The Pagan gods of Ancient Idolatry Are Alive and Well!

 

Note that I did not capitalize "gods" in the title of this blog. That should tell you two things at least ... 1) My personal theology differentiates between small "g" gods and the Most High God, with a capital "G"; and 2) I acknowledge that other gods exist, and their impact on our culture is not only unproductive and unrighteous, but downright diabolical.

But I want you to understand that the reality of these gods is nothing new; that their influence in our culture is a repetition of their ancient authority and control as asserted in the Bible. They may have different names in the 21st Century, but the spirit behind them, and their assignments for the prince of darkness, remain the same. And there is a trinity of these ancient gods that lured the Israelites from their covenant with YHWH, and persuaded them to break the Second Commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3).

God had promised Abraham that He would bless and multiply his generations if they were faithful and obedient to follow His commandments and statutes; the land of Canaan would be theirs. BUT, God was very adamant that they resist the temptation to worship the Canaanite gods. At first, the Israelites were loyal, asking, "Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?", declaring the supremacy of YHWH, at the same time they acknowledge the other gods existed. It was very clear that YHWH would not tolerate the idolatry of the Canaanites:

When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods (Deuteronomy 4:29-31).

Yet, they did not only become ensnared to follow after these gods, they compromised and jeopardized their promised inheritance. It is this same trinity of pagan gods that ensnares our culture today. So, let's take a look at them and see if you can tell how we have committed idolatry...

Ba'al. The name of this ancient pagan god has several meanings: "Master", "Husband", and the primary designation of "Possessor". Ba'al was the principal god of the Canaanites and considered the most powerful of all the gods. You can research the significance of this pagan god in all his religious influence, but for the sake of brevity in this post, I find that the description of him on the gotquestions.org website is the most succint and concise: "The Canaanites worshiped Baal as the sun god and as the storm god—he is usually depicted holding a lightning bolt—who defeated enemies and produced crops. They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. At times, appeasing Baal required human sacrifice, usually the firstborn of the one making the sacrifice (Jeremiah 19:5). The priests of Baal appealed to their god in rites of wild abandon which included loud, ecstatic cries and self-inflicted injury (1 Kings 18:28)". 

And there is the well-known Biblical story of the confrontation between Elijah's God, YHWH, and the pagan god, Ba'al, worshiped by King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. After three-and-a-half years of drought, Elijah challenged the prophets of Ba'al to a contest to see whether their pagan god, or the Most High God of Israel, controlled the rain. They set up a "dueling sacrifice", so to speak; each preparing a bull for a sacrifice to their God, declaring that their God would light the fire and consume the sacrifice. The 450 prophets of Ba'al prayed all day with all their might, calling for Ba'al to send fire from heaven, but there was no answer. With a simple prayer, Elijah called upon his God: "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back". The fire of the Lord fell, consumed the sacrifice, and the people of Israel acknowledged that YHWH was the true God of Israel. And Elijah slaughtered the 450 prophets of Ba'al. 

Ashtaroth/Asherah. This goddess was the wife of Ba'al and was known by several other names: Asherah, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus, and was acknowledged as "the Enchantress". She was the goddess of sexual immorality, confusing the natural order of sexuality. She had a priesthood that served her in her temple. The consistent word that described them was "prostitute". Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites are continually warned that "none of the daughters or sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute" (Deuteronomy 23:17). Other translations use the words "temple prostitute" or "shrine prostitute", with the King James Bible being the most descriptive, declaring, "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel". 

The bottom line is that sexual perversion was practiced as the means of getting closer to the god, and these temples of Ashtaroth were dedicated to sexual rituals with the gods. Here is a quote from Dr. Merrill F. Unger, Dallas Theological Seminary and Ph.D. from John Hopkins: "The inhabitants of Canaan were addicted to Baal worship, which was conducted by priests in temples, and in good weather outdoors in fields, and particularly on hilltops called "high places." The cult included animal sacrifice, ritualistic meals, and licentious dances. Near the rock altar was a sacred pillar or massebah, and close by the symbol of the asherah, both of which apparently symbolized human fertility. High places had chambers for sacred prostitution by male prostitutes (kedishim) and sacred harlots (kedeshoth)."

Dr. Howard F. Vos, noted theologian, Professor Emeritus of History and Archeology, author of 25 books on the Bible, and co-author of the Wycliffe Encyclopedia has this say: "One may question that those ancient enemies of Israel were as evil as the Bible claims that they were, but even a superficial glance at Canaanite religion alone demonstrates their iniquity. Base sex worship was prevalent, and religious prostitution even commanded; human sacrifice was common; and it was a frequent practice--in an effort to placate their gods--to kill young children and bury them in the foundations of a house or public building at the time of construction: Joshua 6:26, "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn." The base sex worship also involved men dressing up as women, and women dressing up as men in their perverted sexual rites. 

Molech. Who was this ancient god? Once again, I refer to gotquestions.org for a comprehensive description: Moloch worship included child sacrifice, or “passing children through the fire.” It is believed that idols of Moloch were giant metal statues of a man with a bull’s head. Each image had a hole in the abdomen and possibly outstretched forearms that made a kind of ramp to the hole. A fire was lit in or around the statue. Babies were placed in the statue’s arms or in the hole. When a couple sacrificed their firstborn, they believed that Moloch would ensure financial prosperity for the family and future children.

Before the Israelites had even entered Canaan, God warned them not to participate in Moloch worship (Leviticus 18:21) and repeatedly told them to destroy those cultures that worshiped Moloch. The Israelites didn’t heed God’s warnings. Instead, they incorporated Moloch worship into their own traditions. Even Solomon, the wisest king, was swayed by this cult and built places of worship for Moloch and other gods (1 Kings 11:1–8). Moloch worship occurred in the “high places” (1 Kings 12:31) as well as a narrow ravine outside Jerusalem called the Valley of Hinnom (2 Kings 23:10). 

So, that's a pretty good introduction to the primary gods that influenced the culture of God's chosen people in the days after He became known to their patriarchs. And if you think that the worship of this evil trio is confined to the ancient past, let me suggest the ways that Satan has infiltrated our culture with his representatives. We may not openly associate the idolatry in our culture to names like Ba'al, Ashtaroth, or Molech. But their influence is alive and well in our generation.

Our society has become fascinated and addicted to sexual immorality, which includes everything from pornography to transgenderism, and everything in-between. Men dress up as women to read stories to our children. Our public libraries encourage sexual indoctrination to our young children. We are hard-pressed to find entertainment on TV or in the movies that does not include some form of graphic sexual imagery. And I invite you to read a prophetic post I wrote in 2016 about the erection of a replica of the ancient Arch of the Temple of Bel (Ba'al) in New York City. Perhaps you will recognize that this act gave legal authority for the spirits of Ba'al and Ashtaroth to infiltrate the spiritual realm of our nation. 

And need I make the connection between our modern culture and Molech? Planned Parenthood serves as the priests of modern Molech worship today, encouraging women to sacrifice their children at the altar of convenience and continued prosperity. I know there will be those who say this sounds like religious fanaticism, but I earnestly request that you take the eyes of your soul off the world for a moment and see what our culture looks like through the eyes of our majestic God. He is the same Ruler of Heaven today as He was when He gave the promised land to the descendants of Israel. He requires that the same moral standards of virture and loyality from us as He did from the ancient Israelites. But like the Israelites, we have given the ancient gods access to our culture and our future generations. And they are only too happy to repossess the spiritual territory they once owned.  

Sadly, we are like the person mentioned in Luke 11 ... our house [which is our body and the temple of the Lord] has been swept clean [of evil occupiers] by the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness of our sins. But if we have not filled that vacant space with the knowledge and heart to obey the Lord, then those wicked entities will move in and bring seven [or more] of their wicked companions. That's what we've done -- over the last 50 years, our culture has attempted to remove every vestige and trace of God from our culture. He's been removed from our schools and replaced with false idols of pagan belief systems. We, who still live by His righteous moral absolutes are mocked and increasingly attacked for not falling in line with the adulterous culture. 

So, if you are able to see [with unblinded eyes] the spiritual forces of ancient wickedness at work in our culture, then join God's remnant and go into the spirit to do as he instructed his servants in ancient Israel: tear down the altars and the high places; destroy the asherah poles and the temples of prostitution. Let's break the cycle of the influence of the ancient gods and restore the worship and obedience to the One True God. The Lord Jesus is returning soon, and until then, we have to rise up in our power to stem the tide of darkness and let His Light shine! 

#paganworship #pagangodworship #baalworship #templeprostitution #returntotruegod #godofisrael #ancientidolatry

Deuteronomy 12:3    You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim [Asherah poles] with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.   

 

Our Chaos-Filled Culture

I hope you're in the mood to really challenge your mind and faith today. Because the subject of Chaos in our culture points to an ancient understanding that alleges to pre-date the Bible! In fact, it is directly implicated in the first two verses of Genesis. And that's the best place to start sharing my train of thought. Genesis 1:1-2 are usually read without any real attention because we Western thinkers aren't interested in the etymology of words. But here's how they read in the English Standard Version of the Bible ... In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Now consider the Living Bible's version of those same two verses ... When God began  creating the heavens and the earth, the earth was a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors. Furthermore, the Amplified version translates "without form and void", and "shapeless, chaotic mass" as formless and void or a waste and emptiness. Why am I spending so much time writing about the particular words chosen to describe the primordial earth? Because I want you to understand that with chaos there is no order; no accepted existence of authority; no rule or system of law [or regulation]. And who does that directly connect to? Chaos is a demonic tool of our Enemy to sow separation from God and His purpose for all men.

It is important to make these distinctions so that it becomes abundantly clear when I make the statement "In the six days of Creation, God made order out of Chaos." When we can understand that the earth had no discernible form, and was void [which is defined as a vacuum, emptiness, a chasm, a pit, and an abyss), then we get the idea that it truly was a "chaotic mass" and open to all the darkness of Satan, which includes distortion, mayhem, upheaval, deception, and confusion.

But the concept of Chaos is not exclusive to the Bible. In fact, my research shows that in the history of the religions of the world, the idea of the spirit of Khaos (spelled with a "K" in ancient history) was very much accepted. I was actually shocked to find that some believed Khaos was the child of deities that existed before God in both age and power! Obviously, these would be pagan deities and religions, but that doesn't mean their idea of what constituted Chaos wasn't incorporated into those ancient cultures -- and has survived thousands of years to still exist in our culture today.

See if you can detect some of these ancient pagan deities in our modern world as I share Khaos's "family tree" and geneology ... Khaos was believed to have given birth to many primordial deities who would later rule specific concepts of Creation. The most well known being Tartarus (Abyss), Eros (Love), Erebus (Darkness), Nyx (Night) and Gaia (Mother Earth). Gaia then brought forth Ouranos, the starry heavens and her male equal, to be her companion. With him she gave birth to the Titans and some of the other primordial deities.

But as we have seen in our own Biblical accounts, created beings can become corrupted and seek after their own glory. So, whether or not we can believe in the existence of an ancient deity called Khaos, we can certainly see that the essence or spirit of chaos is alive and well in our current cultural climate. The alarming rise of crime in our nation is a result of Chaos. The situation on our southern border is a picture of total Chaos. Our economy is in free fall, which is causing Chaos in the food, energy, and real estate sectors. And there is an ancient writing that quotes the primordial Khaos as declaring, "I am the darkness behind the stars, I existed billions of years before even the first spark of Creation was lit. God could not destroy me and neither can you". That is a very frightening and direct threat!

Sadly, the cultural reality of Chaos as complete disorder, confusion and turmoil is now making itself known among our children. And I believe it is because they possess the one thing that puts the fear of God into Chaos ... their innocence. And that innocence has made them a target for the demonic spirit of Chaos. An innocent child exhibits the very image of God ... His goodness, His innate truth, the offer of hope and trust to a heart that has not yet been corrupted. An innocent child represents the stark contrast between Harmony and Chaos, and when a culture has submitted itself to the insidious tactics of Evil and moral decay, then those that possess the spirit of Chaos must destroy that innocence. And so, we see the proliferation of ideologies like gender confusion and drag queen story hours into our culture as a means to destroy the innocence and identity of our most vulnerable. 

The spirit of Chaos seeks to cancel and nullify all moral principles. It seeks to promote the freedom to commit licentious acts on the grounds of self-discovery. It seeks to destroy a child's natural desire for purity and God. It is the state of our culture that tries to wean that out of our innocent children. It has been a long road since the beginning of the world that Chaos has traveled to get to this point in time in our culture ... shame on us for letting it get this far and jeopardizing the souls of God's innocent children! Pray that we can break this stronghold and restore moral decency and integrity for the sake of our innocent children and the generations to come.

#spiritofchaos #morality #protectthechildren #Godschildren #protecttheinnocent

Matthew 18:6    But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Baal Worship in 2022! God Will Not Tolerate This For Much Longer!

By now, you may have seen the blasphemous images coming from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, England. In case you are unfamiliar with this multi-sport event, it is held every four years and attended by countries who have been part of the British Empire, with England, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Wales, and New Zealand taking the lead in attendance among the participating 72 nations. But this year, it was the opening ceremonies that left anyone with an understanding of Biblical history in total shock.

Taking center stage was a 30-foot, 2.5 ton metal bull, built to symbolize one of the oldest pagan gods in the Bible, Baal. According to the editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Baal was one of the major gods of the Canaanite pantheon. In Hebrew, the word ba 'al means "owner" or "lord".  So, in the early stages of Israel's history, the use of Baal in names didn't necessarily indicate apostasy or idolatry. The judge Gideon was also known as Jerubbaal, and King Saul named his son, Ishbaal. In fact, for those early Hebrews, "Baal" was the appointed name for the Lord of Israel. What eventually made the very name Baal an abomination to the Israelites was the plan of Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, in the 9th century BCE, to introduce her Phoenician cult of Baal to the Israelites in opposition to the official worship of Yahweh (I Kings 18).

Baal was designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. It is not too difficult to connect the idea of fertility with the Bible and the knowledge that Satan has been in a "seed war" [think DNA] with God since Genesis 3:15 ("I will put enmity [open hostility] between you and the woman, and between your seed [offspring] and her Seed [Jesus]") and Genesis 6, when fallen angels mated with human women to spawn the birth of Nephilim [half fallen angel/half human] -- all in an attempt by Satan to corrupt the pure Jewish bloodline so Jesus could not be born. Furthermore Baal's title of Prince, Lord of the Earth also designates him as Lucifer, or Satan.

We also need to understand that the worship of Baal existed in Egypt when the Israelites were in bondage as slaves. They were in captivity for 400+ years and some of the pagan idolatry began to seep into their religion. So much so that when Moses was on Mount Sinai meeting with God over the Ten Commandments, the Israelites began doubting that the Exodus from Egypt was a good idea, and they reverted to some familiar Baal worship; they built "a golden calf" and they celebrated "shamefully and without moral restraint". We can see this action for what it was when we know that as the god of life and fertility, Baal was believed to have sired a divine bull calf, whose birth meant an abundance of crops and fertility for animals and man.

Because the land of Canaan had been influenced by Egyptian invasion, Baal worship was prevalent among the inhabitants of the Promised Land. And this is why YHWH warned the Israelites to steer clear of the native tribes and remain true to Him and His commandments ... with good reason! The website heavennet describes the rituals of Baal worship like this: adults would gather around the altar of Baal. Infants would then be burned alive as a sacrificial offering to the deity. Amid horrific screams and the stench of charred human flesh, congregants – men and women alike – would engage in bisexual orgies. The ritual of convenience was intended to produce economic prosperity by prompting Baal to bring rain for the fertility of "mother earth." The principal pillars of Baalism were child sacrifice, sexual immorality (both heterosexual and homosexual) and pantheism (reverence of creation over the Creator)."

And that is precisely why the opening ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games of 2022 were so disturbing. The National Times of Australia shared the commentary from the BBC announcers as the idolatrous and blasphemous Baal Bull was brought into the stadium ... "The presenter of the Games is announcing that the Bull will be revealed as the iconic symbol of light... Ladies and gentlemen, anyone with any Biblical understanding knows they are referring to Lucifer! This is worship of fallen angels going on right in front of your face. If people don't believe we're coming into the End Times ... are you seeing what I'm seeing?!? ... This bull is clearly Satanic ... they will fall down and worship the bull! Do you see where they are leading you?" The BBC announcer had no problem in discerning the message the opening ceremony was conveying. I wonder how many others who witnessed it were as perceptive?

That is why it is so important that we take note of these kinds of spectacles and make them known. The world is rapidly sliding into idolatry, and much of it is rooted in paganism and the worship of the ancient god, Baal, whether we acknowledge his connection or not. Stop and take a close look at where the world is headed ... abortion is equivalent to child sacrifice; the culture openly pushes homosexual, heterosexual, and transsexual promiscuity just like the orgies performed during the rituals of Baal worship; the worship of "mother earth" is still alive and well and transforming into radical environmentalism. Nothing has changed! Satan is running his same old program that began in Genesis and we are coming very near to the later chapters of Revelation. Please don't turn a blind eye to what is right in our faces ... stand as a united Body of Christ and declare that we will not bow down to any other God but the Most High! Do not let the Lord find us as He found Israel in the following verse from Hosea...

Hosea 9:10    I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved.

#baalworship #paganworship #motherearth #endtimes #commonwealthgames

The Importance Of Understanding Passover and Easter

 

As most of the Christian world prepares to celebrate Easter this weekend, I am excited to see more and more Christians in the Western Church acknowledge the Lord's Feast of Passover. According to the Messianic Sabbath website, the Feast of Passover begins at sundown this evening, April 14th. I would like to share with you why this Passover Festival should be important to you, as a Christian, and the significance the associated Feasts have with the crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord. Additionally, I want you to understand what YHWH says about these Feasts, and just how the Enemy has worked to corrupt the celebration by introducing pagan elements into the Christian religion.

We often hear the Spring Feasts of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits described as the "Feasts of the Jews". But these are not only Jewish Holy Days, but apply to all followers of YHWH. In fact, Leviticus 23 says, "These are My appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies... they shall be a permanent statute, throughout your generations, wherever you shall be."  They are the Lord's Feasts! And they are to be celebrated for everyone who is the seed of Abraham. And if you are doubting that we are the seed of Abraham, then let me present Galatians 3:29 ... And if you belong to Christ [if you are in Him], then you are Abraham’s descendants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise.

So, that is a very simple, but accurate, introduction to why Passover and the Lord's Spring Feasts have significance to Christians. Now, I'd like to quickly explain the meaning and sense of each of these Spring Feasts. and how they correspond with the Western Church's celebration of Easter.  

First of all, we need to comprehend how the dates of these feasts are determined. God calls the first day into existence in Genesis 1:5 ... And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day. So, on the Hebrew/Biblical calendar a day begins and ends at dusk. And God, instituted the new moon as appointed times to worship and make sacrifice for Him ... Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day (Psalm 81:3). So the Hebrew calendar is lunar-based and the dates for the Feasts are determined according to Leviticus 23, with the start of the Hebrew month on the new moon as it would be seen from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This year that date is at dusk on April 14th.

The eight days that make up the Festival of Passover are actually recorded in Exodus, Chapter 12. Here we find three separate Feasts, all under the umbrella of "the Feast of Passover". The first day of the Festival, and the first of the Feasts, is called Pesach, which means "spare" or "exempt" in Hebrew, and which our English Bibles translate as "pass over".  Therefore, it has become known as the Feast of Passover in our time. It is the foundation of all three Feasts, and commemorates the Lord's direction to the Israelites to sacrifice an unblemished and spotless lamb, applying it's blood to the side doorposts and top lentil of each home. [It is important to note, that this application made the motion of the Cross]. The Lord promised to pass over homes where the blood of the lamb had been applied.  The lambs were the substitutes for the people, sparing them [and saving them] from death and judgment by the Lord.

For us Christians, who are Abraham's seed of the New Covenant, the Feast of Passover is a call to remember the Redemption we have received through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.  He is our Passover who takes away the sin of the world.  We are redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Just as the first Passover proved to be the Power of God to release the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, Jesus is the Power of God to release us from the penalty of our sin into Repentance, His love, Life, Freedom, Liberty, AND into the Kingdom of God as Kingdom citizens. Jesus IS the manifestation of the Passover Lamb, and He was crucified on the Feast of Passover. 

The second feast of the Passover Festival is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasts seven days, from the evening of April 15th until the evening of April 22nd.  Historically, it is a call to remember the quick exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were instructed to make bread without leaven (yeast) because they didn't have time to wait for it to rise. In addition, yeast, or leaven, in the Bible always referred to any corrupting influence (sin) in the nation of Israel.  In this instance, God was telling them to leave behind the unholy influences of Egypt -- the worship of false Egyptian gods, and the rituals and traditions that had corrupted Israel's relationship with their God during their 430 years of captivity.  

For today's Christian, this time is a Call to Purity, to an "Unleavened" life.  Jesus knew no sin, nor was any deceit found in Him.  He was unblemished and spotless.  He was made sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.  As we reflect on how Jesus has delivered us from sin, we can ask His help in removing any leaven from our life that is separating us from Him and ask Him to reconnect us back to our original relationship with God!

The third feast of this Holy Festival is the Feast of Firstfruits.  This feast occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread on the Sabbath after Passover.  In the Old Covenant, it acknowledged the Lord as the giver of the harvest, and commemorated Adam's son, Abel, bringing the first of his flock as an offering to the Lord. This Feast speaks volumes of Christ as the first of God's Harvest of souls and is a shadow of what Christ has done and the promises He has yet to do. And here is why it is important to Christians -- Jesus's resurrection occurred on the very day of the celebration of the Feast of First Fruits!  He is the offering presented to the Heavenly Father as the first fruit of the harvest of souls.  But just as important, He is the guarantee that more resurrections will follow.  In His first fruits offering, we see the blessing and the setting apart [or sanctifying] of the entire harvest to the Father, and a preview of what the resurrection will be like for every Believer.  Because He overcame death and lives today, every born-again follower of Christ is connected to Him and His power!

And now, I come to what may be the most difficult part of this post for you to understand... God did not appoint a celebration of a Holy Day called Easter! I know this will offend many religious Christians, but the only version of the Bible where I could find the word "Easter" mentioned is in Acts 12:1-5 of the King James Bible. Here is an important truth that the modern Church needs to understand ... the word Easter is never biblically associated with the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Read Matthew 26-28 and the account of the betrayal of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and you will find the references to the Passover week. He is crucified, buried, and raised from the dead during those Holy Feast days, and the Feasts are mentioned ... not Easter! 

So, how did the Western Church come to associate this unbiblical holiday with our Lord's death and resurrection?  Enter Roman Emperor Constantine, who sought to strengthen his empire by professing a conversion to Christianity. At the time, his empire was divided between Pagans and Believers. Before his supposed conversion, Emperor Constantine -- like many pagans -- celebrated various pagan gods.  These pagan religions often centered around moon goddesses and sun gods.  "Ishtar", which is another pagan name for  "Easter", was a day that commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called "Tammuz", who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god.    

In 325 A.D., Emperor Constantine, at the Nicean Council, ordered all Churches to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, named for the Goddess of Spring [and moon] and his pagan Sun god. The early Church had celebrated the Resurrection during the Passover, beginning on the 14th day of the Hebrew month called Nisan, which could fall on any day of the week.  But the Churches near Rome had abandoned the practice because they hated the Jews, blaming them for the death of Jesus, so they fixed the date to the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring, which coincided with the ancient Roman celebration called ‘Easter’, after the pagan goddess of Spring, Eostre, who was also known as Ishtar, Astarte, Ashtaroth, the Queen of Heaven, and Mother Nature. Constantine saw how his newfound faith could be united with his old pagan ways to unite his Empire. He couldn’t force pagans to believe in his new faith, but he could entice them by incorporating some familiar pagan themes, such as the goddess, Eostre/Easter, herself, seen as a goddess of fertility. [This is where we get Easter eggs from and the symbol of the Easter bunny, which is also a symbol of fertility].  He could replace the Feasts of the Lord, which were practiced by the Hebrew Believers, with familiar "sunrise" services and worship centered around the Spring Equinox.

As I said earlier, during the first couple hundred years of the Early Church, believers followed the Jewish traditions of the Lord's Feasts.  But Constantine's Satan-induced hatred of the Jews caused the Jewish influence (in the form of the Feasts) to be erased from the Church.  Here is a direct quote from Constantine himself:   “And truly, in the first place, it seems to everyone a most unworthy thing that we should follow the customs of the Jews in the celebration of this most holy solemnity, who, polluted wretches! having stained their hands with a nefarious crime, are justly blinded in their minds. It is fit, therefore, that rejecting the practice of this people, we should perpetuate to all future ages the celebration of this rite, in a more legitimate order, which we have kept from the first day of our "Lord's" passion even to the present times. Let us then have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews.” (Council of Nicea, pg. 52.)

 The consequences of this hostility towards the Jews has meant that nearly 2000 years after its establishment, the Church has lost the truth about God's commandments as to how we are to celebrate His Son's resurrection.  But, thankfully, in this dawning of the Last Days, we have received Divine revelation, and are returning to the roots of our faith; celebrating the First Coming of our Lord, by observing His Feasts according to His calendar; the same calendar He gave to Moses.

Nearly 1400 years after the Exodus, the Roman government crucified Jesus, or Yeshua, on God's commanded Feast of Passover, and He became our sacrificial Passover Lamb.  By His blood, that covers us, we are saved from Death.  For over a thousand years, families had selected Passover lambs on the 10th day of Nisan, and observed them for 4 days before Passover.  On Nisan 10, the day they selected their lambs, Yeshua entered Jerusalem to the shouts of the multitudes, as they cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9).  They saw Him as their conquering King of Israel; not as the Sacrificial Lamb. 

On the Morning of Nisan 14, which is Passover Preparation Day, Jews rushed their lambs to Jerusalem.  That same morning, the High Priest Caiaphas rushed to condemn Yeshua.  He was a Sadducee who denied the resurrection, and hated Jesus for teaching it.  He led other Sadducees in the Sanhedrin to convict Yeshua to death.  Yeshua was nailed to the cross at 9 a.m., at the time of the morning sacrifice and prayers at the Temple.

That afternoon, shortly before Yeshua died, priests blew the shofar, which signaled the opening of the Temple gates when men flooded into the courtyards to slaughter their Passover lambs.  As they hung their lambs on hooks with forearms spread for skinning and cleaning, Yeshua was hanging on the Cross in the same pose.  He died at 3 p.m., the time of the evening sacrifice and prayers.  

The blood of slaughtered lambs covered doorposts in ancient Egypt.  That was a picture of the Messiah ... He was a lamb led to slaughter ... He was the Lamb of God ... He was a Lamb without blemish (free of sin) ... He is the slain Lamb on the Throne ... He is the Lamb whose blood overcomes Satan and He died for the sins of the world. 

So, as you can see, through His commandments to observe His Feast Days, God gave us an exact picture of His plan to redeem mankind.  The Feast Days of Passover week point us to the First Coming of Christ in a very specific way that a holiday named Easter -- with its pagan roots -- can never do. And if you are saying to yourself, "But, that's not what Easter means to me ... I recognize the sacrifice that Jesus made for me". But what does it mean to God when He knows the origins and symbols of Easter?  I invite you to consider what the Lord says in Amos 5:21: I hate, I despise and reject your (sacred) feasts, and I do not take delight in your solemn assemblies.

 Just as the blood of Passover lambs in ancient Egypt covered the doorposts, the blood of the Messiah, our Passover Lamb, covers our hearts.  The Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt on these very days, just as we are delivered from slavery to sin! And Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected on these specific days.  That's why, beginning tonight at sundown, and for the next 8 days, I will be celebrating my freedom from sin's hold on me -- my victory in Yeshua -- and celebrating the hope that is my resurrection. 

1 Corinthians 5:7    Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

 

What Is The Spirit of This Nation? Who Is It's god?

Yes, I realize that I have a small "g" god in my title. It was deliberate and the result of a question posed to me by a young man I'm proud to consider a spiritual son. He has found his freedom in Christ and is dedicated to representing the Kingdom of God to as many people as possible. He takes that responsibility seriously, and therefore spends lots of personal time in seeking the Lord and endeavoring to understand the "spiritual mechanics" of how we are to walk in our power and authority as sons and daughters of God, and citizens and ambassadors of our Father's Heavenly Kingdom.

With his goals set before him, this young man is learning how to specifically target his prayers as he wages war in the heavens, and he asked me for some information regarding the evil spirits or principalities over geographical regions in the United States. In light of our current situation in the country, I sure wish other Believers were this tuned in to this particular prayer strategy. So, I would like to share with you what I revealed to him as my understanding.

It should not surprise Christians when I say that there are territorial and regional spirits and forces that afflict and oppress people in communities, states, geographical regions, and even an entire country. In the Book of Daniel, Scripture makes it very clear the archangel Michael is in a spiritual battle with the Princes of Persia and Greece. We don't know what the particular characteristics of those powerful spiritual entities are, but I believe they reflect the sins of the people of Persia and Greece. Let me explain further... 

First of all, I do not have the mind of God, nor am I privileged to have all His knowledge or counsel. From what I have discerned, I see at least two paths for geographical regions and territories to become infiltrated with high-level demons and powers. The first is exemplified by Matthew 12:43-45. This passage tells us that when an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then when it decides to return to the house from which it was thrown out, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. 

This tells me that cast out demons try to find other avenues in which they can oppress people, regions, or territories where they can go and easily reside [rest]. But if those places are dry and unproductive for their evil proclivities (waterless), they decide to try and go back to the person or place from which they were cast out. Of course, because it is the power of Jesus that allowed them to be cast out, that place [or person] from which they came will be vacant; it will be warm and ready for occupancy again. You see, as soon as that place was rid of the evil influence, that vacancy should have been filled with the Holy Spirit [in case of a person], or transformed into a righteous, moral and virtuous environment [in case of a region or territory]. Tolerance, patience, mercy, grace and peace will characterize both people and territories that are not left void.

A second path that I believe demons and high-level principalities and princes can exploit to enter regions is when spirits and demons gain their power through the sins of the people who live in those places. In other words, a spirit of perversion did not target San Francisco, and come in, forcing people into ungodly lifestyles. Rather, it was the Biblical sins of those lifestyles that began to create an atmosphere that was inviting to demonic spirits; and the spiritual atmosphere of San Francisco became welcomed the spirit of perversion to take up residence. Does that make sense?

So, when asked how to specifically pray over the United States as a nation, I would ask you to consider this: What do we often identify as a feature of our national psyche? Don't we often say that "the spirit of Liberty burns in the hearts of all Americans"? Did you know that imperial Rome's goddess Libertas was fashioned after the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, who is the Canaanite version of Semiramis, wife of Nimrod? And did you know that this spirit of liberty is immortalized in America's Statue of Liberty? In fact, Liberty, also known as the goddess Columbia, and the goddess of Freedom, became a cult symbol for Freemasonry in the early years of our Republic. In fact, the Statue of Liberty was conceived, financed, and built by an Italian Freemason (Frederic-Auguste Batholdi), and envisioned as a statue of Nimrod's wife Semiramis (Ishtar, Isis, Astarte) holding a torch of illuminism to light the way to the land of freedom and opportunity. The only problem is that the people of America would enjoy only the "liberties" that the New World Order allowed them to have. She stands in the harbor of New York City as a symbol of wealth and power; and oversees her empire of greed and corruption.

Sadly, that spirit of Liberty that we Americans have come to idolize is tarnished with the reality that it is more like a symbol of the Queen of Babylon [or Queen of Heaven] than she is a spirit associated with our true freedom in Christ. Consider this passage in the 18th Chapter of the Book of Revelation: "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, possessing great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his splendor and radiance. And he shouted with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen [certainly to be destroyed] is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every unclean spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird. For all the nations have drunk from the wine of the passion of her [sexual] immorality, and the kings and political leaders of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth and economic power of her sensuous luxury.” And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not be a partner in her sins and receive her plagues; for her sins (crimes, transgressions) have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and crimes [for judgment].  Repay to her even as she has repaid others, and pay back [to her] double [her torment] in accordance with what she has done; in the cup [of sin and suffering] which she mixed, mix a double portion [of perfect justice] for her.  To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled and gloated in her sensuality [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that same degree impose on her torment and anguish, and mourning and grief; for in her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as a queen [on a throne] and I am not a widow, and will never, ever see mourning or experience grief.’  For this reason in a single day her plagues (afflictions, calamities) will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire and completely consumed; for strong and powerful is the Lord God who judges her."

That pagan spirit of Liberty or Columbia or Semiramis, or whatever name she has gone by down through the centuries in the nations, has consumed our national soul and convinced us that we are a virtuous and upright nation; that we are indestructible and everlasting. But I would venture that Revelation 18 is a pretty good description of a nation so drunk on her own prosperity, that she refuses to acknowledge that it is the Most High God's grace and favor that are responsible for all she has. And there the Statue of Liberty sits in the Harbor of New York City; a natural portal into our nation. And that spirit of Liberty lives in statues across our land, and in every state flag that hangs over every state capital building, perpetuating the myth that she represents God's desire for our nation.

So, if you want to know how to pray for this nation, and how to wage spiritual war against the principalities that have gained such a stronghold in our land, pray that we would acknowledge the spiritual darkness that has crept into the halls of government and the boardrooms of commerce so that we can receive Jehovah Nissi's battle plans and defeat these oppressors of evil. It is not too late to delay the fire of judgment that our righteous God is justified in heaping upon us. We do not have to be completely consumed. But the clock is ticking and the time is NOW to reverse our trajectory. Father God wants to pardon us, but the sins are piled higher than is imaginable, and it is going to take a completely committed, sanctified, and surrendered Body of Christ to turn back His wrath. Don't give up; never give up! God's love endures forever for those who turn to Him in humble submission, acknowledging the sins of our nation and partnering with our Creator to restore our homeland to its Godly origins. Intercede for us King Jesus!

Jude 1:4    For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.