The somewhat shadowy figure of Satan looms in the background of the occult in vague terms of identification as a personification of evil or inhabiting a serpent long ago. A great deal of the evil that is done in the world seems as though those doing it need no help from Satan or any helpers that he might have on hand. The attempt of rational humanism and science to sanitize evil into neat categories based on observable phenomenon was largely successful. The Enlightenment scoured Satan, demons, and the supernatural from the minds of its devotees. It took some doing but God was declared to be dead and religion all but an anachronism by the mid 20th century in the minds of those considered well-educated in the United States. The Higher Criticism almost abolished normative historical Christianity from seminaries across Europe in the 19th century. People tend to live in the real world and experience reality on an everyday basis. Jesus said that when the Son of Man comes it will be as in the days of Noah. (See Noah) Jesus also said that when He comes it will be as it was in the days of Lot as well. (See Lot)
For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be (in his day).
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
Luke 17:24-30
Had it been that Christianity was another religion and not a personal relationship with Christ based on covenants the attempts to cleanse society of God might have been more successful than they were. (See Apostasy) As Christians we should seek the full knowledge of God and draw closer to Him. (See Knowledge)
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
I Timothy 4:1-3 (ESV)
Expressly means clearly. To depart means to apostatize. Apostasy is the deliberate and permanent rejection of Christianity after a previous profession of faith in it. Doctrines of devils, that is, doctrines taught by demons.1 The false teachers at Ephesus evidently disparaged the material world as evil, which became a central doctrine of the full-grown Gnosticism of the second century.2 The practices of the Ephesians during the time of Paul were guided by the worship of the goddess of Ephesus, Diana (also known as Artemis, Astarte or Aphrodite). Although known by different names an approximation of the beginnings of Artemis can be traced to the areas of Sumer and Canaan. According to Youngblood:
Baal’s mistress or lover was Anat (or Anath), the goddess of war, love, and fertility. She was the virgin goddess who conceives and was also the victor over Baal’s enemies. With the help of Shapash, the sun god, Anat rescued Baal from Mot (the god of death). Her victories in battle were vicious; she is described as up to her hips in gore with heads and hands from the enemies stacked high. Thus, Anat was the driving force in the annual fertility cycle of Baal.
Anat is sometimes identified with the "queen of heaven," to whom the Jews offered incense in Jeremiah’s day (Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17–19, 25). But some scholars identify the "queen of heaven" with the Assyro-Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Anat was the patroness of sex and passion; lewd figurines of this nude goddess have been discovered at various archaeological sites in Palestine.3
Dr. Ed Murphy gives a brief relationship of Baal (Bel) to the Queen of Heaven. Bel is known as Zeus as Ashtoreth is known as Diana in the Roman world, thousands of years after their beginning in Mesopotamia. Over time the different gods and goddesses were merged and sometimes the sex of the gods changed due to the impression that males possess a destructive principle and females the generative principle.
Baal began as the god of weather. In a dry land like Canaan, this soon gave him the place of prominence. Life could not function without him. It was natural next to see him as the god of fertility. A. E. Cundall says that Baal and the many local Baals were really one god. They were the great cosmic nature god. They (as "he")
controlled fertility in agriculture, beasts and mankind. It was highly important to gain their favor. . . . This led to the adoption of extreme forms in the cults, including the practice of ritual prostitution (Judges 2:17; Jeremiah 7:9; Amos 2:7) and child sacrifice (Jeremiah 19:5). . . . In the process of time Baal became the region’s chief deity.
The myth of the dying and rising god was reenacted during the Canaanite New Year Festival. It was directly connected to the fertility cycle and the corresponding sexual fertility rites. Cundall says that this myth "was attended by the appropriate response from the worshipers, culminating in the grossly sensuous rites accompanying the sacred marriage, in which ritual prostitution of both sexes was a prominent feature."
Second, they were to forsake Ashtoreth, their most important goddess. Ashtoreth was formerly the consort of El, but as this ancient god faded, Ashtoreth, his sexual partner, was slowly transferred over to Baal. Thus Judges 2:13 and 3:7 link Baal and Ashtaroth (2:13) and Asheroth (3:7) together (these are different names for the one goddess, Ashtoreth).
Baal also had another goddess consort, Anath or Anat. She was called "the virgin." Anath was perhaps a virgin to others but not to Baal, for she "was both consort and sister to Baal and shared his several adventures." Here is incest and polygamy among the gods.
This mother goddess—in the queen of heaven tradition of which Ashtoreth (Asthtart, Athtart, Asheroth, Astarte, or Ashtoreth) played the key female role was universal throughout the Near East, going back as far as "the fourth millennium B. C." according to W. White, Jr. 4
Male and female prostitution was one way in which the followers of Diana worshipped her. Self-mutilation and participation in the rites of Dionysus were part of the cult practices in Ephesus. The practice of mixing drugs with the wine was associated with worship such as was practiced by the cult of Dionysus (Bacchus), the god of wine. Worship of Dionysus involved drunken states in which the god was thought to enter the bodies of worshipers, inspiring prophecy and frenzied dancing and music. Such worship is "dissipation."5 During the frenzied dances women in procession would trample selected virgins to death as part of the celebration. Cultic worship and practices are harmful and sooner or later lead to evil harm and if practiced long enough or formalized and ritualized leads to contact with demons. See Cults. The worship of gods and goddesses leads directly to contact with demons. The Jews who lived at Ephesus knew from their history as recorded in the Apocryphal Book II Maccabees that the Greeks forced them to participate in these rites and those who resisted were publicly humiliated and thrown to their deaths or murdered in other ways that would impress the others.
A man could not keep the sabbath or celebrate the traditional feasts, nor even admit that he was a Jew.
Moreover, at the monthly celebration of the king’s birthday the Jews had, from bitter necessity, to partake of the sacrifices, and when the festival of Dionysus was celebrated, they were compelled to march in his procession, wearing wreaths of ivy.
At the suggestion of the citizens of Ptolemais, a decree was issued ordering the neighboring Greek cities to act in the same way against the Jews: oblige them to partake of the sacrifices,
and put to death those who would not consent to adopt the customs of the Greeks. It was obvious, therefore, that disaster impended.
Thus, two women who were arrested for having circumcised their children were publicly paraded about the city with their babies hanging at their breasts and then thrown down from the top of the city wall.
Others, who had assembled in nearby caves to observe the sabbath in secret, were betrayed to Philip and all burned to death. In their respect for the holiness of that day, they had scruples about defending themselves.
II Maccabees 6:6-11 (NAB)
The idea that the world is evil was encouraged by the situation that Jews had found themselves in among worshippers of Diana and Dionysus, where practically every admonition against these evils in the Law and the Prophets was violated. Diana was the most popular goddess of the Roman Empire and Ephesus was the center for that worship. The center for the worship of Dionysus was Philippi, although great temples were erected to Dionysus and Aphrodite in many place throughout the Roman Empire. The Law and the Prophets teaches that God's creation is good and that man is given dominion over the earth. Paul says that:
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
I Timothy 4:4-5 (ESV)
If there is anything evil about creation it is from the defilement of it by
mankind with evil practices such as these of Diana and Dionysus. Human
sacrifice through various methods is a cruel practice and the association with
drug and wine induced altered states of consciousness specifically for the
purpose of the follower of Diana to become demon possessed adds to the
horror. Gnosticism was a reaction to this and sought to combine the
various gods and goddesses of different cultures into a pantheon that identified
Jesus and Mary with them. The result was a belief system that ended up in
direct opposition to the testimony of scripture and the teachings of the
Apostles. This heresy was introduced from the first by false teachers who
hoped to gain followers in competition with the Apostles. As Christianity
spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond it the conflict with pagan beliefs
was repeated. People will worship, it is just a matter of what or whom is
worshipped. Pagan cultures in Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, and the Middle
East had one thing in common. The gods and goddesses that were worshipped
were part of God's creation and therefore not God. Rites to induce
possession of the followers by the spirits they encountered in rituals was also
normative. The Bible expressly warns that people are not to have anything
to do with familiar spirits or those who conjure up spirits of the dead,
wizards, mediums, witches, astrologers, and observers of times.
Notice that in the first letter to Timothy that Paul tells him the Holy Spirit clearly and plainly warns in later times that people would be induced to follow practices that are at variance with God's Word that seemingly are aesthetic disciplines such as forbidding people to marry or eat meats. In the United States, one of the earmarks of the popular culture is the almost fanatical belief that eating meat is somehow wrong based on bogus health claims. Some proponents of this claim that eating meat results in horrible compaction of undigested meat lurking about in the bowels of meat eaters. Meat is one of the most easily digested foods in which the benefits of the various minerals and vitamins are maximized. For some people it is a discipline that has a religious practice attached to it. Forbidding others to eat certain foods for some religious benefit that has no clear health benefit and in fact is harmful to some people could be the mark of a cult practice. As it turns out these ideas are associated with those who are involved in occult practices today, such as worship of Diana as part of wiccan teaching or witchcraft. It is interesting that the doctrines of demons was predicted by the Holy Spirit to be introduced by liars whose conscience is seared and who were once believers that have apostatized. For whatever reasons, people who were once Christians have a standing hatred of Jesus and openly ridicule Him and the Father very quickly accusing God of being in the wrong on any subject. They are insincere liars because they once knew something of Christianity and are fully aware that things they know to be right are being denied by them. Part of folk paganism adheres to making contact with the other side in whatever way they understand it. In short, by their own admitted practices they are making contact with demons. It becomes a matter of semantics to argue otherwise.
Demons are real, incorporeal beings, probably fallen angels who rebelled against God in heaven and were cast out of His presence. Thus, much of what is true of angels is also true of demons. They, however, appear to be evil in nature and loyal to Satan. Underestimating their immense power would be a grave mistake. Christians who believe they can "wrestle" with demons without using "the whole armor of God" are seriously deluded. While apparently some demons are currently confined (II Peter 2:4; Jude 6), most are not and will not be finally punished until the Millennium (Revelation 20:3). After a brief period of freedom at the end of the Millennium (during which they inspire a final rebellion), they will be eternally confined to hell, which was originally prepared for them (Matthew 25:41). (II Peter 2:4; compare with Ephesians 6:12.)6
Underestimating the immense power that demons have is a mistake, a grave mistake as noted above by the King James Version Study Bible. It is a safe conclusion that if one wishes to do something that is against the Word of God as revealed in the Bible that the source is not from God. People tend to be rebellious or contrary if what we want is in conflict with anyone or anything. That is natural and mankind is demonstrably famous for doing a lot of evil things without any help from the devil or demons. Making mistakes is part of the learning process from early childhood to old age and death. The choices we make can have disastrous results, although our intentions may have been good on our part. If any of us claims to be incapable of making mistakes we make ourselves out to be liars and fools as even a slight connection with objective reality testifies to the contrary. Christians grapple with the fact that although we are saved by the LORD Jesus Messiah, we too are capable of mistakes. The best thing is to immediately turn to the LORD for help, telling Him that we made a mistake or willfully did something we know to be against Him and the person that we sinned against. Sin is a mistake, falling short of the mark, something that we have the ability to not do. However, we know that we are powerless in certain areas of our lives where we have predispositions and proclivities whether by our upbringing or our own independent choices, that tend to repeat often. If we decide to turn our backs upon God, then we are subject to a different set of predicates, having in effect rejected Him as having anything to do with us. Continuing in opposition to God results in us being given up to our own reason and the doctrines of mankind and those of devils sooner or later become the guiding factor in our decision making. At some point we are said to have apostatized, standing in direct opposition to God. To most people the idea of having anything to do with demons seems a bad idea. Even those who practice witchcraft practice self-deceit by following beings that they choose to call gods, goddesses, spirits, or whatever it is that assuages the mind enough to make seeking the help and aid of demons palpable.
Secularism, atheism, and humanism are devices that absolve people of any wrong doing except that which they think is wrong, if anything at all. Science was used as the sterile religion of reason and the mind to cleanse otherwise mindful consciences by explaining things in deterministic or naturalistic terms divorced from normative associations of things right and wrong. The logical extension of these philosophies has resolved itself by teachers in public schools and universities being able to say that the mass murder of the Gypsies, Christians, and Jews by Nazis was not wrong because for the Nazi, this was normative. Absolute truth is confronted by the question, "whose truth?" or "what is truth?". Pontius Pilate seemed to have a disrespect for objective truth and was a powerful man. He thought it would be humorous to sprinkle the blood of some Galatians in with that of sacrifices and therefore defile the Jewish religion. He asked Jesus, "what is truth?" He had the Truth as man sitting in front of him and asked that. His wife had a dream the night before and begged him not to have anything to do with the arrest of Jesus or any of the attendant proceedings. He had misgivings about executing Jesus, although flogging, humiliation, beatings, and torment was not too out of line for him. That he was pivotal in the proceedings against Jesus attests to the fact that his actions were normative and our modern teachers would condone his actions on that basis. The religious chief priests did that which for them was normative, as did the crowd that shouted for a murderer to be let go and Jesus to be executed. They shouted "crucify him!" If anyone did not deserve to be crucified, it was Jesus, but it was normative.
The chronicles of people who fancied themselves to be sovereign or have fallen due to acting in defiance of God start in ancient times. The first King of Israel, King Saul, decided to act in defiance of the LORD and was rejected as King. Nero became insane and drifted to atrocity after atrocity being committed because he thought himself sovereign. Modern-day examples would include Stalin, Hitler, and Mao to name but a few. The stories of such people are rife throughout history and it is surprising teachers charged with giving knowledge in our public schools teach the philosophy of madmen who committed the greatest of evils in history. An apt description of those who hold themselves in higher regard than God is that of Gaius as related to us by Philo:
But Gaius, looking upon every admonition as an insult, because he fancied that he himself was the wisest and most virtuous of all men, and moreover the most valorous and the most just, hated all who ventured to offer him instruction more than even his avowed enemies… alarming the counsellors by the death of Silanus…and the knights by the execution of Macro…and all his blood relations by the slaughter of his cousin and joint inheritor of the kingdom, he no longer chose to remain fettered by the ordinary limits of human nature, but aspired to raise himself above them, and desired to be looked upon as a god…
For he began at first to liken himself to those beings who are called demigods, such as Bacchus, and Hercules, and the twins of Lacedaemon; turning into utter ridicule Trophonius, and Amphiaraus, and Amphilochus, and others of the same kind, with all their oracles and secret ceremonies, in comparison of his own power. In the next place, like an actor in a theatre, he was continually wearing different dresses at different times, taking at one time a lion’s skin and a club, both gilded over; being then dressed in the character of Hercules; at another time he would wear a felt hat upon his head, when he was disguised in imitation of the Spartan twins, Castor and Pollux; sometimes he also adorned himself with ivy, and a thyrsus, and skins of fawns, so as to appear in the guise of Bacchus.7
Gaius is not unlike the fools of today who refuse to listen to the counsel of Wisdom. Our Senate and House of Representatives are stuffed full of fools that trust in their own heart and refuse to listen to God, refuse the counsel of Lady Wisdom, and turn their backs upon God and His blessings. Judges are appointed to interpret laws who have no respect for God and have hardened their hearts to Him. The evil are rewarded and the innocent ignored so that those who do evil may be given free reign on whomever they desire. Mercy is the greater part of the law and truly justice includes it, but wisdom in the fear of the LORD is more desirable than paying lip service to justice while perverting the law. Greed and selfish desires impel some to twist the law and the facts of a matter for gain. This was the way the world was when Jesus was put on trial. The law was clear and the chief priests allowed the law to be broken to convict Him and Pilate declared that he could not find against Him. The law of Rome was given up to the crowd who was worked into foment and they shouted to "crucify him!" Lady Stupidity held sway with the laws of Rome and the Law of Moses ignored, Lady Wisdom forgotten because men sought to have their way for selfish reasons, men who had forgotten God and had hardened their hearts to God. Lady Wisdom says that she will not be there when men commit folly except to laugh at them.
Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Proverbs 1:24-28 (ESV)
The mind that produces an apologia for the crucifixion of an innocent man, for the illegal and unfair execution of Jesus under the deceit of "normative behavior" has good company with the moral relativist, secularist, atheist, and humanist as well as the despot and madman. One may well begin being an insincere liar to others, rejecting good counsel, and end up insane. It is an axiom that mental illness is fertile ground for the occult and it is not a coincidence. Instead of God being sovereign, those opposed to Him readily admit that man is sovereign in their schemata of reality as they would have it. Someone who has not the total loss of their senses might recognize that they are not in control of reality, even their own. Unfortunately the loss of connection with reality is being institutionalized in the United States by the officialdom that operates in many areas of society including apostate churches. The subject of demons and spirits is considered a bit out of date in many churches. Innocent practices such as immersion baptism has gotten Baptists labeled as a cult in France, although scripture clearly speaks of it. In fact John the Baptist immersed Jesus in water when he baptized Him. The testimony of scripture concerning demons tends to be something that is discarded as arcane and trivial to the point most people are unaware the Bible warns against having anything to do with the occult. Then again, people who think they are in charge of reality feel as though they can discard or misapply God's Word or use it to declare all of creation is evil. As it turns out things done without regard to what Scripture has to say about a matter leads to harm and leaves people open to heresy and the doctrines of demons.
Those who apostatize do so for reasons that are not purely philosophical nor ascetic. Diana is the Queen of Heaven according to some and Bacchus (Dionysus) catered to the desires of those who like the "finer things of life." The attraction to paganism and witchcraft also caters to desire of a sexual and pleasure principle centered nature. Whether it is due to formal teaching as in the case of public schools, apostasy, the culture of a people, by personal choice or family tradition adherence to harmful doctrines is in direct opposition to God and leads people to follow after false gods and opens the door to the occult and demons.
It is a great abuse and injury to God, in pursuance of the pleasures and delights of sense to forsake him, who not only gives us better things, but gives us even those things too. The idolaters made Ceres the goddess of their corn, Bacchus the god of their wine, etc., and then foolishly fancied they had their corn and wine from these, forgetting the Lord their God, who both gave them that good land and gave them power to get wealth out of it. Many are hardened in sin by their worldly prosperity. They had an abundance of those things when they served their idols, and then imagined them to be given them by their idols, which kept them to their service; thus they argued (Jeremiah 44:17, 18), While we burnt incense to the queen of heaven we had plenty of victuals.8
The argument is put forth that wiccans, witches, and other pagans simply find God by one of many paths available. This does not bear up with scripture. It turns out that put under a bit of duress by honestly talking about the truth of Scripture pagans turn nasty and begin accusing God and reject Him very quickly. The idea that there can be "Christian" witches is another fallacy that is merely a veneer for people to do what they want in defiance of the Word of God. Many who honestly want to know the truth are not served well by the kind of ecumenism popular in some mainline denominations that treat shamanism and witchcraft as "faith traditions" to be put on the same level as Christianity from pulpits by guest speakers who are shamans and witches. The same Christian churches water down the Bible and relegate Jesus to being a possible historical figure who was a really good teacher if he did exist, and denying that He is God the Son. The term demon is seen as silly and having no basis in reality by some of the same people. I am still surprised that people from nominal churches deny the Bible as being from God and His revelation and have this attitude. Paul had no trouble telling the difference or any doubts about these matters.
No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
I Corinthians 10:20-21 (ESV)
The "cultural diversity" that pervades our society is merely a way to legitimize any belief that is in opposition to Judeo-Christian values and thoroughly undermine the authority of Scripture. While people can and do choose what we want to believe and do, the sham is egregious and serves to mask opposition to Christianity and Judaism. The same may be said of the political correctness used to denigrate any feelings of community and patriotism or reference to God in public and in some cases private. Rewriting history of the culture, what people believed in and what actually took place is an attempt to replace reality with a false reality that serves the interest of those who have a political agenda that includes getting rid of Christianity and Judaism. The cultural war is an aspect of spiritual warfare and it is becoming increasingly obvious. Apostasy in churches has linkage to secular agendas of legitimizing things that are considered wrong by Christians. The opposition that Jesus faced was clerical, secular, and political, although at the root of it was spiritual opposition from Satan. In fact Satan offered Jesus political dominion over the earth that is part of the dark world system. Those who are critics of Christians make light of the fact that we refer to the world as having a temporal component ruled by the Prince of the Power of the Air and the Kingdom of God which we hold ultimate allegiance to as ambassadors to the dark world system. The critics of Christianity include those who think there is one God but deny the power of God. James sums up the crowd that says all paths lead to God well:
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
James 2:19 (ESV)
One might think that people would acknowledge God as Who He says that He Is. It is demonstrated to us that indeed there are some whose hearts have become hardened to the point that even though they know that He Exists; they still deny Him, accuse Him, and hate Him. Whether the denial of God is through false teachers, false doctrines, or attempts to take His Name from the public square, it is still denial. Once the Great Delusion is poured out upon all of mankind people's hearts will be hardened all the more. In the latter times that are to come upon us that is called the Great Tribulation there will be terrors from natural events that will decimate the population. This is clearly predicted by the Prophets of the Old Testament and in the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John. Even with the terrible suffering mankind will not repent. God is being replaced by idols. That does not seem possible to some of us. The chief complaint against the public display of the Ten Commandments is that we are to have no gods before Yahweh.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3 (KJV)
Judge Roy Moore was removed from the office of Chief Justice of the State of Alabama's Supreme Court to the delight of the humanists. Why does the ACLU in the United States find so many people who seek to take God from the free market of ideas? J. Vernon McGee explains how this can be so and is so for many of us today.
God told Israel, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." God instructed the nation in this manner because in that day it was mighty hard for man to keep balanced. In that day it was popular to worship many gods. Today it is popular not to worship any god. My, how the pendulum of the clock has moved! The important thing to note in this verse is the fact that God is condemning polytheism. Paul elaborates upon this subject in Romans 1:21–25 which states, "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."
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:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
Exodus 20:4–5 (KJV)
Some people may feel that this passage does not apply to us today. Colossians 3:5 tells us that "… covetousness … is idolatry." Anything that you give yourself to, especially in abandonment, becomes your "god." Many people do not worship Bacchus, the cloven-footed Greek and Roman god of wine and revelry of long ago, but they worship the bottle just the same. There are millions of alcoholics in our country right now. The liquor interests like to tell us about how much of the tax burden they carry, when actually they do not pay a fraction of the bill for the casualties they cause by their product. A lot of propaganda is being fed to this generation and large groups of people are being brainwashed. Whether or not folk recognize it, they worship the god Bacchus.
Other people worship Aphrodite, that is, the goddess of sex. Some people worship money. Anything to which you give your time, heart, and soul, becomes your god. God says that we are not to have any gods before Him.9
Who are the gods and goddesses of the impenitent, the moral relativist, the atheist, the secularist, and the humanist of today? People will worship something and they do worship something. Comfort, convenience, sex, alcohol, drugs, having our own way despite what God says, pride, and lust have proven powerful motivators for some to ignore God and accuse Him. Having fallen short of The Truth, mankind flees from God and seeks out folly and evil all the more. This is the great hope of the secularist, moral relativist, and humanist, encouraging injustice, human misery, and hopelessness for material gain, worldly power, and greed. The Apostle John relates the things that people will hold fast to even after disaster upon disaster fall upon the world. In order to maintain the status quo of indulging the things that the dark world system has to give mankind is reduced to four things that are necessary to keep things as they will have become with people who are their own sovereigns.
If the crust of the scab covering the way the world is ruled is ripped off, the corruption and putrefaction found beneath reveals much of the commerce of the world that functions on these things now. Slavery is a bigger money-maker than it ever was with the Muslims in charge of making it work. Heroin trade and human trafficking are allowed to go on unchecked as warlords trade in human misery unfettered. Piracy on the high seas is formidable and more prevalent than ever. 35,000,000 people in the United States are alcoholics, 2,000,000 people are cocaine addicts with about as many being heroin addicts. The CIA estimates that 500,000 slaves are held in the United States with 50,000 per year being brought into the country yearly. The world not only tolerates these evils but participates in these things actively under the general heading of "organized crime". President Bush announced to the UN that human trafficking is a problem and the majority of people in high places sniffed that they wondered why such a thing is even mentioned, as if that is not big deal. Rather than deal with weightier matters it is easy to try and limit free speech and worry about how to keep the name of God from seeing the light of day. Even the most innocent are treated brutally with the approval of judges and the help of lawyers. A woman named Terri Schiavo has been mistreated and denied any of the milk of human kindness due even to a dog by her husband. He has a girlfriend that has a baby by him and has spent over $400,000 of money designated for her healing on lawyers in order to have her murdered "legally". He will receive $750,000, the remainder of the money for her healing should he be successful and have her murdered "legally". The Governor of Florida caused a bill to be pushed through the Florida legislature to save the life of Terri Schiavo and the husband, Michael Schiavo is suing the Governor having gained the aid of a judge. The only thing not obvious in the life of Michael Schiavo, his lawyer, and his allies in the ACLU from the list of the four things listed by John is sorcery, although one wonders about that.
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation 9:20-21 (ESV)
The worship of Bacchus is related to the times of the Greeks and Romans and our image of Satan comes from him. He was half man and half goat. This was not new. Moses and the Children of Israel encountered the same kind of demon and no doubt Dionysus was known by a different name during the days of Moses. God told the people not to worship the satyrs, the goat demons that are half man and half goat.
So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.
Leviticus 17:7 (ESV)
They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
whom your fathers had never dreaded.
Deuteronomy 32:17 (ESV)
and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made.
II Chronicles 11:15 (ESV)
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
Psalm 106:37 (ESV)
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
Isaiah 13:21 (KJV)
The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
Isaiah 34:14 (KJV)
Without believing in a demon that is half goat and half man, without consciousness of a god named Bacchus, people worship satyrs, Bacchus, and Satan through alcoholism. An alcoholic is likely to be able to seem friendly enough and a productive member of society. However, alcohol comes before children, wives, husbands, family, and anything that stands in the way of getting it. The pagan informs us that he or she does not believe in Satan and that is not to be doubted. If the power that is used to heal is not from God, then who is it from? A bumper sticker on a car owned by a witch that I worked with declared that witches heal and it is true. One witch decided to become one on the strength of being healed by one of the goddesses that he had knowledge of and it was instantaneous. The pentagram is a favorite symbols among some occultists and has a certain legitimacy among some pagans. Part of the ritual in some pagan practices involve a circle circumscribed around a pentagram. Any relationship of the pentagram is denied as having to do with Satan by some occultists. 35 years ago someone I knew was a Good Witch and it was explained to me that no harm was ever done to people and the spells and magic were only to do good for people. I was convinced and still am of the sincerity of that statement and the opposition to black magic that was expressed. I do not think that many wiccans believe that they are owned by Satan, much less have anything to do with him. The teachings of the Bible have to be ignored and rejected to believe this. Some believe that a matriarchy is the answer to the problems incurred by men and the goddess seems to be the answer in worship. Things are not so obvious today culturally as they were to the people of Moses' time or to the Apostle John and Jesus Christ. J. Vernon McGee gives excellent insight into the connection between demons and this world. On a trip to the Middle East he was able to visit the place where Pergamum once commanded great attention.
The reason our Lord said that Satan’s throne was in Pergamum was because of the heathen temples there. Of course, all of this is in ruins today. There are markers and some reconstruction going on there now. But in John’s day it was Satan’s throne. As you enter the gate of the city, you see that the first temple to your right is the imposing temple of Athena. Directly above it is the great library. You would see the great temple of Caesar Augustus and Hadrian’s great temple, which covers quite a bit of territory. There are other things that are quite interesting. There is the great altar to Zeus with an idol on it near the palace of the king. It is a very impressive spot, and some folk believe that it was the throne of Satan. Well, I think that it is included but that Satan’s throne is a combination of all of these.
There are two other areas which are especially outstanding. One of them is the temple of Dionysius. I crawled down the side of that mountain to get pictures of the ruins of the temple of Dionysius, which is beside the ruins of the theater there. Some folk asked me why I did that. Well, Dionysius is the same as Bacchus, the god of wine, the goat-god. He is depicted with horns, but with his upper part as a man and his lower part as a goat, with cloven feet and a tail. In our day that is the modern idea of Satan, but the notion that Satan has horns, cloven feet, and a forked tail did not come from the Bible. Where did it come from? Well, it came from the temple of Dionysius, the god Bacchus, the god of wine or alcohol. My friend, we ought to be proud that we are Americans, but we also need to bow our heads in shame. Do you know how we got this country in which we live? We got it from the Indians (and I guess they got it from someone else), but the way we got it was not by bullets but by alcohol. Also Hawaii was taken away from the Hawaiians by giving them liquor. Alcohol has taken more territory than anything else. Satan is the god of liquor all right!
Then the other outstanding temple was of the god Asklepios. Down from that great promontory was the greatest hospital of the ancient world. It was the Mayo Clinic of that day. It was, first of all, a temple to Asklepios. If you are looking at the Greek god Asklepios, it is a man, but when you see the Anatolian or Oriental Asklepios, it is a serpent. There in Pergamum it was a serpent. I have pictures which I took of that great marble pillar which stands like an obelisk now but apparently was a pillar in the temple of Asklepios. The construction of the temple was unusual in that it was round. There they used every means of healing imaginable. They used both medicine and psychology—and about everything else.
Put yourself in this situation: you go down long tunnels, and above are holes that look like air holes for ventilation but are not. As you walk along these tunnels, sexy voices come down through the holes, saying to you, "You are going to get well. You are going to feel better. You are going to be healed." (Does that have a modern ring?) You go down to the hot baths where you are given a massage. There is a little theater there where they give plays of healing. If they haven’t healed you by now, as a last resort they put you in that temple at night and turn loose the nonpoisonous snakes which crawl over you. (That is known as the shock treatment in our day!) If they don’t heal you, they will drive you crazy, that’s for sure. They have a back door where they take out the dead. They don’t mention the ones they don’t heal; they speak only of those who recover.
Caesar Augustus loved to go there. He wasn’t exactly sick; he was an alcoholic. They just dried him out every year when he would come over. This was a great place, and for seven hundred years it was a hospital that people came to from all over the world. May I say to you, healing was satanic in those days. There is no question about the fact that there were good men there who used medicine, but basically, it was satanic. It was where Satan’s throne was. That is important to see.10
I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Revelation 2:13 (KJV)
The city of Philadelphia was related to the throne of Satan
This city was like a Greek island out in Lydia, out in the Anatolian country, an area which the Greeks considered to be heathen and pagan—the Greek word for it was barbarian. In fact, anyone who was not a Greek was considered a barbarian in those days. The Lydian language was spoken there at first, but by the time of the apostles, the Greek language had taken over, and it was a typical Greek colony. This was the outpost of Greek culture in a truly Asiatic and Anatolian atmosphere. It was called a "little Athens" because of the fact that it was in this area and yet was truly Greek.
It was a fortress city used to waylay the enemy who would come in to destroy the greater cities like Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum—those were the three great cities. These other cities were largely fortress cities where garrisons were stationed either to stop the enemy or delay him as he marched toward the western coast.
Philadelphia is in a country where erosion is at work; the soil is quite alluvial, but it is very fertile soil. Beautiful laurel trees, many flowers—I noticed that they are growing just about everything that is imaginable. It was particularly celebrated for its excellent wine. Great vineyards covered the surrounding hills, and the head of Bacchus was imprinted on their coins.
The city did not get its name, as so many seem to think, from the Bible. Actually, the city got its name because of the love that Attalus II had for his brother Eumenes who was king of Pergamum. Attalus had a great love and loyalty for his brother, and because of that it is called "the city of brotherly love."11
Some Christians readily acknowledge the truth of Scripture as being the direct revelation of God. The opposite end of the spectrum includes those who like the general principles that do not interfere with what they like to do. The authority of the Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God given to man by the Holy Spirit and the person Jesus Christ, God the Son is the position of this look at demons. Further, it is accepted that God is at war against powers, principalities, the rulers of the dark world system, and against spiritual wickedness on high. The metaphor that light has nothing to do with darkness applies. Moreover, God is held to be Holy and The Sovereign over His creation, including mankind though we have freewill. Because of the Holy Spirit and the sacrifice of Jesus to take away the sin of the world, man is capable of acting as a moral agent by God's will. Spiritual warfare is a term in common usage among Christians and has its origin in the warring of the flesh against the Holy Spirit with the soul and the spirit of an individual at stake. It is recognized that through individual freewill choice that people can decide in favor of God or against God. To decide against God is to decide in favor of powers, principalities, the rulers of the dark world system, and against spiritual wickedness on high. Paul stated that we do not wrestle against people, but against those powers, principalities, the rulers of the dark world system, and against spiritual wickedness on high. He admonished believers to put on the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6. The whole armor of God as cited by Paul is to be applied that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil in the evil day and it is:
He goes on to say that this having been accomplished we are to find ourselves "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Paul believed the battle, spiritual warfare, is real. The believer acknowledges and believes that there is Truth in the absolute sense and Jesus said of Himself that He is The Truth. The believer acknowledges and knows that there is Righteousness and God is Righteous and Righteousness. The Greek word translated as righteous means literally "rightwiseness". We get our English word orthogonal from the root word. God is the Perfect straight edge by which everything else is compared. People who think they are sovereign and are that perfect straightedge reject God on that basis alone. The believer acknowledges and knows that the Gospel of Peace is from God and it is His Peace that we may have and abide in. The believer acknowledges and knows that Faith is a gift from God and that our Faith is in Him. God is Salvation and His Salvation is offered to all who believe and receive Faith. Believers acknowledge and know that the Sword of the Holy Spirit is His Word and that it is superior to the smallest unit being able to divide good and evil completely and perfectly. Jesus was more than a good teacher. Jesus was a good teacher and taught many things opening our eyes to things that had not been seen or heard with understanding and wisdom until He came to teach us personally. He ascended into Heaven to sit on the right hand of the Father, where He reigns with Him. When He left us the Holy Spirit was sent to us to lead us into knowledge of Him and the Father and tutor us in God's revelation for us and as found in the Bible. Jesus also gave authority to the disciples to cast out demons. Jesus is the Lord Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts, the Captain of the Heavenly Army of God. Our battle is the LORD's and His is the Victory. We are able to withstand the wiles of the devil and stand firm because of Him and by Him, not us, nor by our own strength. The battle, spiritual warfare, is not a power encounter between people and demons to be fought apart from God. Any authority is God's authority, not our own. Any strength, any power, and any ability to cope with demons does not rest in us but comes from God. Any encounter with them based on our strength, power, and ability to cope is destined for harm, evil, failure, compromise, and collaboration with them. It is a serious and harmful mistake to place ourselves in the hands of others and of demons. The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit, He is responsible for any bit of evil being held back from us and the world.
Power over unclean spirits and the power to cast out demons was given to the disciples by Jesus under His authority as attested to by the following record in Scripture:
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
Matthew 9:37-10:1 (ESV)
And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
Mark 6:7 (ESV)
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
Mark 16:16-18 (ESV)
(ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™ Copyright© 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, A Division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, USA. All Rights Reserved.
(NAB) The Holy Bible, The New American Bible, (Nashville, Tennessee: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) 1997.
(KJV) The Holy Bible, The King James Authorized Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
1, 7Thomas Nelson, Inc., King James Version Study Bible [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1988 by Liberty University.
2Earl D. Radmacher, general editor; Ronald B. Allen, Old Testament editor, Nelson Study Bible [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997.
3Ronald F. Youngblood, general editor; F.F. Bruce and R.K. Harrison, consulting editors, Nelson’s New illustrated Bible Dictionary: An authoritative one-volume reference work on the Bible with full color illustrations [computer file], electronic edition of the revised edition of Nelson’s illustrated Bible dictionary, Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1995.
4Edward F. Murphy, Handbook for Spiritual Warfare [computer file], electronic ed. of the revised and updated edition, Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996 by Edward F. Murphy.
5Luder Whitlock, Jr., executive director; R. C. Sproul, general editor, New Geneva Study Bible [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1995 by Foundation for Reformation.
6Philo Judaeus, The Works of Philo, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems) 1997.
8Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1997.
9, 10, 11J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1981 by J. Vernon McGee.