The gods of Today’s World
It is not a stretch to consider that professing saints who willfully ignore the threat of the spiritual world also fail, at least to some extent, in their own Bibles. It is clear that demonic forces are everywhere. Perhaps many simply don’t want to be seen as weird for contributing so many obvious and visible problems to such an invisible source, and thus are willing dismiss them. Yet, the interesting truth is that the world, as a whole, is growing more spiritual, not less so.
???? *Excerpt from denisonforum.org As Halloween approaches this Sunday, I found these facts about Americans to be relevant:
- 70 percent of us will celebrate the upcoming holiday; the figure rises to 91 percent for parents with children in their home.
- 88 percent of parents say they eat their children’s candy.
- 32 percent say there is no age limit for trick-or-treating.
- 46 percent believe ghosts are real.
As to why so many Americans believe in ghosts, the New York Times cites the rise of Americans claiming no religious preference and quotes sociologist Thomas Mowen in response: “People are looking to other things or nontraditional things to answer life’s big questions that don’t necessarily include religion.” Interestingly, Mowen says he is finding that “atheists tend to report higher belief in the paranormal than religious folk.”
In other words, many do not believe in the supernatural when it refers to God, but they do when it does not.
For example, the Washington Post is carrying a feature-length portrait of a “teenage witch” who lives in Austin, Texas. The article reports that the hashtag #witchtok on TikTok has 19.4 billion views. The teenager profiled by the Post says, “I’ve never felt more peace than when I’m with my gods. Reading a prayer or doing a ritual. It’s like the earth is alive, a way of stepping into my power as a person.”*
While Christians are reluctant to acknowledge the existence and power of the spiritual world, the secular world welcomes it, and this is a recipe for widespread demonic influence and possession. Evil forces of darkness and acceptance of them are manifesting everywhere, masking themselves in the culture of our day and spirit of the time.
???? Zeitgeist DEF the spirit of the time; the general trend of thought, feeling, or tastes characteristic of a particular period of time:
Overwhelmingly, this zeitgeist, or “spirit of the time” is evil, manipulating popular opinion through various stages of acceptance to demonic ideas. It begins with toleration then progresses to apathy, usually from exposure fatigue. Then feelings move toward acceptance and end up turning into love and defense of them. It’s slow and subtle, but after all, isn’t that is the nature of Satan? For this very reason, the Lord instructed the Hebrews of the old testament to utterly destroy the pagan nations and their idols that inhabited the promised land of Canaan. He knew that the continued exposure to idolatry surrounding them would eventually destroy them.
???? ***Psalms 106:34-38 34**They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: **35**But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. **36**And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. **37**Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, **38*And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
There is a price to pay for disobedience, and the end result of those who are accepting of the zeitgeist and its culture of idolatry is the worship of demons.
Remember Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (aka Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego). They were an extreme minority unwilling to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s image of idolatry, and they were sentenced to death for it. Remember the prophets of Jezebel and Baal, that many of them had persuaded the Hebrews to worship idolatry, and found a way to kill the true prophets of God. It has always been Satan’s M.O. to make idolatry popular and use them as leverage to kill the remnant of faithful believers. In these stories, we should not just consider the threat of persecution, but we should consider just how many ultimately became persecutors.
As believers persecution is not the real threat. The real danger lies in how easy it is to become a persecutor.
Every professing believer must ask themself, “Do I frequently find myself defending popular opinion”? “Have I recently found reason to take sides with the zeitgeist (spirit of the age), though it moves contrary to the Spirit of God? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it is necessary to repent, for the craftiness of Satan’s kingdom may have already done damage to your soul and spirit.
???? 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
As Corinthians makes clear, God’s instruction to the Hebrews is akin to his desire today. We are to have no fellowship with unrighteousness. We are to have no agreement with idols? But what about these idols? Are they mere golden statues or inanimate objects, or are they something more serious?
Idols or Gods?
God’s word is clear about idols, so clear that the Lord’s command to abstain from them is 2nd on the list of the first 10 commandments
???? Exodus 20:3-5 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Idols are forbidden, period. We are explicitly commanded not to make a graven image or likeness of any thing that is in heaven or the earth. That doesn’t mean that all sculptures are evil, but when they are regarded as objects of worship or spiritual significance, they are idols, even if they are attempts to illustrate Jesus. Factually, images of Jesus have been used to create false narratives about him on several occasions throughout history, many of which have been used to commit horrendous acts of evil. The Lord has spoken—no graven images. It’s also interesting that the Catholic version of the ten commandments omits this very command.
???? The First 3 Catholic 10 Commandments 1. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
Any mention of idolatry is completely removed, which borders on blasphemy. So what is so significant about idols?
???? *1 Corinthians 10:19-22 **19**What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? **20**But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. **21**Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. **22*Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
The significant thing about idols is that they aren’t really idols at all, but demons. In this passage, Paul clearly says that the idols of pagans are actually devils. The sacrifices they think they are making to their gods are actually being made to demons. This clarification is also made other places in scripture.
???? Deuteronomy 32:16-17 King James Version 16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. 17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
The point of these scriptures is to illustrate the fact that idols—people, objects and images garnering ungodly worship—are more than they appear on the surface. Idols are nothing but spiritual demons in a physical disguise. This gives us reason to consider the contemporary application of this truth. What or who are the gods and idols of today?
If scripture warns us that idols and false gods are demons commanding and manipulating worship, the same is true today. What if many of the people we call idols are possessed with evil spirits? What are we encouraging when we refer to people as such? What if the characters and actors in our most popular movies were, in fact, inspired or possessed by demons? What if the icons and mascots that characterize the sports teams people adore are the nature and identities of devils? For the vigilant saint, these aren’t foolish questions, but ones worth asking with prayer and fasting. In our flesh, we are susceptible to quickly dismiss the entire notion as foolish or adolescent, but the wise believer understands that anything resembling the evil spiritual world is, at least, worth a healthy amount of consideration.
When an unwarranted and ungodly amount of attention is focused on a distinct personality or form, be aware of one or more devils at work. When consistent, idolatrous behaviors are created around a characterizable image or person, be on guard for a demon who is commanding worship. When collective emotions are broadly affected or manipulated by some source, be watchful, for evil spirits may be behind it.
A Prophetic Word
I believe the state of Texas is under spiritual attack. It is one of the few remaining places in the country were Christian values and faith in the Bible carry weight in culture and in government. Texas is a conservative stronghold that directly opposes the advances of lawlessness. If Satan wants to continue pushing the spirit of the age forward, Texas will need to become more accepting of such lawlessness or helpless to prevent its rise in popularity. Upon closer look, Satan’s agenda is at work in a number of ways:
a.) Crisis at the border: It is odd (to say the least) to consider that America refuses to consider the migration of illegal immigrants a priority and threat to national security, particularly after September 11th. Ignoring the surge of people from crime-ridden Mexico and Haiti is so nonsensical that malicious intent must be questions, especially when the State being affected is at political odds with the administration holding federal office.
b.) Along with illegal immigration is also an ideological immigration into Texas. Liberal policies have destroyed the economies of many cities in California, causing many residents to flee, primarily to Texas. The problem is that the ideologies of many of these movers remain largely liberal and certainly non-religious. Only time will tell whether their lack of religious views will be able to sway the general population, but there is definitely a shift, even if minimal.
c.) Big Business and silicon valley tech companies like Tesla and Space X are moving into Austin and other Texas Cities. There have already been complaints from local residents about the corporate greed of these moving businesses. How are these companies and their power-hungry CEO’s affecting Texas beyond the knowledge of its residents?
