeshua to right this wrong. In Gnostic tradition, Sophia plays a very active role in our world.
[DTW Note: The name “Yeshua” is in fact also mentioned in the Kabbalah and is hailed as the “The Christ”]
The Mystery School sees many similarities between Sophia and the two Christian Goddesses, Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. Perhaps one or both of them were incarnations of Sophia.
Generally we see Mother Mary as the incarnation of Shekinah, and Mary Magdalene as the incarnation of Sophia. [Emphasis added]
https://www.crystalinks.com/sophia.html
In true Sophia-like contrast to God’s two-edged sword:
Leon du Preez imparts the ‘Sophia entity’ to his church:
Leon du Preez – 23/06/2019
Ps Leon du Preez calls all his eGroup leaders forward for the laying on of hands, to receive and be empowered by the Sophia anointing. [Emphasis added]
https://www.globalnpo.org/ZA/Centurion/665380093629984/Encounter-Christian-Church—ECC
Biblical explanation of God’s Wisdom
Sophia-worshippers gather most of their religious ideas from the initial nine chapters of Proverbs. The focal point of their contention says that towards the end of the OT, in the book of Proverbs, the feminine noun for “wisdom” that being (chokmah in Hebrew) was made to be personified. For example, personification is when you take an attribute of a person’s character or nature and apply it to inanimate objects or a an actual figure itself, be it human, an entity, or divine.
It is very clear that no reader of the Word of God can say that personification does not occur. But rather the discerning reader will study the context of said chapters using proven bible study methods to come to a sound biblical conclusion. In this case we have Proverbs 8:22-31 that is so often misquoted to support the worshippers of Sophia.
Here, “wisdom” declares her supremacy in the gifts she is able to bestow from the creation of the world. History tells us that many of the earliest cultures used the personification of a deity so the divine being could praise itself. In other words, “Wisdom” here is praising itself by making claims that only belong to God. God and no one else is the source of all True Wisdom (Romans 11:33; James 1:5, 1:17-18, 3:13-17), and, therefore, any reference to “Wisdom” in the Word of God that includes DIVINE LANGUAGE should be attributed to God’s character and nature only.
The Jews believed in the One and Only Living God (Deuteronomy 4:35-36, 6:4; Isaiah 42:8, 44:6-8, 45:5-6; Jeremiah 10:10-11). So to even suggest that “Wisdom” was personified into a seperate god or goddess long side God Himself was to blaspheme the name of God, which was punishable by death in the Old Testament. The Jews would have dismissed and thrown out the writing of Proverbs as extra biblical if it were true that the “Wisdom” in Proverbs 8:22-31 was in fact a goddess named Sophia.
This entire controversy leads us to a few simple conclusions:
1) The bible must be read for the type of literature it is.
2) A proper understanding of feminine personification in relation to these passages needs to stay within the framework of the whole counsel of God.
3) There is one God who eternally exists in three persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18; Eph. 4:4-7; 1 Peter 1:2)
4) When we stay within the framework of biblical doctrine, we find that it excludes any mention of a goddess or secondary deity.
5) Finally and most importantly one must acknowledge that poetry can contain elements that are clearly not to be taken literally.
For example “Cain really did kill Abel, but then God said that “…the voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). Literally, the blood did not cry from the ground, but the rhetorical means used here, communicates another form of personification found in Scripture to emphasize the killing.”
As Proverbs 8:22-31 describes, poetry and personification do not invalidate Scripture. Instead, they are essential to demonstrate words, phrases, feelings, and meanings that cannot be understood easily any other way or that continue from a previous argument. In the latter case, God created the heavens by His Wisdom found in Proverbs 3:19, and Proverbs 8:22-31 exists to continue that figurative speech (personification).
The goddess-worship of Sophia and other similar deities shows the rapid pace of apostasy in the church. What may be socially or politically acceptable in the form of worship, is however, diametrically opposed to the Bible.
One must learn to recognize the difference between literal truth and metaphors in the Bible through constant practice (2 Timothy 2:15). Both areas of speech are the infallible, inerrant, and the inspired Word of God, but demand patients and Holy Spirit discernment for interpretation. Otherwise, one will be left to replay the words of the prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 10:10-11 “10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.”
A warning to Leon du Preez and Encounter Church:
Exodus 20:3-5 “3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;”
Notes
- 1 Including Baruch, Sirach and Ecclesiasticus
- 2 There were 2,200 attendees at the conference, including 83 men. The denominations with the largest number of attendees were the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Methodist Lutheran/ELCA, Roman Catholic, and United Church of Christ.
- 3 Gnosticism was a dualistic heresy which taught that matter was evil and that spirit was good. As a result, the humanity of Jesus was denied and his divinity emphasized.
- 4 See especially the Nag Hamamdi Codices, discovered in upper Egypt in 1945.
- 5 Bulgakov, Sergei. Sophia, The Wisdom of God: An Outline of Sophiology, (Hudson: Lindisfarne Press], 1993.
- 6 Susan Cady, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig. Wisdom’s Feast: Sophia in Study and Celebration,[San 9 9 Francisco: Harper & Row], 1989.
- 7 Ibid, p.28.
- 8 Ibid, p.29.
- 9 Keller, Catherine. “Inventing the goddess: A study in ecclesial backlash,” Christian Century,April 6,1994, pp. 340-42.
- 10 Fiorenza, Elizabeth Schüssler. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, [New York: Crossroad], 1986.
… my eyes are still popped… i have to read this again. HOW is it possible that people do not see the serpent???
Hi Robbie
That’s exactly what I kept thinking over and over, writing this article… “how can they not see”?
Now you know why his followers point out King Solomon as someone to copy, what did one of Leon’s followers say on Facebook, “King Solomon was rich, why can’t I be?”
It’s also important to know that in Freemasonry Freemasons also worship King Solomon who they believed to be the greatest magus (sorcerer) of all time.
They worship the god of mammon (Satan), to get gnostic wisdom, to get stinking rich.
Indeed, A Woman Rides the Beast. (Revelation 17).
Note verse 9. It speaks of real wisdom.
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (Rev 17:9)
The delusion is already here…I don’t think it is something we are waiting for!
The Great Apostasy
2 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of [a]Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of [b]sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits [c]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the [d]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only [e]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
“One elaborate interpretation even drove the plot in Dan Brown’s historical thriller Da Vinci Code, where the word Baphomet is decoded and translated to mean “Sophia” or wisdom”
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33682878
Wikipedia confirms: Hugh J. Schonfield (1901–1988),[43] one of the scholars who worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls, argued in his book The Essene Odyssey that the word “Baphomet” was created with knowledge of the Atbash substitution cipher, which substitutes the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the last, the second for the second last, and so on. “Baphomet” rendered in Hebrew is בפומת; interpreted using Atbash, it becomes שופיא, which can be interpreted as the Greek word “Sophia”, meaning wisdom. This theory is an important part of the plot of the novel The Da Vinci Code.
What ye say Tom?
Hi Robbie,
Extremely interesting. The Emerging Church is steeped in the feminine deity Sophia. Stephan Joubert and his buddies at the Mosaiek Kerk are all Sophiaists.
Hi Robbie
Leon du Preez’s idea of salvation amounts to a kind of impartational (lineage) soteriology. It includes elements like the laying on of hands, the anointing with oil and, the most important of all, submission to that oil. He boasts that he submitted to the oil of, and received his anointing (oil) from some of the greatest, one of whom was Benson Idahoso of Nigeria who performed his first miracle at the age of 14 by raising a corpse from the dead (Read here). According to Leon du Preez Kenneth Hagin also received his oil from Idahoso. Leon says that if you cannot trace your oil lineage back to the greatest, it means nothing. This is how these impostors keep their followers in bondage to their false teachings. Jannie Pelser received is lineage oil impartation from TB Joshua. Where is he today? He believes that Jesus did not come to earth to seek and to find lost sinners but to set up his kingdom here and now. Pelser also announced from his pulpit in the DRC community that they have decided to marry gays in the church. I know some people who have left his church because of this and are now in some form of NAR church. As the saying goes – from bad to worse.
Hi Robbie
You said “One elaborate interpretation even drove the plot in Dan Brown’s historical thriller Da Vinci Code, where the word Baphomet is decoded and translated to mean “Sophia” or wisdom”
Ahh but of course, for the Baphomet is androgynous. Satan is male and female, has a phallus and breasts. Very interesting that the name Baphomet translated to mean “Sophia” or wisdom”. Thanks Robbie
Leon du Preez says he was in the occult before he was supposedly ‘saved’ (when his friend, who had an “encounter’ laid hands on him and transferred the demonic spirits attached to him onto Leon.) No Leon was not in the occult, Leon was nothing but a teenager – a drug addict, a rebel without a cause. Leon wanted to know nothing of God the night he was supposedly ‘saved’. His friend laid hands on him and he felt electricity run through him (that being the Kundilini spirit) and he was delivered right there and then from drugs/alcohol etc. That I believe because the Kundalini spirit can heal and deliver you – the deliverance and healing however is counterfeit.
If Leon was in the occult and callining up demons before his ‘encounter’ (I’m not going to call it ‘saved’ because he was not saved, he was ‘encountered’) Leon would know for sure that what he was doing now was of Satan, but he doesn’t have a clue.
Leon is in the occult now. He is so deep in the occult it’s not even funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsfOh-wVoZQ
Hi Tom
Thanks for that info, very interesting. :thumbsup:
Hi Werner :hi:
You said “The delusion is already here…I don’t think it is something we are waiting for!”
Totally correct.
Amen, Deborah, Amen…..
In his latest “sermon” he “prophesies” of death for people who call him out as a false prophet. And his words scream of narcissism. I pray and hope that the people who follow him and listen to him will see the Truth. It breaks my heart to see so many desperate people who follow “prophets” like this, receiving false hope, rather than God’s love and grace.
The words of Jesus apply:
Hi Gustav,
I have often asked myself why God allows false teachers to mislead so many people.
God is still testing his children to see whether they truly love Him with all their heart, mind and soul by allowing false prophets to come among them. That’s why Jesus also said:
If you are following strangers like Leon du Preez, Jannes Labuschagne and their likes who preach to you WOF and NAR lies, you are probably not saved.
Paul calls false prophets and apostles “dogs.”
I will pray for your salvation – it is seriously needed
The Biblical illiteracy of Leon’s followers are astounding. Yesterday in Krugersdorp during his opening he called for god to release his “spirits”. (I did not capitalise the “g or h” because it is an unfamiliar god)
Again: The sad result of being deceived by false teachers or false prophets is not a pleasant one.
“And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;”
—Ezekiel 14:9-10
“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”
—Matthew 14:15
Hi Robbie
Totally correct. At roughly 25:28s into below video he says “and fill this place with your spirits” :shocked:
https://youtu.be/iZIKfVDOKLM
There are a lot of other pertinent things Leon said in this video that I’ll be doing an article on as well.
Dear David
Yes pray for them, Leon and his followers need salvation not activation.
In Sunday night’s service 1 Sept 2019 … Leon du Preez said the following: “Turning water into wine was not the first miracle of Jesus. While John the baptist and Jesus were still in the wombs of Elisabeth and Mary, Jesus rose John the baptist from the dead. He was raised when he leaped in the womb of Elisabeth”
What absurdity!!! go to 7:30
https://youtu.be/m7PzE8WhQZQ
Thank you Robbie.
Whenever I see or hear bizarre things like this, it confirms that the Bible is indeed the Word of God because it foretold these things thousands of years ago, and is now coming to pass.
According to Leon du Preez we should interpret these verses as follows
Notice Leon du Preez’s hand signals? That’s the reason why his audiences are so dull. He puts them under a spell of hypnotized stupor.
Yes, Leon uses Greek and Hebrew to give new meaning to words in scripture, at the same time he portrays himself as being super smart to his biblical illiterate congregation, who stand up and throw their hands in the air, rejoicing at the NEW revelation Leon speaks that has never heard been before since the bible was first complete 2000 years ago. It’s very sad to see the Word of God trashed like this :sob:
The new Simon Magus – Leon du Preez
Peter did not play games when he said:
Morning Deborah, and others on this group,
I have come across your site this morning when I was searching Leon du Preez. I am up and arms about his teaching and the influence he has on people, in particular youngsters. I have a long history of evangelism since a very young age and also worked with many church groups. To put it simply I love the Lord, the Bible and what it stands for! Reading your articles this morning Deborah was such an eye opener this morning. I was getting very concerned as it felt that I was rejecting the Lord due to my REFUSING to accept the teachings and practices of Leon du Preez. Now I have realized it is not the case, it is the spirit of the Holy Ghost that has created this rebellion in me against Leon and his church. You may wonder how this came about…..well I know two youngsters that are under his “spell”. They invited me to Encounter Church one morning and I was so upset in my spirit during the service about the things going on…..for one it was as if everyone is worshipping Leon and not God. Leon has made him to be THE one to his followers and not God Almighty. He comes up with all these clever words that make his followers think “he knows the bible and the spirit very well”. The church has so many rituals, one of which is of great concern to me!….Leon must at the end of every service anoint his followers and lay hands on them and then breathe over them and then they fall to the ground!!!!! This is so wrong and not from God….NO WHERE in the bible is their Godgiven scripture for this. If people worshipped God they fell to the front and on their knees and prayed and wept to God. WHY WHY do people just keep on following this man….it is as if they are hipnotized by him. I feel so TOTALLY desperate as I have time after time again tried to tell the parent of these youngsters this is wrong!…..The other day I saw the photo of Leon as a picture screen on one of the phones and was so disturbed, it is like a cult! I did tell the parent and he did instruct for it to be removed. I feel so helpless as parents feel but “my children are going to church so I am not concerned”! I want to shout it out, NO NO……these youngster attend church now 6 out of the 7 days for all kind of prayers, sermons, “servers to the church” (this is scary for me)” and courses. They decline family gatherings for church events…..I said to the parent this is not the way God wants families to be….God unites families. The church can also carry on for hours and hours, Leon has no respect for time!…..not 2 hours…but 3, 4, 5 hours on some Sunday nights and then youngsters must be in school the next day. “God is ‘n God van orde!” Everything is just ECC and Pastor Leon…..must have the shirts, the specific new bible and the list goes on…
I feel so desperate as the parents don’t want to hear me, they say “what must they do?”. My reply is but God has placed you as the parent, you must guide your children, your children cannot be the “parent”. It leads to fight after fight. The Encounter Church has become everything to them, thus one of the 10 commandments is plunging!
I have taken your information and forwarded it to the parent, since this is not now coming from me….
What can I do to make the parent understand that it is a parent’s right to discipline children and by saying “no” to some of the Church Services or stating “I will pick you up at 8pm (then they are already at church since 4pm on a Sunday afternoon)”. It is as if Leon du Preez dictates to parents now on their children and they are all just following…..it is scary!!!
Dear Esme Taljaard
This is a shocking comment. :horrified: In that I have always stated that the most vulnerable victims for Satan’s lies are the youth for 3 reasons:
1) They don’t know the bible, so are easily caught up in lies.
2) The parents are very happy just to know that their kids are going to church.
3) The parents (who profess to be Christians) don’t know the bible either, nor have possibly not even bothered to go check out this church to see if it’s legit, and because of all this they can’t tell their kids why the church they are going to is actually not a church built on the foundations that Jesus Christ built, but is in fact a cult disguised as a church..
Any church founded by someone other than Jesus Christ is not Christ’s church. Not only is Jesus Christ the founder of the church but He is also the foundation of the church.
The apostles and prophets spoke of here are the apostles and prophets mentioned in the Word of God. See this article: Apostles vs Super Apostles Not those self-proclaimed prophets and apostles of today who are nothing but satanically inspired and preach doctrines of demons.
We are in those latter times, in fact we are in the very last of the last days where there will be no revival, only apostasy (people falling away from the faith) by the millions upon millions to a New Age Christ who has taken over the church completely with another gospel.
Another gospel, another Christ:
Please read: ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE REAL JESUS OR A COUNTERFEIT?
And I think most importantly with regards to my answer, we are going to deal mostly with point no.3 because if the parents of the kids do not know the Word of God they too are being caught up by the lies of Leon du Preez, a con-artist who uses the name of Jesus Christ to build his little Satanic empire.
The bible says:
If the parents read my reply, I would prayerfully like them to know this; because they have been warned by you and by me that if they do not act like parents to their children, investigate what their children are involved in and then remove them from this place -if not the bible says that the blood of their children will be on their hands:
If the parents take responsibility for their children the bible says:
You Esme are unfortunately not the parents to these children, but you warned them, you forwarded them this article, and you can continue to warn them, but know this:
Very important to read this article that explains the demonic possession that is taking place Leon du Preez’s church and millions of churches around the world: Exposed: Holy Spirit vs Unholy Spirit of Fire
Touché! Well said. Totally agree!
Hi, love this article!!!
I used to go to school with Leon, same year as well, we even smoked together lol.
Decided to attend one of his sermons a few years ago, and oh goodness, my spirit just did not do well with the whole scene and we left early.
So many people are buying into these churches I want to cry… Leon comes from a long line of false self annointed prophets, it is a big industry of self made fame and wealth. Marc Bredenkamp, Jean Pierre Bekker to name a few. In the meanwhile deceiving thousands upon thousands.
Just reading the Facebook comments shows you how ignorant people are. And what is it with everyone calling these wolves mom and dad????
People are so hungry for the word of God in their lives they will believe anything any of these wolves say and do.
Family members of mine attended one of his recent conferences and believes every word coming out of his mouth… quoting “wow he is so powerful”…
Now I am being described as difficult in trying to tell them to please stay away.
Any ideas how I can steer them away from his church in short and simple terms?
Hi Thankful4Grace. Thank you for your comment.
You asked:
The best idea is to do what God told Jeremiah to do.
Even though God knew that Israel would not to listen to Jeremiah, He still commanded him to go and warn the people. Paul wrote something similar,
Our duty is to preach the unadulterated word of God whether the people like it or not, and whether they listen or not. Most of them are going to ignore you and shun you, calling you a Pharisee.
Dear Thankful4Grace :hi:
You said “Any ideas how I can steer them away from his church in short and simple terms?”
You can send this them article? Maybeeeee if the warning comes from someone else other than you, they jusstttt might listen.
You said “People are so hungry for the word of God in their lives they will believe anything any of these wolves say and do.”
Nope, people are not hungry for the Word of God and Jesus Christ in their life. They are hungry for HEALTH, WEALTH & PROSPERITY.
Those hungry for the Truth will find the Truth and they will hear the Holy Spirit warning them and OBEY.
Matthew 7:7-8
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened
Those who are not interested, will continue full steam ahead into deception, and the more they reject the gospel Truth when people warn them, the more God will hand them over to the strong delusion (the satanic fire) that has currently engulfed the whole world. You can only play with fire for so long before you get totally burnt.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:”
Thank you Tom and Deborah. I just wanted to add this post from Leon himself on his church’s Facebook page. No comment needed…
MY MANIFESTO AND CODE AS A PROPHET
I am a prophet! I am not a pastor. I am not an evangelist. I am not an apostle. I am not a teacher, I AM A #PROPHET!
I don’t run from invite to invite. I carry #foreknowledge. I walk in #predestination. I live the life of the #elected! My identity is in God, whom I knew even before the earth was formed. Some say ‘go where you are celebrated, not tolerated’. I go where I am commanded to go – whether celebrated or tolerated – I obey!
Honorariums means nothing to me – the heart and hunger of the people means everything!
I go against the status quo and I #defy logic! Religious masks and pretense won’t last around me and I will purposely offend #pulpiteers!
I stand by the #accused and never by the #accuser!
I am not liked by many, nor accepted in the main line – but I actually don’t care! As long as I speak His voice!
Networks and name dropping doesn’t impress me – in fact, it is #repulsive to me! Saving face around a prophet won’t work. If you are going through the #motions instead of a genuine relationship with God – you will hate me! If you say one thing on the pulpit yet do another in private – I will know – and I will #whisper into your ear, the voice of God – that you will go cold!
A prophet listens to your heart and your spirit not your words. I will never be controlled by the #agenda man places upon me, nor succumb to the pressure of religion and Jezebel!
We are part of the #special elite forces of God.
When it is time for your #new season, I come into your life!
When you need #heart surgery – I am there.
When you need molding and shaping – I am there!
When you need to hear the #legitimate voice of God – I am there!
I have #encountered God. I have seen, experienced and talked to His #angels. I have seen visions that will ruin you for life. I have access to His throne and I also have access even to the voices of #human hearts around me.
I have seen Gods #calendar long before any believer. I have #predicted dates, and times, and seasons of new births, and even the death of some. I carry the words to kill and the words to shape and bring life.
My secret place is my #stronghold! Many of you walk in the fruits of my labor that I have done in secret! That brings me fulfilment!
#Persecution and false accusations becomes my daily portion! I am not phased!
My words are all I have, my commodity, and that is my #prophets reward to you!
I am the most #misunderstood but unfortunately you need what I carry.
I carry divine #preservation – Remember that Israel was preserved by a prophet!
I carry the key of #prosperity – Remember that believing in God establishes you, but believing in His prophets will bring prosperity to you!
I carry divine #protection – Remember touch not his anointed, and do HIS prophets no #harm.
When God goes to war He puts me on the frontline because I know how to #bleed and still fight.
We #open heavens and #shut them down!
We call forth #fire and #droughts!
Our #mantles are made of camel skin so we can survive in dry climates!
I walk & speak with #sagacity!
My vernacular is the #oracles and #mysteries of God!
We carry eloquence & power!
I #decipher hard and difficult sayings and interpret dreams and visions!
I #see what happens even in your bedroom!
I #see your #yesteryear, today and tomorrow as if I lived it already!
Your future is memories of the past to me, because I live in a realm beyond!
When I touch your hand – I become you – and I receive your memories as visions!
I am a #Prophet
I am a #Seer
Prophet Leon du Preez
President & Founder of
#EncounterChurch
#LeonDuPreezInternational