Todd Bentley, Rick Joyner, Bobby Conner – the Knights of Malta Connection

‘Truth Speaker’ writes an interesting article about why C Peter Wagner’s bunch of false prophets and apostles may  have chosen to “align” Todd Bentley on June 23rd (apart from prophet Bob Jones prophesying that June 22 through to July 22 would have the most glory) here. She says the date has special occult significance and is a key date for the Knights of Malta!

“It is of great significance that Rick Joyner was one of the men presiding over [the Todd Bentley commissioning on June 23rd]. Several years ago Rick Joyner was initiated into the Knights of Malta, the Order of Saint John. This is a known fact and Rick has even spoken about it and made an audio tape explaining it and defended it in his 1998 Morning Star Journal.

[End times note: other prophets like Mahesh Chavda and Paul Cain and Bobby Conner are also known knights of Malta]

Rick Joyner and many of the other prophets and apostles from C. Peter Wagner’s New Apostolic Reformation are calling for unity with Rome.

What are the Knights of Malta

The Order of Malta is a lay, religious order of the Catholic Church. It is a Hospitaller order, founded in Jerusalem during the eleventh century. Members of the Order seek to glorify God through his or her work with the sick and the poor and witness of the Catholic faith.

Sherry Shriner writes in her article: “Rick Joyner, Knighted By The Knights Of Malta”

“The primary organization, called the Knights of Malta, has its headquarters in the Vatican of Rome and is clearly controlled and operated by the Catholic church. Their official website gives their name as the “Sovereign Military Order Of Malta.” They state of themselves that this “is a lay religious order of the Catholic church.” It was founded in Jerusalem in 1099 and it was approved formally as an order by the Pope in 1113. They also say of themselves, “The Order of Malta was admitted to the United Nations as a permanent observer on August 24, 1994.” They also claim “official diplomatic relations with over eighty states and international organizations.” The Order of Malta is clearly a Catholic order, controlled by the Pope and totally committed to the Pope, the Virgin Mary, and service to Roman Catholic ideas and causes. It is a powerful and massive organization.”

The History of the Knights of Malta

“Blessed Gerard originally founded “The Hospice of St. John of Jerusalem” prior to the 1st Crusade to care for sick and poor pilgrims in Jerusalem. In 1120, after Pope Urban II issued a Bulla recognizing the Hospice as a military religious order, the Order became “The Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem”. Its members became known as “Knights of St. John”, “Knights of the Hospital” or simply “Knights Hospitallers”. Later, after the capture of Rhodes, the Order’s name became “The Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem and of Rhodes”. The knights of that period were known as “The Knights of Rhodes”, as well as by their previous names. After the loss of Rhodes, the Order came into possession of the Island of Malta. The Order’s name then became “The Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta”. After the loss of Malta the name of the Order became “The Sovereign Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta”. Since that time, the members have since been referred to most commonly as “The Knights of Malta”, however, they may still be referred to as “Knights of St. John”, “Knights of the Hospital” or “Knights Hospitaller”. The Order is now typically referred to as “The Sovereign Military Order of Malta”, “The Order of Malta”, or the “SMOM”. . .

The following quote is from: An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences,” etc. by Albert G. Mackey, M.D., Thirty-Third Degree, Volume I, published by the Masonic History Company, Chicago, New York, & London, 1925, Volume One, pp. 392-95:

“This Order, which at various times in the progress of its history received the names of Knights Hospitalers, Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Rhodes, and lastly, Knights of Malta, was one of the most important of the religious and military orders of knighthood which sprang into existence during the Crusades which were instituted for the recovery of the Holy Land. It owes its origin to the Hospitalers of Jerusalem, that wholly religious and charitable Order which was established at Jerusalem, in 1048, by pious merchants of Amalfi for the succor of poor and distressed Latin pilgrims….

“…There are now two bodies-one Catholic and the other Protestant, but each repudiates the other….

“The degree of Knight of Malta is conferred in the United States as “an appendant Order” in a Commandery of Knights Templar. There is a ritual attached to the degree, but very few are in possession of it, and it is generally communicated after the candidate has been created a Knights Templar….”

The Knights of Malta are the militia of the Pope, and are sworn to total obedience by a blood oath which is taken extremely seriously and to the death. The Pope as the head of the Vatican is also the head of a foreign national power.

As a member of the Knights of Malta, and by virtue of your blood oath of obedience to the Pope, you are required to support to the death the desires of the head of the Order of the Knights of Malta-in this case, Pope Benedict XVI -over and above any other allegiance you may feel or pretend to feel toward any other loyalty-such as a loyalty to the Constitution for the united States of America.

Those who are presently members of the Knights of Malta must on penalty of death support those policies advocated by the Vatican. It is not hard for them to do this. They BELIEVE in these policies and principles. The polices which are espoused and proclaimed by the office of the Pope are as follows:

1. End of sovereignty for the United States and other countries.
2. End of absolute property rights.
3. End of all gun rights.
4. The new international economic Order (world government).
5. The redistribution of wealth and jobs.
6. Calls for nations to trust the United Nations.
7. Total disarmament.
8. Promote the United Nations as the hope for peace.
9. Promote UNESCO, the deadly educational and cultural arm of the United Nations.
10. Promote interdependence.
11. Support sanctions honoring Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin-the New Age Humanist Priest.
12. Support the belief that the economic principle of traditional Christian or Catholic social doctrine is the economic principle of communism.
13. Promote the Pope as the acting go-between for the United States and the Soviet Union.

It doesn’t really matter what kind of religious or political affiliation a member professes, when they take an oath as a Knight they are obligated by that blood oath of obedience to follow the political lead of the Vatican and will do so to their dying breath-as all good Knights of Malta do. Their first loyalty is to the Vatican, anything else is secondary. Each and every member is under complete and total obedience to the Vatican’s political ambitions.

The Order of Malta has ambassadors or diplomatic representatives in more than eighty nations, and enjoys Permanent Observer status at the United Nations General Assembly.”

It is a known fact that Rick Joyner is very focused on warfare and the Knights of the Roundtable. Here is a quote from Joyner:

“Like the nation of Israel, the Order of St John the Baptist seems to have been uniquely preserved to play a part in the final battle between light and darkness. The church, and even Western civilization, is no less in jeopardy today than it was in the time of Suleiman. Conflicts within the church have weakened her to the point that she is more vulnerable to the enemy than ever. Even so, the Lord is not constrained to deliver by many or by few. He still has those who are true noblemen, who are establishing noble families throughout the earth. They are bound together by a common faith that transcends denominational differences. They, too, have vowed not to retreat before the enemies of the cross, nor yield a single acre of ground to the enemy of our faith.

The Lord is again calling together true knights of the Spirit. They will stand unified in spite of all the petty divisions and spiritual wars that go on around them. They know who the real enemy is, and they, too, will stand without wavering against the greatest darkness of their times, and they will push the darkness back. Some of these are in the modern Order of St John. Some of them may be in your church. One of them may even be you.” (pg 58, end of author’s text)

A picture of the present Grand Master with his various titles covers page 59 of the book.

The Significance of the Date of Todd Bentley’s commissioning:

What is significant about the date and Rick Joyner being one of the presiding “apostles” at Todd Bentley’s commissioning is that June 23 is the eve of the Feast Day of Saint John, the Knights of Malta’s feast day!

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta observes as its feast day Saint John’s Day, June 24th.  It is not insignificant to note that Saint John’s Day is on the same date as Midsummer’s Day, the pagan holiday of Litha. It is a time when pagans worshipped the sun god through the summer solstice.

“Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on the 24th of June and the preceding evening. European midsummer-related holidays, traditions, and celebrations are pre-Christian in origin and have been superficially Christianised as celebrations of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist as “Saint John’s Eve” festivals.”

“Midsummer fires served as sun charms to keep up the heat. Midsummer Eve, however, afterwards nominated as John the Baptist’s Eve, was a great fire-day far and wide. Von Buch, the traveller, speaks of seeing custom observed within the Arctic Circle.An old writer about Ireland remarked–”A stranger would imagine the whole country was on fire.” Brand writes of the Vigil of St. John–”They make bonfires, run along the streets and fields with wisps of straw blazing on long poles, to purify the air which they think infectious by believing all the devils, spirits, ghosts, and hobgoblins abroad this night to hurt mankind.” One, writing in 1867 said–”The old pagan fire-worship still survives in Ireland though nominally in honour of St. John. On Sunday night bonfires were observed throughout nearly every county the province of Leinster.” As Easter Day was of old devoted to Astarte, the East goddess, so was St. John’s Day to Baal.” 

The Feast of the Nativity of St. John is set down in the Papal calendar for the 24th of June, or Midsummer-day. The very same period was equally memorable in the Babylonian calendar as that of one of its most celebrated festivals. It was at Midsummer, or the summer solstice, that the month called in Chaldea, Syria, and Phoenicia by the name of “Tammuz” began; and on the first day–that is, on or about the 24th of June–one of the grand original festivals of Tammuz was celebrated.

For different reasons, in different countries, other periods had been devoted to commemorate the death and reviving of the Babylonian god; but this, as may be inferred from the name of the month, appears to have been the real time when his festival was primitively observed in the land where idolatry had its birth. And so strong was the hold that this festival, with its peculiar rites, had taken of the minds of men, that even when other days were devoted to the great events connected with the Babylonian Messiah, as was the case in some parts of our own land, this sacred season could not be allowed to pass without the due observance of some, at least, of its peculiar rites. When the Papacy sent its emissaries over Europe, towards the end of the sixth century, to gather in the Pagans into its fold, this festival was found in high favour in many countries. What was to be done with it? Were they to wage war with it? No. This would have been contrary to the famous advice of Pope Gregory I, that, by all means they should meet the Pagans half-way, and so bring them into the Roman Church. The Gregorian policy was carefully observed; and so Midsummer-day, that had been hallowed by Paganism to the worship of Tammuz, was incorporated as a sacred Christian festival in the Roman calendar.

But still a question was to be determined, What was to be the name of this Pagan festival, when it was baptised, and admitted into the ritual of Roman Christianity? To call it by its old name of Bel or Tammuz, at the early period when it seems to have been adopted, would have been too bold. To call it by the name of Christ was difficult, inasmuch as there was nothing special in His history at that period to commemorate. But the subtlety of the agents of the Mystery of Iniquity was not to be baffled. If the name of Christ could not be conveniently tacked to it, what should hinder its being called by the name of His forerunner, John the Baptist? John the Baptist was born six months before our Lord. When, therefore, the Pagan festival of the winter solstice had once been consecrated as the birthday of the Saviour, it followed, as a matter of course, that if His forerunner was to have a festival at all, his festival must be at this very season; for between the 24th of June and the 25th of December–that is, between the summer and the winter solstice–there are just six months. Now, for the purposes of the Papacy, nothing could be more opportune than this. One of the many sacred names by which Tammuz or Nimrod was called, when he reappeared in the Mysteries, after being slain, was Oannes.

In other words this particular day, June 23, the beginning of Saint John’s Day and Midsummer Day is an ancient pagan celebration to the god Baal or Tammuz and it is marked by FIRE. Is it a coincidence that Todd Bentley is always talking about the Fire, and that his ministry is called Fresh Fire?

Here’s an early 20th Century NY Times article on the pagan significance of St. John’s Day (June 24). Here are just some quotes that highlight fire worship.

“How many and varied have been the forms of what we may term degenerate fire worship, or, rather fire worship ceremonial and superstitious rites engrafted on Christianity?….It appears to me to be simply a survival of the worship of Baal which was the universal fatih of our fathers–a remnant of that great fire worship which prevailed over the whole world, as known to the ancients….”

Here is Todd Calling for a spirit of fire and a spirit of burning. Unfortunately for him he is calling for the judgment of God. Isa 4:4 – The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

Mt 3:12 – His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Mt 13:40 – “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

1Co 3:13 – his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.

Heb 10:27 – but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

Another interesting occurrence happened on this same date in 1947:

“The modern UFO era and the birth of the extraterrestrial hypothesis began on June 24, 1947, when Kenneth Arnold, flying his private plane near Mount Rainier in Washington, reported nine disk-shaped objects flying in formation at speeds he estimated to be over 1,000 miles per hour”

Is this all a coincidence? If so then there seems to be unseen hands arranging these circumstances and causing these men to speak certain phrases on an occult holiday.”

Pope Benedict with SMOM Grandmaster Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie