Thankfulness and Thanklessness

 

Thankfulness and Thanklessness

Let us look at both sides of the equation today. Start with Luke 17:11-19:

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee, and as he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.” When he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him- and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all 10 cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And then he said to him, “Rise and go, your faith has made you well.”

We know from other texts in the New Testament that the Jews hated the Samaritans and didn’t have anything to do with them. They considered them half-breeds, previous generations of Jews, but they had intermarried with Gentiles after the exile to Assyria, and then also the exile to Babylon; and they had perverted the true religion of Moses, the true religion of God, and were not following it.

However much that the Jews hated the Samaritans, we would have to say they hated lepers even worse. Leprosy was the most dreaded contagion of Jesus’ day. Everyone was terrified of that disease. It degenerated the human body, turning it into a disgusting living corpse. Lepers were shunned from all society, and they gathered into remote and terrible places like caves, and desert areas, and other hovels far from human society, away from family and friends. And they would have to stand at a distance if they ever got near somebody who didn’t have leprosy, and they would have to cry out “unclean, unclean.” They were not welcome at the temple area, they were not welcome in the synagogue, and so they had to stay away. So these 10 lepers were in that lamentable condition, living their tragic lives together in some kind of community. And desperate to escape their plight, to be cured, to be cleansed, and to return to normal society, to normal life—but the text says, “They stood at a distance.”

Now, they had heard, I believe, of Jesus’ power over all diseases. There was no disease that was too difficult for Jesus. He effortlessly brought healing to people. Perhaps these lepers had heard specifically of a healing he did very early in his ministry of a leper. The account is in Mark chapter 1.

So perhaps these 10 men came to Jesus with some hope that he would cleanse them, that he would have pity on them, and they cried out to him, “Have pity on us.” They were calling to Jesus’ astonishing compassion for outcasts, his heart of mercy. Our tendency, my tendency is to go away from human suffering. Jesus just went toward it, and so his heart melted with compassion. He also is a law unto himself, the exception to the law that he should not touch a leper. It’s no problem for Jesus to touch a leper. After all, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

And so Jesus works this miracle. Jesus did miracles in many different ways; it wasn’t the same thing every time. So in the case of that leper in Mark chapter 1, he chose to touch the leper, and this is his normal way. He wants a personal encounter with the people he’s healing, generally. He wants to touch Peter’s mother-in-law. He wants to find out the woman who touched the hem of his garment. He wants that interaction, and he generally heals one at a time, which is really, in one sense inefficient. I mean, he could just have a quick day of it, you know, gather 5,000, 10,000 people, “You’re all healed, go home,” and they would be. But instead, he wants that one-on-one encounter; He wants that intimate relationship. So with that, he healed them by touch. Other miracles, he has a different way of proving that He is God:  he’s not even in the vicinity, he’s not even there. In John 4, the royal official’s son, he’s healed remotely, and the man has to like corroborate the time and finds out, “Yeah, that was yesterday at the same time,” and his son is healed. He wasn’t even there. That’s an amazing healing. Bang! Just like that! But how did it occur? He didn’t touch him, He didn’t say anything, He just thought it.

In this case now, we’ve got 10 lepers, and he tells them, just like the one in Mark 1, “Go show yourself to the priest.” This time was different:  they’re not cured as they begin the journey to the priests; they’ve got to turn and begin walking, and while they’re on their way, they get cured. It’s really interesting, isn’t it? He never changes, He’s immutable, but His ways with us are different at different times.

 It reminds me of Joshua and the nation of Israel crossing the Jordan at flood stage, opposite Jericho. They had to step into the Jordan River, and then the water divided and they went over on dry ground. So step into the water, see what God does. Likewise, the lepers had to step out in faith. They had to begin the journey, they had to obey Jesus, and then en route, the cleansing happened.

Well, all 10 of them were equally cured, while walking to the priest. Jesus’ power went out in every case, but only one of them, having discovered how his body changed, wanted to return thanks; he wanted to go back to the one who gave the gift. Maybe he looked at his hand, you know you hear terrible stories about what leprosy does to people’s bodies and how they lose members of their body, digits even, fingers or horrible bleeding sores, that kind of thing. He looks down, and just like happened in Elisha’s time with Naaman the Syrian, remember, it said that his flesh was cleansed and became clean like that of a young man. So maybe the leper looked at his hand, and his missing fingers are  back just like Malchus’ ear that was hacked off by Peter when Jesus arrests him. Jesus made him a new ear! It’s just effortless. So he went back, and there was one thing that filled this man’s mind. One thing, thankfulness, “I must go back and thank Jesus.” And so he does, verse 15-16, “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him- and he was a Samaritan.” Now, this is a beautiful picture, isn’t it? Of a truly thankful person. His heart is filled with gratitude. His body is immersed in a moment of worship, and he’s there, giving glory to God in the person of his Son, his only begotten Son. He falls at Jesus’ feet and thanks God.

Now, in falling at Jesus’ feet, and this happens numbers of times in the Gospels, thanking Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth for this healing. So this demeanor, dear friends, I want you to picture it. This is why I’m preaching, that you would do the same, that you would go back to Jesus and thank God for what he’s done for you, that your heart would be overflowing with gratitude, with thankfulness to Jesus for what he has given you.

So that’s a sweet picture. It’s a positive picture. But we have to deal with the ingratitude, and Jesus addresses it. He uncovers it. Look at verse 17-18, “Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God, except this foreigner?’” Now, Jesus is underscoring the fact that nine out of 10 of these healed people never bothered to come back and say “Thank you” to God. They just went on their way, happy and healed, and blessed, and thankless.

I asked a dear friend, a godly man if he thought this ratio of lepers, 1:10, represented his ratio of thankfulness, appropriate thankfulness to God for the blessings he’s received. And he said, “One out of 10, really? 10%? No way. That would be on my best day on Earth. My most Spirit-filled day, I would notice 10% of the blessings God gives me in my life and thank him for it. Maybe 1% is heading toward the reality.” Time after time, day after day, we cry out to God for blessings. We ask him for healing, for our self or for others, we ask him for earthly blessings, financial blessings, blessings of success in various areas. We ask him for things. Time and time again, he answers. And it’s amazing how many times he blesses us in answer to prayer, and it’s just as amazing to me how many times he blesses us that we never prayed at all. But if he does answer our prayers, and even if he doesn’t, but blesses us, how often do we forget to thank him, do we live out thanklessness? Now, we need to understand, all of us begin that way. Before the saving grace of God comes into our lives, we begin as thankless people. So we’re surrounded by lost people who live out a consistent pattern of thanklessness to Almighty God. Paul talks about it in Romans 1:21, he says, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” So lost people spend their days immersed in a godless world of their own making. The marvels of creation surround them, yet they do not see the hand of a Creator that intelligently made those blessings; they don’t see it that way. The delicious fruits that they savor, a succulent peach or a crisp tart apple they eat, and it hits their taste buds, and they don’t think, “A loving Heavenly Father made this for my pleasure so I could enjoy it. Thank God for it.” They don’t think that way. Spectacular displays of foliage, my favorite time of year, fall, it’s so brief though. I guess it’s officially over, we put up our tree on Friday, so we’re on to the next holiday, but I mean, it’s still so warm and beautiful, and there’s still foliage, and it’s so beautiful. But, again, lost people are surrounded by these radiant beauties, the oranges, and reds, and that that fierce blue low humidity sky. And then at night, when you go out and look out, if you can get away from a population center, get away from what they call light pollution, and you look up and you can see the beauty of the stars, and it’s so beautiful, and lost people don’t see God in it, they don’t see God the Creator. Their own bodies, which Scripture says, that God knit together intelligently, “fearfully and wonderfully made in their mother’s womb,” they don’t give God credit for their own physical talents and skills. And when they do look up at the stars, and they see them, they might notice them, but they don’t see God in it. Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day, they pour forth speech. Night after night, they display knowledge.” But they don’t see that, they don’t hear that language. Unbelievers do not make room for the existence of God as they drink in creation. Psalm 10:4 says, “In his pride, the wicked does not seek him. In all his thoughts, there is no room for God.” And so they don’t thank God at all.

Now, years ago, my wife and I hosted a couple to our home, a man and his wife, and the man was a PhD student at Duke University. He was also a successful accomplished triathlete. He was a very accomplished, talented man. His wife had recently come to faith in Christ through a ministry in our church, much to this man’s great annoyance. I remember at one point I talked to him, I didn’t say these words, but you know that old statement, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” In other words, when you get into danger, when you get into extremity, you tend to go, cry out to God, “God help me,” you know, you’re skidding on black ice, and just say, “God,” you’re crying out to God, just… Well, he told me a very, very elaborate story of getting lost on a three-day camping trip out in California, and never once did he think of God, proud of that. And he thanked my wife for the meal, thanked me for the hospitality, He was very proud of his manners, proud of his thankfulness to Christie and me. “My momma raised me right,” he said. I said, “You know, actually, you have lived your whole life in God’s living room, and you have eaten God’s food, and you have drunk God’s drink, and you’ve looked at God’s scenery, don’t you think you ought to have good manners and thank Him?” It was the first part of the entire evening that he didn’t have an answer, a quick answer. But we’re no different. Apart from the grace of God, we would be thankless too. We’re being converted out of a thankless state into an eternity of thankfulness. So even once we’re converted, we struggle with thanklessness, with ingratitude.

There are two kinds of thieves of thanklessness that I bump into again and again, one is entitlement and the other is envy. Let’s talk about those briefly. Entitlement is, “I deserve the blessings I have. I earned these blessings. I earned the money that I have, I earned it; I deserve the blessings I have.” Now, it’s amazing how God cuts this one off at the pass with the Jews in Deuteronomy 8 before they even cross the Jordan, before they enter the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 8, God talks to them about this attitude in verse 17-18, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” God had warned the Israelites when they went into the Promised Land and they ate crops they did not plant and they drank from vineyards they did not tend, and when they lived in the houses they did not build, that they would become arrogant and forget God and stop thanking him.

I think we American Christians need to worry about this; we need to be concerned about this. That we have been so lavishly blessed that we may think we’re entitled to these blessings, we deserve to live in a free society, to have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, that we should have the right to elect our own governmental leaders. Do you realize the overwhelming majority of our brothers and sisters around the world do not have these blessings? We’re not entitled to them, we have them, we ought to thank God for them, but we should not take them for granted or expect them—so we are thankless for them, feeling entitlement. And I think with that comes expectancy, you’re entitled to things you don’t even have yet. I think this can be a problem for kids growing up in relatively affluent settings. Their parents, if they’re not careful, can raise entitled kids, and so you think you’re entitled to the latest electronics, or you’re entitled to a certain standard of living. It’s sometimes a wake-up call when you get your first job out of college, your first living wage job, and it’s less than your parents made, and it’s a big shock, and you’re like, “Wow, this is what starting out feels like.” It makes us thankless.

On the other side of it is envy. Envy is, “I’m jealous for the blessings another person has, I actually think I should have that blessing that I’m coveting, I think I should have that promotion that the other person got in my company, I should have that material possession.” And so as a result, you look at your own possessions and you’re just not thankful for them, and you’re just discontent. You have envy, and it drains out thankfulness. So just stop right now and ask God to search your heart and say, “Have these thieves of entitlement/expectation or envy been draining off my thankfulness? Search me O God and know my heart. Show me and teach me, and show me if there’s any offensive way in me. Lead me in the way everlasting.” 

Let’s now talk about the present, the power of present thankfulness. Let’s go positive. And it begins for us as Christians with our salvation. Psalm 103:1-3 says, “Praise the Lord, oh my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins.” Let’s start with that. Could you not, dear Christian, brother, and sister, whatever age you’re at, start and almost end with that? That you could go and throw yourself in your mind and your heart, at Jesus’ feet and thank him for the full forgiveness of all of your sins. That you are forgiven by God through the blood Jesus shed for you on the cross. We had worse than leprosy, spiritually. We were covered in guilt before the holy eyes of God, and there was nothing we could do to get clean, worse than leprosy. And we would be eternally excluded, not just from society, not just from the synagogue or from the temple area, or from friends and family gatherings; we would have been eternally excluded from heaven itself. We would have heard in reference to us, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” We would have heard that for us if our sins had not been forgiven, but they are forgiven for all who have trusted in Christ. And so we can go back and just fall on the ground before Jesus, maybe even physically. Go into your room, close the door, and fall on your face, like this leper did, and say, “Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for me for my sins.” It’s the single greatest blessing we have ever or ever could receive.

So just start there with the forgiveness of sins. This is the greatest blessing you could possibly receive, Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things?” Do you realize the logic of that verse is that there’s Jesus given by God for your sins and everything else, and there’s like an infinite gap between His holiness and us. If he gave you that, everything else is as nothing compared to that. So all of the things that are making life irksome for you or annoying you or difficult for you, blessings you haven’t received yet, whether healing, whether an earthly situation, a financial situation, etcetera, are infinitely below the gift of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, on the cross for you.

And if you don’t have some blessing, it’s because God thinks it’s best for you not to have it yet, and he may give it to you, but He just knows what He’s doing. He loves you, there’s no lack of love, no lack of power, no lack of generosity, he will give you all blessings that will be a benefit for the salvation of your soul and the advancement of his Kingdom, he will give them to you. So this extends, this forgiveness of sins extends to all other spiritual blessings, all of them flow through the blood of Jesus, each one of them, adoption into the family of God, the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, in local churches, healthy local churches, all of these spiritual blessings flow through the blood of Christ to you. And you should thank God for them. Thank God for your own faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God. Not by works so that no one can boast.” You can just go to God and say, “Thank you God that I believe in Jesus. To God be the glory that I have faith. I’m not faithless, I’m not an atheist; I’m not an unbeliever. I thank God for my faith.” You can thank God for your own obedience. Romans 6:17 says, “Thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed that form of teaching to which you were entrusted.” Romans 6:17, make it really simple. Thank God you obeyed. It’s like, “Wow, I should give God credit for my own obedience?” Yes, you should. If it weren’t for God’s grace, you would be disobedient; but thank God you obeyed the gospel.

Summarized from Dr. Andy Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church, Durham, NC, November 2020

 

When Persecution Comes

  I’m summarizing a great CD by David Bercot, about the possible upcoming persecution by the U.S. government against its Christian citizens, specifically those who “live out” the Bible. He begins by saying, there are two types of persecution: primary and secondary. Both are serious, in terms of possible death or imprisonment. "Primary" persecution may begin with a law--the intent of such a law is to outlaw Christianity itself, or to force everyone to worship another religion. The ancient Roman Empire made Christianity illegal around 90 AD, but thankfully, it was only enforced sporadically. Plus, Rome required everyone to believe in the divinity of Caesar. Today, primary persecution is practiced in North Korea, and in various sections of Near East countries under Islamic rule.

In "secondary" persecution, the intent is not necessarily to persecute Christians; but the law would require us to do something or say something that would violate Christ’s teachings. An example would be a conscription law requiring military service, which some Christians throughout the world would not do, maintaining that Jesus’ commands do not permit killing, even if he/she is the enemy.  Another example was where there were state churches established by the Catholic Church in the middle ages, and everyone was required to be a member, participating in its sacraments, thus implying agreement to all its doctrines. Many Waldensians, a serious Christian protesting group, went through the motions of attending Catholic services, but then had private meetings of their own. But other Waldensians still saw this as bowing to Rome, refused to do so, and came under severe persecution. In the end, all the Waldensians were declared heretical by Rome in 1215, they were nearly all killed or went elsewhere by the 1600s, and survive today in small groups in Italy, Germany, the U.S., Argentina, and Uruguay.

Mr. Bercot doesn’t feel that the U.S. Christians will face primary persecution in the next 20-30 years (barring a possible Great Tribulation), but considering how government can quickly and radically change, it’s better to be prepared now.

But Mr. Bercot does believe that secondary persecution in the U.S. is more likely, as more laws create a conflict between U.S. government requirements and our Christian faith. The question is, when to rebel.  That decision is sometimes uncertain, and Mr. Bercot believes we should pick our battles carefully. Every time some anti-ethical law is passed (abortion, for instance), it’s easy to feel rebellious. But remember, our first rule is to follow God’s Word in Romans 13:1-7:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Remember that Paul is writing during the time of one of the most violent governments in history, one that shortly would begin throwing Christians to the lions. Yet he doesn’t advocate open rebellion. So that means, for us: We lean toward obeying the laws
UNLESS obedience to the law would cause us to violate a law, or principle, of Jesus Christ.

To stick to the spirit of God’s Word, we should be the ones most conscientiously obeying the laws. But if the law demands that we disobey Christ’s commands, we ignore it. Follow the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of men.

Too many Christians break a law for light reasons. Here is an example of how we break the law simply because it’s “inconvenient” to our Christian work, and how we play games with our minds excusing our action. Say you run a food delivery and selling service to quite a number of people. The law requires that you have a commercial kitchen, subject to government certification and inspection and so forth. But you cut corners because you seriously don't have the money; if you obeyed the law, you would have to slash the profits or take on another occupation. Since that would harm your time available for outside Christian service, you justify (in your mind) breaking the commercial kitchen laws. But the Scriptural point is, nothing in the food law requires us to violate Christ’s principles. The law is just inconvenient to our time for Christ. So the law is not persecution. And breaking it is illegitimate and not condoned by Christ.

Many Christians are upset with Court decisions making laws such as gay marriage, transgenders, even pronouns that some people strangely prefer. Consider how our system of jurisprudence has become perverse. We learned in school the simplicity that laws are made by legislators, and interpreted by courts. But the truth is, courts have a lot to say about how a law is made. In the process of interpreting laws, courts also help shape how they finally look and are applied. They fill in gaps that are left by the statutes the legislators have left, they decide how various laws interact with one another, they restrict the operation of certain statutes, they may strike down a statute as being unconstitutional, and they may interpret a statute in unexpected ways. Their interpretation IS the law. You can’t have 300 million people with different opinions of what a law means having a say; anarchy would result. You need a final arbiter—and that is the Supreme Court. We may disagree with the result, but we have to follow their decision as law. But as we said before, UNLESS obedience to the law would cause us to violate a principle of Christ.

Many Christians feel the Court does not respect freedom of religion. Keep in mind, courts cannot give us absolute rights for freedom of religion. An example is when your idea of freedom of religion causes you to infringe on someone else’s rights. Case in point: the Ken Miller trial of several years ago. A woman had a baby while she was in a lesbian relationship. Both women grew to love the baby (whatever love meant to them). Later the mom became a Christian, broke off her relationship, and the Vermont courts had given the other woman visiting rights to the child, as a marriage would do. But now she objected to the relationship of the lesbian to her child. She could not get the courts to change, so she decided to flee the country rather than comply with the court’s visitation order. Her relative (Ken Miller, a pastor) helped her in what amounted to a parental kidnapping, and he was later convicted for doing so.

Keep in mind, both she and Ken can believe or speak whatever they want about homosexuality. Ken is free to teach that to his congregation (at least for now). He is free to deny membership of a homosexual at his church (since membership is a “privilege,” not a “right.”) He is free to refuse to participate in the marriage of two homosexuals, since they only have the right to get married by a state official, not to force any minister they choose (we have rights of association). The first amendment has given them all those rights. But their problem is, they have infringed on the court-granted rights of another—namely the right of visitation. Now if the other lesbian woman was a known child abuser, this story would be different. But a homosexual is not automatically a child abuser, so the court stood by her visitation right and against the man who helped someone infringe that right. (The authorities never found the kidnaper). The courts behaved properly, given the laws as they now stand.

On a related issue, the courts may also allow the state to force you to violate your first-amendment Christian beliefs, so long as they perceive that the state has an “overriding governmental interest.” For instance, the courts did decide that the first amendment doesn’t allow for conscientious objection when a country goes to war, since the “overriding” state interest is for preservation of the state and its freedoms, and every man should be armed to defend themselves to maintain that--even though you believe that Christ’s commands about how to treat enemies do not include killing them (what if some of them are believers, too? You have killed your brothers in the Lord). Fortunately, Congress moved contrarily, and made laws anyhow to legislate conscientious objection—but Congressional laws are not inalienable, and can be revoked by another law or by a court in a flash.

In another situation that went the other way, in Wisconsin vs. Yoder, the court decided that Wisconsin didn’t have an overriding interest in how the Amish children were only taught through eighth grade, when the state required 10th grade. The Amish children, having learned reading and writing, were then being taught superb vocational skills at home. The Amish and their kids were decent, tax-paying, law-abiding members of society, and not a financial burden on the state. Their breaking of the education law was for sincere religious purposes. So the eighth grade education was not shown to be harming society, and Wisconsin lost its effort to prove its overriding interest. The first amendment won here. (This story could be completely different if the court decided that Amish religion harmed the kids. Such an opinion would not upset too many people, in the current “spiritually asleep” culture).

Now you see that you can’t depend on court protection—but we stress that you don’t decide what to do based on it anyhow. The issue is, if they’re asking you to violate Christ’s commands, you have to rebel. Regardless of consequences.  If you were a conscientious objector, what if the Congress took away conscientious objection, would that mean you would have to grab a weapon and start killing? No. All Mr. Bercot is saying, is, don’t be under any illusions about court protection or constitutional protection from persecution. Don’t assume the rapture has to get here before you can be persecuted. Christ told us that persecution would be our lot (Matthew 5). He was persecuted, to say the least—and are servants any better than their master?

What are the legal issues breathing down our necks in America to give Christians trouble today? Mr. Bercot picks two: (1) children; and (2) homosexuals. On (1), the government has become more and more involved in “protecting” our children, and taking them away from parents on sometimes biased evidence. Maybe there is more child abuse going on, but maybe the problem is how the government defines child abuse differently than before. So far, it’s the cults that see their kids taken away, but don’t be surprised when people who are radical in the cause of Christ can expect to be seen as “cults” too. After all, some of them "isolate" their kids by doing home schooling, some restrict their kids from what they call “worldly” influences, and they dress funny (as opposed as the sexual apparel rampant today). Here is an interesting case that we can learn a lot from: the polygamous Mormon group in Texas in 2008. They had a thing for marrying young girls to men who wanted them obedient.  We disagree with their polygamous practices, of course, but hear me out for learning’s sake. The “child protection” that family service departments love to kick in, began from an anonymous call from a girl who claimed to be 14 and a member of the group, who told how she was sexually abused. The child protection services jumped and took away all the children of the group. I’m even talking babies. When later it was proven to be a false call—it actually came from a young woman in Colorado, who was never a member of the group, who made the story up—but still, the state refused to give back the kids! They continued their investigation for several months before returning most of them. Consider what that means, Christian, down the road—let's say, here’s a Christian religious group, maybe meeting at home, maybe having some “activist” or “funny” beliefs (we're not talking about polygamous here), and someone who doesn’t like them could make a prank call, and suddenly you could have the trauma of having the kids removed for several months and investigated. Sounds to me like you’re guilty until proven innocent, and government watchdogs are ignoring the trauma of separating children and parents. They do what government likes to do—they’re heavy-handed and slow.

For those of you who don’t care about the state’s abuse here, since weird cults are not OK with you (even though this group had lived quiet peaceable lives), just keep in mind the quote from Christian pastor Martin Niemoller during the early days of the Nazi oppression of the Jews, when most people weren’t interested in helping the Jews: “First they (the Nazis) came for the socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a socialist; then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist; then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew; then they came for me; and there was no one left to speak for me.” The day will come when serious Christians here will be under attack. Serious Christians are appearing as strange to more and more people, folks. What’s strange now (say, home schooling children), could become anti-public policy. And then WE will become a “cult.” I suggest we nip government arrogance by defending anyone whose rights are violated. But we're not talking violence.

It’s important to realize that a lot of hand-wringing could be avoided if we just wake up to the fact that the Supreme Court, the President, et al are going to do what comes naturally, as government is not majority-controlled by serious Christians—as is true for most institutions. I have argued in a separate blog that most people in America, in fact, are not Christians, even though they say they are. The statistics back up my claim. My point is, it does no good to become fearful over every wrong cultural movement and try to elect politicians who agree with us, when they really can’t make a difference, or betray us and our beliefs. The real key to protecting our kids, and ourselves, is to learn to love God, as “perfect love casts out fear,” I John 4:18. Develop spiritual keys to defeating life’s "down" times. We can’t rely on politicians to bring us peace and protection—we rely only on God, and His peace.

The second area of possible persecution for us are laws considering discrimination against homosexuals. An important sidebar is this—18 years ago, Canada made a law against “hate speech,” defined as speech or writing that “incites hatred against any identifiable group.” A devoted, but crude, Christian in Saskatchewan mailed out flyers, speaking against the public schools, how they endorsed homosexuality as an alternate
lifestyle. In 2013 he was guilty of violating the hate speech laws. What did he say, you ask? He said “now the homosexuals want to share their filth and propaganda with our children;” a sex education course “degenerated into a filthy session where gay and lesbian teachers used dirty language to describe lesbian sex and sodomy to their teenage audience.” I suspect if he smoothed his language, he wouldn’t have gone to court. (People don't like the word "filth.") But just because he is crude, do we strip him of his free speech? What group did he incite? There were no riots afterward. On the other hand, the media treated him as a Neanderthal, pathetic, a hater. THEY incited people to despise him, only they did it with cunning finesse. The point of all this is, I can see hate speech legislation not far off in America. We get blocked out on Facebook or websites that attempt to tell the truth about Mormonism, for instance (my recent blog).

There are many more important arguments that we could raise (such as people’s complacency--they assume they are saved when they’re not) to talk with people. You probably won’t win those arguments to them either, but you made them think about hell and heaven a little. Remember, neither Jesus nor His disciples spent a minute arguing against culture. As Paul said, he preached only Christ. The Holy Spirit will make them more moral, when they become saved. If we’re asked point blank about God and gays, I suggest we recite Scripture (people will make fun of it if it’s the Old Testament).  Work on your New Testament quotes, such as Romans 1:26 or Matthew 19—but don’t get any itchy trigger-finger to quote them. Let’s hope that simply quoting Scriptures will never throw you in courts as “hate speech”—but who knows when that may change?

Mr. Bercot sees the following in the future: (1) laws that require church and home schools to include homosexuality in the curriculum as an acceptable alternate lifestyle; and (2) laws that prohibit preaching against homosexuality as a sin, or as “wrong.” If a preacher wants to cover these subjects in his sermon, from God’s Word, it wouldn’t be a good idea for the church to record the sermon—it can then be used against the accuser in court.

Keep in mind that some vocations that are not desirable for serious Christians include: certified counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists, public schoolteachers, certain college professors, government officers—all of which will not certify you if you express the view that homosexuality is “wrong.” Stay away from these—along with operating a motel, an apartment, or running a B&B. You will be sued repeatedly for discriminating against homosexuals by not sheltering them overnight. If you’re a florist, someone will want you to decorate a gay wedding—the same idea goes for cake-making and videography. Christians are already losing regularly in courts in these areas.

So, what do Christians do? (1) Change the profession you’re in, or thinking of joining, if such would get you persecuted often. Or, if you’re a landlord, sell off part of the business, and downgrade the renting out to only a few units—the laws are often different for small businesses. These actions could involve sacrifices and loss of money, but that’s the cross we should gladly bear for Him. The other major option is (2) Heed Jesus’ advice in Matthew 10:23:

When they persecute you in this city, flee to another …

Why not move? You say it’s a federal law that I'm persecuted for, so it doesn’t help to move—but remember, enforcement tends to be sporadic; it depends on local sensitivities. Moving out of San Francisco to Tennessee might leave you untouched til’ you retire. Before you move, study your possible new locations and the leaders of local society, carefully. Remember, don’t get paranoid yet—despite the Canadian hate crime law, nobody has been arrested preaching in a Canadian church (maybe that’s because the pastors are avoiding “hot” subjects). But if things get really bad all over the USA, consider even moving to another country. There are many that are kinder to Christians than the U.S., even right now.

If we face laws in the future that criminalize the way we educate our children, it’s smart to move before the state moves in to grab your child. Fleeing after that means you get charged with parental kidnapping, which is a felony—and kidnapping is a federal offense, which means the FBI is after you.  Parental kidnapping is a continuing offense, so the FBI never stops looking for you—the statute of limitations doesn’t even start until you’re apprehended. And don’t forget, if the state grabs your child, it’s smarter to work through the legal system, than to grab the child and run when you visit. Then if they catch you, you will most likely permanently lose custody.

If you do grab your child and are ready to run after a court order against you, beware of leaving “tracks” in the form of digital or electronic footprints. Emails may serve as silent witnesses against us. Just “deleting” it doesn’t remove it from your computer, unless you have a software program which buries it by overwriting it with countless lines of gibberish. That make the forensic guys crazy. Forensic guys can determine the date and brand of a flash drive inserted into your computer as well. They can also trace any Google searches you’ve made. You don’t want to give away information on where you’re headed if fleeing from the government. Keep in mind, emails that you have sent have a recipient—and emails that you receive have a sender, whose computer may be searched by the government as well as yours. Also keep in mind that g-mails are also stored on Google servers, which the government may access by forcing Google to turn them over. Any service provider, for that matter, may have a copy of your emails.

The solution? Don’t use emails to communicate sensitive topics. Try old-tech--send letters, using a trusted courier if speed is necessary. If you’re already under investigation, keep in mind, the government may open your letters. It helps to send out through a public postal bin in another town, leaving your name and address off the envelope. Or try face-to-face communication, if at all possible.

Cell phones are another problem. If you talk during your escape, you can be traced by the government by simply seeing what tower it’s pinging from. The phone also has GPS, which the government can trace you as well even if you don’t call anyone. Best to remove the batteries when you’re running. Turn off any other GPS systems, like "waze" or Googlefor travel, unless you absolutely need it for navigation (go back to Mapquest, maybe?)

When talking at home, remember that land lines have more privacy, since it’s harder for the government to tap—they need a court order. But they can obtain records on who you called—and the government might use them to help locate you, or they might use the call-recipient as witness against you.

Solution? Ditch the cell phone when on the move. Use public or "burner" phones. Thus, the way to beat the government’s high-tech capabilities is—go low-tech.

Finally, if you’re arrested, you will be advised of your Miranda rights. Take advantage of them. Say nothing except “let me call a lawyer.” Ignore the police’s telling you “it will go a lot easier for you” to confess. It’s a lie. Also, be aware of a document called “search incident to an arrest.” It gives the government freedom to search and attach whatever’s on you or close around you when they arrest you.  It’s best, if you can see the arresting officers approaching your door, to drop your cell phone, then go outside, close the door behind you, and then get arrested. If you’re in your car, with GPS, or computer nearby, it’s best to park, lock, and walk to the arresting officers, or get someone else to drive you to the police station. Finally, IF you’ve already been charged with a crime, destroying evidence after that is also a crime. My previous advice on deleting can be done before you’ve been officially charged. Keep in mind—an arrest does not mean you have been charged yet, don’t assume that.

Don’t forget, all communication with your attorney is confidential, so you need to be honest about your past. BUT don’t share your intent to engage in “crimes” in the future—that’s not protected by law, and your attorney can be forced to witness that against you. It is legal to discuss with your attorney “what if” scenarios to try to determine what’s within the boundary of the law. “What if” is not a crime yet (except in the movie Minority Report). Also keep in mind, everyone you involve in helping you could also be prosecuted with you. The less you tell them about what you’re doing, the better—or if you could do it yourself, that might be best. But you would miss out on the bonding experience of doing something “illegal” together for the cause of Christ. The day may come when small groups of Christians will have great causes and sacrifice their lives and reputations together.
Let us be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves. Our lives mean nothing in the cause of Christ. Endure the hard times, to be with Him eternally—a much better goal, is it not?

Acknowledgement: Dave Bercot CD, “When Persecution Comes,” Scroll Publishing.

 

Jonah vs. Manasses: God's Repentance vs. God's Judgment

 I want to tell you a Bible story that will illustrate clearly how God feels about abortion. Consider this: America has really not retracted from its views on abortion; the hope is still just a hope that we will end that killing. To prove it, a quote from a believable news source: "In the first three months of 2024, the average number of abortions in the United States was 98,990 per month, which is about 14% higher than the same period in 2023. The number of abortions in the US has been increasing, despite bans in over a dozen states since the US Supreme Court's Dobbs decision in June 2022." We still allow around one million babies to be killed in the womb in the U.S. every year. We tinker with abortion by not allowing it in later weeks or trimesters, etc, by putting up delay obstacles, but we do not believe that it is a soul that we kill, despite Scripture telling us so.  I read about how Asians around the world are still memorializing the 2004 earthquake and tsunami that killed 228,000 people. An astounding number. But: If you do 260 more just like it, you finally get close to the number of babies murdered through abortion in the U.S. since Roe (1973) was enacted, through today. That’s 62 million little lives lost. Where is our outrage?

Well, here is the rlevant Scripture story I want to tell:  It begins with how evil the ancient Canaanites were (you can read about them in the book of Genesis, Joshua, and several more).  Just as a sidelight, one of their worship  practices was called the teraphim. Teraphim is ancestor-worship. When they wanted to zealously follow it, they would take the first-born male of their family and cut off his head!  The hair of the head would be removed, and then the head would be salted and oiled, thus preserving the son's features. The dessicated head was supposed to retain contact with the departed spirit. So, with the proper ritual, the head could serve as a conduit to the spirit world, passing information between a family and their ancestor gods. The book of Jasher (a reliable book, mentioned in Joshua 10:13) records the following steps:

…taking a small tablet of copper…and writing the name of the person you desire to contact on it, and placing the tablet under his tongue and putting the skull in the house, and lighting up lights before it and bowing down to it. And at the time when they bow down to it, it spoke to them in all matters that they ask of it…

This, by the way, changed my opinion of ancestor worship, from neutral to worse. This is demonology. It also strengthens my understanding of why God would initiate such a severe judgment on the Canaanites—He is a holy God, and never tolerates killing the innocents without passing severe judgment.

Let’s take another look at another unspeakable “religious” practice of the Canaanites.  Ahab, a Jewish king, was also involved. When we think of Ahab, we think of  his wife Jezebel. But he has his own tale of evil. He adopted many religious practices from the Canaanites. The Canaanites were so evil that God told Israel to attack them and not leave a single soul breathing. That may seem unjust--but look at the previous paragraph for the reason why.  And here's their second horrible offense:  killing children as a sacrifice offering. This was in honor of the god Molech, a god of Baal. This is where Ahab got involved.  Here is II Chronicles 28:3 about his “religious” worship copied from the Canaanites:

He (Ahab) burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

This horrific act seems beyond understanding. Why did Ahab do it? Well, maybe it was due to some other sexual “benefits” of worshipping Baal and Molech that might outweigh losing a son. (It helped if you had many wives and many sons; the pain of losing one was lessened). The religion, after all, included sex rituals such as, would you believe, sodomy and prostitution in religious liturgy, and adultery with swapping wives and fornication with other men’s virgin daughters.  An accessible trade-off, I guess, for sacrificing your son.

Unfortunately a later Jewish king, Manasseh, did the same shocking thing. But he did even worse: he promoted it among the people! Many Israelites followed his lead. From II Kings 21:11:

“Because Manasseh king of Judah (a Jewish country) has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols)...

More on Manasseh’s sin, II Chronicles 33:2-3, 6-7:

But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them...6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God…

The sorcery, too, was forbidden by God.  He did much more than Ahab in sorcery.  And it was unbelievable that he would set an image in God’s house. And don't forget; he publicized this in Israel.

God is also totally against mediums and spiritists, as you see in Deuteronomy 18:9-14:

“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.

As you can see, making your children “pass through the fire,” a sacrificial murder of your own child (similar to aborting an innocent baby, my main point), was mentioned as early as Deuteronomy. This practice, and God’s hatred of it, had been known a long time. So these two kings, Ahab and Manasseh, were in direct violation of a plain command of God.

But let’s get back to our story. Manasseh’s sin (promoting it to the people, and doing it in God's house) was so great in the eyes of God that God promised His anger could not be quenched. The sad words are in II Kings 21:12-15, right next to verses on Manasseh above:

… therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 … I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.
’”

Manasseh’s specific sin, again?  In the next verse:

Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

It was the innocent blood. Blood of little children. "From one end" of Jerusalem "to another" meant lots of people followed his lead. Now Jesus loves little children. Manasseh’s sin, being publicized, the murder of the innocents was that much greater. (But it doesn’t hold a candle to America’s sin thus far, 62 million souls!)

Now you expect judgment on this, and--perchance, if there is repentance, God is OK again, right? Well, now you’re going to see a part of God you don’t want to see.  To do that, we switch stories:

We’ve all heard about how Jonah, after being burped out of a big fish, preached to the vicious Assyrians, you heard about their repentance—and how God changed His mind of His promise of judgment on them. Great story about God’s mercy. Yes, we’ve all heard of the Jonah story, and there are many kids’ books about it. But did you know that Manasseh repented, and had a great reformation? Have you ever heard what happened after that? Doubtful. Well, did you ever hear about how his grandson Josiah had an even greater revival, the greatest in human history? What, you’ve never heard that one either? Not surprising, considering God’s reaction to this wonderful repentance is “unexpected.” Let me warn you:  We all just need to know more about God. We have imagined His mercy is unending— but for a nation, that might not be a true image. Kind of important since He has the keys to every nation's judgment.

First, Manasseh’s judgment and repentance. From II Chronicles 33:11-16:

And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. 11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. 14 After this he (Manasseh)…took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. 16 He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

So, you say, the land was forgiven, right? Jerusalem was saved, right? Uh, no... Manasseh died right after that. Then there was a short reign of his son, who was killed. Then his grandson Josiah comes to power. During his reign, the priests find the buried Book of the Law, blew the dust off, and read it to Josiah. He tore his clothes in distress.  II Kings 22:13 records Josiah's great words:

“Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

Later, he does a “clean-up” operation like his grandfather, only better; and this is what joyous Scriptures record, from II Kings 23:1-10:

Now the king (Josiah) sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. 3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.6 And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate… 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

The “high places” that he tore down, in case you’re wondering, based on other Scriptures, seem to be where the religious prostitutes were. He eliminated that practice. He executed the priests of the high places, by the way. And he removed those who consulted mediums and spiritists. Josiah goes farther than his repentant grandfather, and he goes out of his way to defile the worship places of false gods—and he gets the populace involved with making a covenant to God. The main thing is that he stopped the sacrifice killing of children.

He goes even further yet. In honor of religious holidays that he’d just heard about, he institutes a Passover festival (memorializing God’s miracles which saved them from Egypt). We read this joyous event in II Chronicles 35:18:

There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

All in all, he was praised as a wonderful king—he gets higher praise than King David. Think about that! From II Kings 23:25:

Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

So, you say, God forgave the land, right? Jerusalem was saved, right? If God could give the vicious Assyrians a break with Jonah, He could give His favorites, the “apple of His eye,” a break, right? I mean, two repentances, two reforms.  Uh….no. Only five verses after the great Passover festival, only four verses after the verses recording the reformation above, Josiah was simply…dead. Explanation? From II Kings 23:26:

Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.

So, great reformation and the greatest revival in history could not bring forgiveness. I remind you, what were the “provocations” that were unable to save Jerusalem? Killing the innocents.

Immediately after Josiah, it turns out that the Israeli kings, and soon the land, too, after bloody defeats in battles, are in the hand of their enemies. You can see why this story is not in kids’ books, and not well-known. We don’t like stories with a bad ending. But if you kill the innocent--your country is eventually wiped off the map. Shouldn’t we expect the same for the U.S.--or even worse, since we have not even repented? A country who seems to lack the spiritual power to slow down or stop the status quo of killing a million innocents a year?  America could be another great power in the dust--which seems to have happened to every great power in the past.

Now if any of my readers out there had an abortion, or encouraged one, that's a different subject than a country. Now we’re talking about your individual soul. You will have different consequences than Israel if you repent. Murder will, indeed, get you to hell—unless you repent and begin living your life for Christ, who came to die to pay for your sin. Become a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,” as Romans 12:1 puts it. It’s never too late to confess and begin to have guilt-free living.

Acknowledgement: Ancient Paganism, Ken Johnson

The awareness of spirits

 

Perhaps you heard recently that a famous newsmaker and political commentator, 55-year old Tucker Carlson, said that he was attacked in his sleep by a demonic creature. Given that he is a rational man, not touched by religious hysteria, this raises questions. So let's dwell on that topic. A talk on the supernatural by Dr. John Barnett (from Dallas Theological Seminary), who teaches Scripture online from Oklahoma, is focusing on Revelation chapter 9 (and other places), is a worthwhile place to begin. The terrible events listed in his talk are future--but possibly not a far future. We will not "Frank Peretti," or fictionalize it--these statements are backed by the Bible. You may be uncomfortable with the subject, but why not have a willingness to learn more about our greatest enemy and deceiver--and our allies in this upcoming battle--don't you think? 

We've all heard of UFOs (renamed UAPs, by the way). If some are real, who are these aliens? Some of what we hear are fakes, but there are real aliens--but they are not what you think.They do not behave as  human, so we need a Biblical cosmology, or framework. So, with Biblical backing, let's begin. 

We'll start by saying we know they are created; God has created everything. When He is done gathering His own on earth, He's destroying the whole world--and then comes judgement, and then He takes us to our new homes--which will be heaven or hell. 

Those aliens that are real are Satan's demons. They made a massive invasion of the earth once, in Noah's day, and created giants (see Genesis 6:4ff, and my blog). God had to put the leaders of that invasion in a prison, likely deep in the earth. The giants were charismatic, and they converted many people into worshiping them. At the flood of Noah, there were only 8 people saved on the ark that weren't demonized (another author believes that this invasion took up to 1200 years of growth in addicting people to sin to accomplish this feat). The entire human race were destroyed (and there were lots of people, since they lived over 800 years then), since they gave themselves over to demons. In Genesis 6:5-6 it says:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

With those 8, population began again. But sin grew large, too. Lost humanity has alway been fascinated with demons and the dark arts. Many around the globe today worship what they call "gods." But our God, as Scripture says, is the only real God; the rest of the "gods" that are worshiped are demons, created by God as good angels that turned bad. They ultimately can't do what God won't permit. God can restrict them, or allow them to act more freely, to kill people, to tempt masses of people to sin. (I am not saying that they--or God---are responsible for our sin. We have choices.) The word demon has a Greek origin, daemon. It was created there because Greeks, too, felt a world of super-powerful beings. Unfortunately we call their stories Greek "mythology," suggesting they are fables. But did you know that Mt. Olympus, Zeus, Athena, and such all have a kernel of truth, since the giants mentioned in Genesis 6 were influencers, and were even worshiped for a time. There were, and are, super-powerful immortal giants in every country's stories--like Gilgamesh in ancient Iraq and Syria, for example. These were demons. 

The apostle Paul basically said "behind every idol is a demon"  (I Corinthians 10:19,20). Behind every Buddha statue, behind all of India's 10,000 "gods" idols, behind statues of Mary, lit up in the dark, in poor, rural Latin America--in every culture in this world, they worship demons. 

God desires to break this fascination with demons. We need to see how evil they are, and how deceptive they are.  

So Revelation 9 begins with how God will allow the pit of the imprisoned demons that I mentioned above, to be opened, and release many of them. They will lead a murderous rampage. First, they will be cursed into a horrible breed of locusts. From Revelation 9:1ff:

Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ..5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

Unbelieving Man will get a taste of searing torments (which should let them see that God is not just a God of love, but a God of holiness and judgment against those who ignore and rebel against Him). The locusts can sting like a scorpion, repeatedly, for five months. And yet five months is nothing compared to the torture of hell, which is pain for eternity. There will be Evangelists who will speak boldly of the holiness of God in that time, urging people to avoid hell through its only escape, Jesus.  But most people, their heart will be hardened by sin. Read II Timothy 3:1-5a:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power...

In Revelation 9:1, details on what will happen are these: an angel with the fifth trumpet sounds, and an angel (called a "star") falls from heaven and opens the bottomless pit. Pastor Barnett believes this is Satan falling from heaven, and he quotes Isaiah 14:12, but not so. This angel was given a key to open the pit, something that God would not give to Satan or His demons In Revelation 9:11, the names given to the evil angel who led this horrible group were"Abaddon" and "Apollyon." Smoke is billowing out, and eruptions start, like a new volcano. And it darkens the sky. People will be telecommunicating this to all the world through their phones and  in the media. This would be an opportune event for the two witnesses/evangelists to be prophesying of God and judgment right there. (They were later killed (Revelation 11)--a risk that all those who speak of God's judgment would likely take). And out of the smoke, the locusts will come. They prey on everybody except those that have the seal of God upon their foreheads (Revelation 9:4). A foretaste of this event happened in Ezekial 9:4, where God protected by this technique some priests, so they could carry the Old Testament Bible to safety--to prevent the Babylonians from burning the Scriptures along with everything else. You should know that all true disciples of Christ today are sealed too (not with a visible mark)--by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 1:13). This seal is not to be confused with the often-mentioned 666 mark on foreheads or hands; that was earlier, and will be implanted on those who choose the secular world, or Satan, for protection, then, instead of God. This very big wrong choice binds these people for hell (Revelation 14:9-10).

God has super-angels out there too, ones that didn't rebel against Him. and didn't become demons. Remember, God created all the angels immortal, and knew in advance that some would go bad and help drag some men and women into hell. Though we might therefore want to blame God, the responsibility is still ours for our sins; we always have choices--and frequently choose wrong, and sin. Why He allowed that rebellion of angels to go on is beyond the scope of this paper. Lucifer, who became Satan, and led the rebellion, previously had a prestigious position in heaven. He was a head of worship there. He was a sheltering cherub. Most angels do not have wings, but Lucifer, and cherubs, did--and he would hold his wings above God's head, to reflect all His light and praise back down upon God. He was the first of God's angelic creation (before Man was created), brilliant, powerful--but, even though he observed God and all His glory, he became proud of his position in heaven, and fell in love with himself, thought he would become like God, and betrayed his Creator. Read Isaiah 14 and Ezekial 28. 

This, by the way, is another proof that the Bible is inspired by God. A human writer would make Lucifer say, "I will become greater than God." But the real Satan was shiftier; he knew that nobody among God's creation could become greater. Just "like" God was good enough--or, really, bad enough, to think that you could be a god. There is only one God; He is self-existent, He has no beginning. Who else could say that? God is everywhere, all at once (called omnipresence). He can read our minds. All the superiorities of angels are topped by God's superiority. He is more powerful than any angel, good or bad. He is uncreated; He IS. But angels, though they live forever from their creation, had a beginning.

To show the devastation that people will suffer because of these demon invasions, in the fourth seal (Revelation 6), demonic Men will be responsible for killing 1/4 of the population of the earth (today that would be over 2 billion people; compare with World War 2's 85 million killed). But this death number will be matched by trumpet 6's 1/3 of the earth's population killed. In trumpet 6, though, the responsibilty for deaths will be God; in Revelation 9:13-15, He ordered a good angel to release evil angels to lead others to their deathly work. Using today's numbers, after seal 4 wiped out 2 billion, trumpet 6 kills another 2 billion. A total of 50% of the population will be gone, 4 billion. (In the Black Plague, 2/3 of the population of Europe were wiped out, but "only" 25 million people.) Why would God release evil angels to do this massive killing? Perhaps because by doing it we, the readers (and those who experience it in the future) will think more on the subject of our mortality, and on God's demand for accountabilty for sin and judgment. I guess you could call it being "scared out of hell." Well, what works then, could be different than now, since people will be dying all around. We need to think more on our future beyond death. Eternity is more important than this life. Reading or hearing sermons about it helps us to prepare for what's coming. 

He now presents a somewhat detailed view of angelology.  Angels were created when God was forming the earth, so this preceded His creation of Man (Job 38:4,7; and compare Genesis 1 vs Genesis 2). One-third of the angels decided to follow Lucifer (Satan) rather than God (Revelation 12: The dragon is Satan, the stars are angels. His tail captures 1/3 of them in his orbit). Those 1/3 became demons. II Peter 2:4 tells us that some of their leaders eventually were cast into a prison (called tartarus in Greek). They are still there today, though many of them  will be released in the last days, with the door to the pit being opened, as we have discussed. 

All angels, good or bad, are supernatural. That means they are immortal, so they are indestructible. They are spirits, so they are invisible--they can't be seen or felt unless they are ordered to do so, or want to show off. They can travel faster then light--but they can only be in one place at a time. If you have a demon assigned to watch you by a higher demon, they might figure out your thoughts--while he can't read your mind, unlike God--he can guess at it by your talk on the phone or in person, and he may even read your journal as you write. Demons will "report you" to a higher demon if you appear to be a dangerous enemy of theirs down the line. They hate it when you pray, give, or speak up for your faith. Satan might develop a program of extreme pressure for your type, to make you break. True Christians have targets on their backs, unfortunately. But there are rewards for them in heaven for persevering in the Lord. 

You should be aware that everyone, among humans, at conception (not at birth), has an immortal spirit. Angels are spirits, and their DNA is different from us, who have human spirits. Our spirit means we too will live endlessly--somewhere. True Christians will have a fabulous body in heaven. 

Angels, good or bad, don't need rest or sleep, and don't need food. There is a group of angels given the name "cherubim," as I mentioned Lucifer being one. One of them is called a cherub--but they are not babies, despite the classical paintings and the sounding of the word. They have four wings and four faces (Ezekial 1). Two of them fashioned the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. There are gold images of them on top of that seat. Some have the duty of guarding God's holy places--such as protecting the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24), and their images were on veils of the Tabernacle. 

Another group of angels are archangels; there are likely seven of them, such as Michael and Gabriel. They could appear as flames of fire (Hebrews 1:7 and Revelation 4:5). They lead good angels into battle. 

In the future, Satan and his demons will not have access to God as accusers, such as Job 1 says. That's because Michael and his angels will do battle with Satan and his demonic angels. Michael's group wil win, and toss Satan and his angels out of access to be accusers of us to God in heaven (Revelation 12:7-9). 

Finally, there are seraphim, other flaming angels. They have six wings (Isaiah 6). There are four seraphims flying around God's throne, endlessly singing of His holiness. Finally, "our" angels are "ministering spirits...for those who will inherit salvation," as Hebrews 1:14 puts it. When a good angel has a message for humanity--and when recorded in Scripture--they are not ghosts--they can bring a message in your sleep. They made rare appearances on earth, when they could be confused as human. The good angels refuse worship. Since their appearances are seldom, if you see one (not because you're on drugs), your best bet is to figure this is an evil angel who wants to tempt you.  He may appear as an angel of light, even. The good angels did not do that in Scripture. Best to call on the name of Jesus and He will banish it. A demon can't stand to be around for that Name. 

Satan is deceptively known as an angel of light. There is also a group of destroyers, who performed a remarkable feat in Exodus. God allowed the destroyer angels to kill every firstborn among the Egyptian children, even grown children. Keep in mind, Egyptians abused the Israelites as slaves. That killing of the firstborn included the firstborn of animals. God gave the Hebrews a way of escape, by attaching a blood insignia over, and on the sides, of their door. In the shape of a cross. God would "pass over" the Jews who had faith enough to do that. The destroyer angels were sent out overnight, and somehow they found out which cattle, or calves, were firstborn, and did that for Egyptian firstborn too--and killed them all. Except those who did the passover instructions. This was a representation of the crucifixion of Our Lord, whose shed blood enables us to pass over permanent spiritual death because of our sin. I have a blog on that, and how we should reconcile with Jews, since their Passover holiday is a foretaste of our holiday representing the crucifixion and resurrection of Our Lord.  Our holidys also have similar dates, after all. In the Jewish calendar, Passover is celebrated on Nisan 14 (early April). Our holiday, however, became Easter, a substitution date to separate us from the Jews. But our "Easter" has pagan, sexual roots. Early bishops did a great job, huh? What Scriptural reference can you find for the bunnies and candy, when it is supposed to be memorializing Christ's crucifixion and resurrection?  Christmas has been jerked around, too. 

The final word on the destroyer angels: When they will be done torturing mankind with stinging locusts, four more of them will be released from the bottomless pit (Revelation 9:13ff), and they will lead a gigantic troop of 200 million killers (are they all men? angels? we don't know--Pastor Barnett is convinced these are all demon angels, not Chinese). This is the group that will kill 1/3 of all the earth's people. Their horses even have the power to breathe fire, brimstone, and smoke. This event is not to be confused with Revelation 16, the Har Megiddo (Armageddon) battle. An actual place in Israel is already picked out for this battle, which is the biggest of mankind. It pits demonized, murderous armies against Jesus Christ and His angel army. Their group is headed by three demons. Guess who wins?

Because only some of the imprisoned angels will be released from the pit, those that stay there are called doomed angels, another "class"of evil angels. Also, Daniel 10 talks about the "nation princes" of angels--the prince of Persia, or the ruler of evil over Greece, etc. There are demon angels that help Satan's chess pieces in his plan of attack on Christ and His people. 

What do we need to keep from going out of our minds? To think God's thoughts? To know what He wants us to do? Let us memorize Ephesians 6:12-13, which says:

 ...we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand....

Evil will run rampant in future days. Think of their power; they could cover Job's body with boils.  They started a tornado that wiped out Job's agricultural assets, and killed his children. And how they could move Sabeans to go on a killing spree, killing Job's servants. They will have the power to kill 2 billion people at once, in the last days.  Only real Christians that persevere and always stand for the Lord. Even in the face of  giving their lives for the Lord, their souls will be saved. Heaven is worth it--consider the alternative, hell.  We're talking eternity's decision here, not something to benefit our family for 20 years. True, Satan accuses our sins before God. But real Christians have an Advocate, Jesus Christ (I John 2:1). He pleads His blood on our behalf. We must memorize Scripture like this (and the "armor of God," in verses just after), to not give up hope. 

I realize that many of you do not believe in the multiple supernatural events and spirits enumerated here. Or perhaps you don't believe in the prophecies of the future that I've touched on. I assure you, I have only scratched the surface, there are so many. Unfortunately, the secular displays of Christmas and Easter and talks given by compromised pastors never admit that Mary was a virgin impregnated by the Holy Spirit to make it possible for her firstborn son, Jesus, to be sinless. The number of supernatural events goes on with those around her receiving words from angels on what was the infant she possessed, and Joseph heard from angels on how to protect her from Satan, who wanted to kill her and/or the baby Jesus. The world, and perhaps your "church," don't like to dwell on supernatural events, or explain how that has a significant effect in the true Gospel. Many pastors have decided to stay away from the subject, and just concentrate on Jesus and His good works. Unfortunately, there is a devil's lie in doing that. That kind of thinking denudes Jesus of proof of His deity--He was/is God. He was not corrupted with the DNA of men, who were given the curse of carrying around bad DNA, which makes all of us lean toward sin and rebelling against God. Just ignoring His rule in our lives every day means we are sinners, no matter how good we treat people or how often we go to church. Perhaps the few of you who are still reading, are here just out of curiosity. So you will forget all this, and ignore thinking about what happens when you die. Some of you non-believers even call yourself "Christian." A word of warning, if that is your case. If you are a real Christian, Jesus claimed the Bible at that time was His Word. I have Old Testament quotes above, but there are a hundred more, which prophesy supernatural events. God's plan for mankind's future is indeed laid out in Scripture, if you're interested. If you ignore them, and are unprepared for the last horrible days, it follows you are more likely to follow a secular, easy way to obtain food and shelter for your family when the Antichrist makes following Christ a capital offense. Thinking of your family's needs in this world may seem admirable, but Scripture clearly points out that if people don't love God enough to follow His hard commands, they are still on the way to hell for the next world--and their families, if they follow that example. Though you may have professed Christ before, the Bible says that only the ones who persevere in following His commands in those dark days, will attain heaven (Matthew 24:13, James 1:12, Hebrews 10:36, and of course, Matthew 7:21). 

May God help you in your search for Truth.