The Deceptive Role of Satan
Audio read by Tom Parks - MP3 Part 1 •
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Essentials of New Testament Doctrine - Introduction MP3
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To put the matter simply, the greatest deception of Satan is to prompt you, me, and everyone in the world to believe that he is not Satan. He manipulates us to accept something quite opposite. Satan wants people to believe he is a righteous spirit being who has nothing but your interest (and the interest of all human beings) as his chief desire, and that his ultimate goal is to promote your welfare and prosperity. Truly, he wants you to succeed and be prosperous if you will only do things his way.
In the present day vernacular, although Satan is truly a bad guy (the worst of the worst), he projects himself to the world and to you and me as a good guy (the best of the best). Satan has accomplished his task quite effectively. Christ Jesus, however, accurately called Satan a murderer from the beginning. Satan goes about as a roaring lion to devour whom he might, but the impression that Satan wishes to give of himself is utterly different. He wants to express to the world the very opposite characteristics. Satan has managed to pull off the grandest subterfuge ever conceived in the history of the world.
I will give four propositions to demonstrate how the deceptions of Satan work within the environment of our world societies. This chapter will reveal the real attitude of Satan, along with a proper biblical description of his methods, desires, and his tactics that most people do not recognize as originating from him. It is time for people to be introduced to the real Satan that most do not know. For the first time many people will discover just what Satan is concocting to influence human kind, why you and I should recognize that we ourselves have been deceived by Satan and that we need to resist him and his deceptive ways. His ways are clever indeed.
The real Satan is more clever than most people imagine. God has given him extensive powers to deceive mankind, and the deceived include even the most learned and intellectual people of this world. In truth, God the Father and Christ Jesus have given Satan orders to practice his deception on this gullible and unwary world, and Satan has been highly successful in this task.
The Godhead in heaven created Satan and his angelic helpers specifically to perform their deceptive work to confuse the world into believing Satan is the true God and that he is the spirit power to be obeyed. Like Paul said, Satan is the God of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). At the same time, the Godhead issued orders to all those called to understand the truth (such as you and me) to resist this negative element in our existence manifested by Satan and his angels.
Actually, God created Satan and his evil angels for an ultimately good purpose. And for us there is hope. Believe it or not, the Godhead created Satan and his evil powers to be a negative force to help us, God’s own children, learn discipline and be able to distinguish proper instructions concerning good and evil. We must learn to be very careful. God created Satan for evil.
“What?” you might say. “Martin, do you actually mean that God the Father and Jesus Christ created Satan the Devil to do a job on this earth and that they expect him to perform it exactly as God intended?” That is what the Bible says the Godhead has done. Satan the Devil is doing what he was created to do. And though God has given Satan vast powers, he is quite limited when compared to the powers resident in the Godhead.
Satan has to stay within certain limits that God has imposed upon him. Indeed, God is in control of evil as well as good. Notice a few scriptures that show God as much involved in the creation and management of evil on this earth and in the universe, as He is in the creation of good.
“I am the Lord [YHVH], and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord [YHVH] do all these things.”
Isaiah 45:6–7
“Behold, I [YHVH] have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and that brings forth an instrument for his work: and I have created the waster to destroy.”
Isaiah 54:16
“Shall the trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord [YHVH] has not done it?”
Amos 3:6
There is much more. Throughout the prophecies of Jeremiah there are statements that God was going to bring evil (a great calamity) on His own people, the nation of Judah. The evil was to come because of their sins and God was even going to commission evil men to do the job. God called King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon “My servant” (Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). Remember that God used Satan to greatly afflict the patriarch Job with many evil curses, though God put specific boundaries upon Satan which he could not pass concerning Job’s trials (Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6).
The point is, God the Father and Christ Jesus (who are the top authorities within the Godhead) are fully in charge of all things that occur on earth and in the universe. Nothing (and this means absolutely NOTHING) takes place in the universe without the express permission, allowance, and command of the Godhead. It sometimes amazes people to read in Scripture that God uses evil men or even Satan himself to accomplish certain tasks of evil that the Godhead may create and promote for the discipline of man, the Sons of God, or to chastise the angels. The Bible, however, shows these points openly.
This leads us to PROPOSITION ONE that all people must understand if they hope to comprehend what the deceptions of Satan and his evil ways really are.
God the Father and Christ Jesus are the ultimate powers in the universe who totally control all things, including the activities of Satan the Devil and his angelic supporters. The Godhead also governs the actions of all nations on earth as well as each individual who inhabits the earth. Note the following scriptures that clearly prove this PROPOSITION ONE.
“The heaven, and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s your God, the earth also, with all that therein is.”
Deuteronomy 10:14
“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”
Deuteronomy 32:39
“The Lord kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low, and lifts up. He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.”
1 Samuel 2:6–8
“O Lord God of our fathers, are not you God in heaven? and rule you not over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you?”
2 Chronicles 20:6
“I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant.”
Jeremiah 27:5–6
“The Lord [YHVH] has made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked [wicked one, singular] for the day of evil.”
Proverbs 16:4
“With him [God] is strength and wisdom, the deceived and the deceiver are his.”
Job 12:16
“The most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will, and sets over it the basest of men.”
Daniel 4:17
Let us understand the teaching that PROPOSITION ONE provides us. It shows God in complete control of all nations and governments of this world, and He sets over them on some occasions the worst of men to govern and to chastise them. He even sets up on other occasions those who deceive people and those who wish to be deceived. God Himself sends delusions to certain people. “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a [Greek: the] lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:11).
In spite of the fact that the Bible shows Satan is very active in influencing the governments of this world, we are required by God to honor and respect the earthly king and his government (whatever type of government is in charge over us), even if the king and the government are base and evil. The Bible teaching is clear on this matter, because in an ultimate sense, all these governments are God’s and they belong to Him. Even during the time of emperor Nero with his evil ways, Peter told Christians to:
“submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men; as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
1 Peter 2:13–17
Paul said virtually the same thing in Romans 13:1–7.
Obeying the government, however, is based on the premise that the rules and laws of that government are within harmony with the teachings of God that pertain to us. Always remember what Peter said, “We ought to obey God, rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Nothing should be clearer than this command.
The principle is this: even if you or I live in non-democratic countries, or if we live in areas under control of religious governments not in accord with the Christian teachings that pertain to us, we are still to submit to the outward laws made to keep an orderly society. Indeed, Paul called such governmental authorities “ministers of God” (Romans 13:4), and this applies even to those “ministers” who represent evil governments. Again recall that these “ministers” must be obeyed within the provisions of Acts 5:29.
The Bible shows that the Godhead has given Satan the supreme power (underneath authority of God the Father and Christ Jesus) to control the nations and governments of this world, whether those governments are national, provincial, county, city, village, school, church, etc. In truth, many Christians may not realize this point but the Bible plainly shows that God the Father and Christ Jesus have presently given all kingdoms and governments of this world (no matter what type they are) over to the spiritual power called Satan the Devil for him to rule and to promote those societies within the boundaries that the Godhead imposes upon him.
Christ Jesus when on earth recognized this powerful position of Satan and he called Satan “the prince of this world” (John 14:30; 16:11). As an example of Satan’s control over all nations (and that includes all democratic nations as well as totalitarian powers), Satan informed Christ that if He would but bow down and worship him then Satan would give Him all the kingdoms and governments of the world into his immediate possession. Christ did not deny that Satan had authority to do this. See Matthew 4:8–10 where this sovereignty of Satan is plainly shown. And though Christ Jesus is destined to take over the role of world ruler, He will not exercise that authority until Satan is deposed when the seventh angel of the Book of Revelation sounds his trumpet. The Bible says:
“And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever [Greek: for the ages of the ages].’”
Revelation 11:15
That event when Christ takes over world rule is yet future, though it may not be many years ahead of us. At present, however, Satan is still in charge of all governments of this world under God the Father. Satan's chief occupation is to deceive, we are told that “Satan deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). He deceives not just a part of the world, but he deceives the “whole world.” You and I have been deceived by him.
Now for a shock most Christian have not considered. Since God presently allows Satan to have spiritual control over all governments of the world, it stands to reason that Satan would want his governments to be stable and law-abiding in order for his rulership to continue functioning in a proper fashion. This is true. Satan must be a most law-abiding individual, who upholds the law more than anyone else. Let’s face it. If those laws cause Satan’s governments and kingdoms to function in a stable manner, then Satan would want to retain those laws. He is not the author of all evil that most feel.
This ought to make sense to anyone who would think a moment about the matter. Even Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union made numerous laws and regulations ordered by Hitler or Stalin (or those they appointed) to promote the stability of their regimes. If anyone in Germany or the Soviet Union disobeyed those laws, the rebels were either put in prison, fined, or executed for their “crimes” against the laws of the land. The Nazis and the Soviets wanted obedient citizens, not rebels.
As anyone with sense realizes, no government over humankind (no matter what kind it is, good or evil, God’s or Satan’s) can long exist without numerous laws which keep the people in the country continuing to be “good and upright” citizens as judged by the authorities who govern the country. Satan the Devil is no exception in the promotion of various laws in the countries of this world he controls. As a matter of fact, Satan is a great advocate of obeying the laws of the lands that he rules.
Now consider some particulars about Satan’s practices and desires of which many Christians are unaware. Indeed, many Christians have adopted false principles and teachings that Satan has deceived them to believe. For example, it is common for Christians, their ministers, and priests to affirm that Satan’s chief occupation is to bring national, international, or even personal harm and evil to people on earth. They often teach or allude to Satan being like a fire breathing monstrous being, red all over, pitchfork in hand, always up to mischief, and continually trying to engender havoc. They think and teach that Satan is constantly devising “devilish tricks” to make us continually sin against not only God but also society. They believe and teach that Satan’s main activity is to get you and me to commit some moral or ethical infraction so that he can gloat before God at our weaknesses.
In the vast majority of cases, this is not Satan’s activity at all. As Christ said, any kingdom or government divided against itself cannot stand and He included that of Satan the Devil (Matthew 12:25–26). Satan does not want you, me, or anyone to commit “moral and ethical” sins against governments that he establishes and maintains. Just the opposite is the case. Satan expects all citizens of his kingdoms and governments to be in full and complete obedience to his laws that govern those societies that he rules.
Common sense ought to tell anyone that to govern his nations and kingdoms in a manner that keeps him in power, Satan has to have law books in all countries he rules that give legal dictums against immorality and unethical conduct (just to mention two categories involving social necessities). For societies to be in conformity to his wishes, Satan expects and demands that the people keep his laws that govern the societies he rules. If he did not, his governments would be in chaos.
Satan even uses what most of us Christians (or any decent society) would call good and proper laws against moral and ethical infringements in which some wayward citizens might indulge. Indeed, you and I would approve of many of the laws adopted by Satan to maintain what most people call a decent society. On the other hand, while Satan has allowed laws to be enacted that may appear good and right to most humans who live in his societies, they may not be in agreement with the general principles of the Bible that pertain to us Christians. This is where the problem lies and we must be aware of Satan’s devices. Satan has adopted laws (even ones we may think are proper) to control his governments so they function well for him.
Let us get one thing straight regarding PROPOSITION TWO. In almost all circumstances, Satan not only desires loyalty to the rules and regulations that control his governments on earth, he will have the state (Satan’s state) punish the populace who go contrary to them. The apostle Paul understood this principle clearly. Note what he did when he found a member of the Corinthian congregation having sex with his own father’s wife (which Paul said was even against the normal sensitivities of the Gentiles). Paul said the man should be handed over to civil authorities that would execute him for such an offense against the society at Corinth. That’s what Paul meant when he told the Corinthians “to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5). Remember, Satan is described as like a “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8).
When the apostle Paul said once that he had been delivered “out of the mouth of the lion” (2 Timothy 4:17), it was a figure of speech meaning that the “lion,” the Roman government in the person of the emperor Nero, had yet not convicted him of any crime. Recall the head government from the time of Daniel was to be the Babylonian type and it was designated as being a Lion (Daniel 7). Babylon was one of Satan’s major human governments, just as Rome was in Paul’s day. So, to be handed “over to Satan” for punishment was to be placed in the hands of the secular ruling government that Satan controls and supervises.
You see, Paul knew that Satan was in charge of the government of Corinth and some of those laws enacted by the citizens of that city Paul agreed with. He also knew that Satan established laws of conduct among the Corinthian citizens that prohibited such heinous crimes against his society. Corinth had the death penalty on their law books for the crime this Corinthian Christian was committing and Paul knew it. This is why Paul simply told the brethren to hand the man over to the authorities of Satan’s government at Corinth and they would deal with the evil very quickly. Thankfully, the man took Paul's warning seriously, he repented of his ways and as a consequence was not handed over to the Gentile authorities (that is, to Satan who controlled the government). As a result of his repentance he was not executed (2 Corinthians 2:1–8).
But let us not be altruistic in this matter over the so-called “good laws of Satan” and become deceived about Satan’s ways. While Satan demands everyone be an observer of his laws (no matter what laws, including the good ones), he may use those laws deceitfully against any one who wishes to change them or to create another type of society that Satan does not approve.
If someone like John the Baptist, Christ Jesus Himself, or the apostle Paul tried to teach a type of government at Jerusalem, Corinth, or at Rome that would lessen the effect of Satan and his powers, Satan may well apply his own laws of morality and ethics to accuse such righteous people of misconduct. He may try to “entice” such a righteous person to go against the moral or ethical standards of his society to get other citizens to dislike the person by calling him “immoral” or “unethical,” or claim that he teaches against established society. This trick Satan often uses against those who teach the truth of the Gospel. Sometimes he succeeds in getting the public outraged, sometimes he fails. But Satan is crafty enough to put temptations in front of people, including God’s people, if they attempt to thwart his governments and societies in a way that he disapproves. Peter said:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith.”
1 Peter 5:8–9
Satan certainly sought out Paul in special ways because Paul was teaching about a new type of government coming to rule the earth (2 Corinthians 12:7). Satan did not like Paul’s teachings, so he used laws on the books of the various cities in the Roman Empire to put Paul in prison for “breaking” those laws. One thing Satan did was to get Paul accused of sedition against the Satan’s government (Acts 24:5). A friend of Paul named Clement said in an early letter that Paul was put in prison seven times during his period of teaching the Gospel. 1
But it was not Paul’s simple beliefs or even his teachings that had him placed in prison. It was what society and the governments considered Paul’s “unethical” and “unlawful” ways against the established societies that did it. They did not like what Paul taught. Paul was even accused by Roman authorities as being so learned and educated that he had become a mad man, out of his mind and a menace to society (Acts 26:24). Let’s face it, society puts one in prison when they consider a person to be breaking the laws of the land, or when one is a menace to society. People are not sent to prison “for observing the laws” and supporting the societies in which they live.
So what happened to Peter and Paul? The Roman authorities finally executed them according to Roman laws that Satan had allowed to be enacted for the preservation of the state, but in the eyes of God these two apostles of ours were executed wrongly. This is why Christ Jesus called Satan “a murderer.” In the way Christ looked at it, Satan conducted himself in a murderous fashion from the beginning. He was referring to the Book of Genesis when Cain slew Abel. See John 8:44. But most of the Roman citizens at the time when Peter and Paul were executed thought the state had the inalienable right to execute individuals thought to be plotting against the Roman Empire. To them, Satan (who controlled Rome) was simply maintaining law and order by killing Peter and Paul.
This is one of the major ways that Satan deceives people. But even with Satan’s laws meant to protect the state, God considers Satan a murderer if the person executed is righteous, innocent, and does not deserve to die.
So remember PROPOSITION TWO. God the Father and Christ Jesus allow Satan to control the governments of this world at the present time (that means even our democratic types of governments in western civilization). As for me, I am happy that God allows us to have our western democratic forms of governments to rule over us during our lives on earth. I spent four years during the Korean War in the United States Air Force defending my homeland and our democratic form of government from dictatorial rulers who sought to impose their rule on my people and the rest of the world. And I would do the same thing again if called upon.
Indeed, we ought to thank God daily for our western democracies. One thing that Satan knows. He is fully aware that the American and British peoples (and other democratic loving peoples) would not put up with totalitarian governments, so he allows us to have the governments that suit our temperaments. Satan has allowed many excellent biblical principles to exist with us because he could not get away with establishing a communist or dictatorial government in our lands at present. But to keep his governments functioning properly and not “divided against themselves,” he established laws and regulations, many of them quite good, for the maintenance of his governments. This is why Satan is basically a “law and order” spirit being, as long as the laws and orders perpetuate his societies.
This gives Satan an advantage because most people normally want “law and order” to prevail where they live. Satan knows this. But he is deceitful even with “law and order” issues. Since these societies are Satan’s, how does he influence society the most with his deceitful ways that look so good on the surface?
It is within PROPOSITION THREE that Satan does most of his dirty work and where people become the most deceived. In order to control our societies on a “law and order” platform, Satan cleverly introduces his religions and customs into our environments. This is the biggest danger of all, because as any political scientist knows, religious and philosophical beliefs are the basic elements that develop and maintain societies in the first place. Religious beliefs stand as the foundation of any societal environment. It is of utmost importance to Satan that he controls the religious and philosophical beliefs of people in order for his societies to exist and flourish. He wants order and discipline within his societies.
This is why Satan wants his religious teachings to prevail in countries that he controls. It is essentially through religious beliefs that he influences the governments of this world. He realizes that religious beliefs prompt most people to either establish governments that perpetuate their principles of conduct, or initiate governments that allow them to perform religious practices they imagine are suitable for worshipping God. And how does Satan appear to the various societies in the world in regard to the religious beliefs that they have? Satan is very interested in them.
The apostle Paul summed it up admirably and to the point. Paul spoke of:
“false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness.”
2 Corinthians 11:13–15
How do Satan and his ministers look on the surface to most people in the world? Are they monstrous in appearance, red with hideous grins, and pitchforks in their hands? Absolutely not! Just the opposite is the case. They look righteous. They look holy. They look like angels of light. And throughout the nations of the world at this time (and Satan controls them all), Satan has established a battery of different religious organizations, churches, mosques, synagogues, shrines, temples, grottos, certain holy mountains, etc., etc., where the authorities who administer them appear to be ministers of righteousness. This was Paul’s experience and teaching.
In fact, Satan has not changed his tactics one iota in our day. And God, for a good purpose, allows Satan to have his full sway. Satan is nothing more than one who does as God tells him.
Look at the churches that call themselves “Christian” today. There are presently well over a billion people on earth who denominate themselves as “Christians.” That is a great many people. But what did Christ Jesus say about “the many” who would acknowledge Christ as their Lord and Master? He said:
“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ [saying that Christ was truly the real Christ]; and shall deceive many.”
Matthew 24:5
Since Satan’s job is to deceive the world (Revelation 12:9), it looks like he has done his job well, as Christ Jesus said. So, one can know for a fact that the numerous denominations who make up “the many” who claim Christ as their Lord and Savior are “deceived” because Christ said they would be. But a deceived person does not know he or she is deceived. Satan has convinced people to think they are not deceived when Christ said that they are (Matthew 24:5). Satan is good at twisting Christ’s words to favor his ways.
What Satan does is get people to believe that his ministers are righteous and certainly Christian, when in fact they are not, no matter how good they appear. Satan wants people to think that he is an angel of light, when he is not. And while Satan may use and teach righteous principles 99% of the time in any particular circumstance to show his so-called “goodness,” it only takes 1% of strychnine in that beautiful looking apple pie to kill a person. It is the “strychnine” that Satan mixes in with his religions that is the problem. And to get people to eat his apple pie, Satan has to make all his apple pies look good.
The fact is, in order to control people on earth, Satan wants his ministers with their teachings to appear as ministers of righteousness (not of corruption), so that he can deceive the world into keeping his ways of religion. This is why Satan gives the outward appearance of being a proponent of “law and order.” He wants his religious denominations, ministers, and members to look good and righteous. He wants them to be decent, law-abiding individuals practicing good deeds. He wants them walking circumspectly in society with honor and dignity attached to their persons. He expects them to tow the line morally and ethically in order to deceive people into believing they are teaching the righteous doctrines of God when in actual fact they are not. He expects his ministers to be upstanding citizens who support the governments and societies Satan controls.
To illustrate, let us pick a fictitious denomination that has in its hierarchy a lowly priest/minister, then further up the ladder a pastor, an evangelist, then bishop, archbishop, apostle, and then at the top of the rung is a person the church calls its Chief Shepherd. Now, if a young aspiring priest/minister on the lowest level of authority wants one day to be Chief Shepherd, you can be assured that he cannot get to that position by being anti-social, or an immoral or unethical person in an outward manner. Common sense demands the person would ordinarily rise through the ranks of that religious body with all types of checks and balances being placed on his education and conduct. If he ever makes the position of Chief Shepherd, the man would be considered by the world as a righteous man with credentials that most decent people would require for such an exalted office.
Without doubt, Satan demands the same type of “law and order” man who will abide by the rules of the church governments that Satan adopted for his various denominations. In fact, Satan would insist that the person keep all the false doctrines and customs that identify that church in the eyes of the world. This is why Satan is a “law and order” advocate himself. He is very conservative. He wants no changes in society that would thwart his erroneous religious teachings.
So, what does PROPOSITION THREE tell us? The only way Satan’s governments, societies, and churches can continue is for conservatism, traditional values, and beliefs (particularly the erroneous ones) to prevail. Indeed, when John the Baptist began to preach the coming Kingdom of God (quite different from the government of Satan present at that time), Christ said there was war in heaven with a great amount of violence displayed by the evil powers who wanted to retain their present positions of authority (Matthew 11:12). It is only when some person or group comes along that disturbs the existence of the traditional “law and order” society, does Satan comes to the fore to challenge the person, usually to discredit him or her in a moral, ethical, or doctrinal way. They even called Paul a “mad man” because of his extensive education and learning. This accusation gave official sanction for weaning people from Paul’s teachings (Acts 26:24). Indeed, Satan has been very successful in perpetuating his form of “Christianity” in the western world. Up to now God has allowed it. 2
So, if Satan rules the totality of the governments and societies of this world, then the churches, denominations, religions, shrines, temples, or grottos that support his world governments must also have individuals in charge of them under the control of Satan the Devil. And to get people to work for him, he wants people in the world to think he is an angel of light and that his ministers are righteous. This is what PROPOSITION THREE is all about. It shows that even the churches and other religions in this world are part of Satan’s government and that he demands “law and order” among his societies to keep his religious activities functioning in harmony. He will punish by the laws of society any person, or all people, who go contrary to his moral, ethical, or doctrinal principles that sustain his societies (even when those standards appear to be in accord with the principles of good biblical conduct).
But there is even more. We now come to PROPOSITION FOUR regarding the deceptions of Satan the Devil. This proposition will show anyone just how thoroughly Satan controls the governments and societies of this world. Many of you will be shocked to discover that Satan employs outright pagan symbols, signs, and ceremonies in the religious world today as tactics and devices to confuse and deceive the people into thinking that in using them they are holy, God-fearing, righteous, and serving God.
Though there are many false teachings that Satan causes people to believe are right and holy, let us look at the most pernicious. It is a teaching that has done the most damage to the truth of the biblical revelation among which is the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Most damaging of all is this: Satan convinced almost all religions that man is immortal and that a person’s soul or spirit continues to live in a conscious and living manner even when the person’s body dies and corrupts in the ground. This false doctrine is diametrically contrary to the teachings of the Bible (Ecclesiastes 9:5), but its acceptance has swept through this world since the creation of Adam and Eve.
The Bible tells us clearly that this was the very teaching Satan taught Eve and Adam at first. 3 Satan told Eve that though God said in the “day” they eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they would die, Satan told it to them in a deceptive way so that God appeared to be a liar and they would not die in the “day” they ate the fruit (Genesis 3:4–5). Eve and Adam ate of the fruit and true enough, in their view, God appeared to be a “liar” because our first parents kept right on living. They not only lived through the “day” that they ate of the forbidden fruit, they continued to live until Adam finally died at 930 years of age. So, was God a liar, or was He not?
The early Jews knew that God was not a liar because they were able to surmise from the Scriptures that God meant a “day” of 1000 years. 4 The apostle Peter understood this principle as well and said:
“Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.”
2 Peter 3:8
And though not recorded in the early record of Genesis written by Moses, God must have told Adam and Eve of His plan to introduce 6000 years for man’s existence “in man’s own way” with another 1000 years when the Kingdom of God would be on earth. These 7000 years were analogous to the seven days of creation mentioned in Genesis One. So, God told Adam and Eve that in the “day” that they took of the fruit of the forbidden tree, they would die. Lo and behold, Adam did in fact die just 70 years shy of 1000 years. Adam died in the “day” that God said he would. God was NOT a liar.
But note this. Satan presented his teaching to our first parents in the most logical manner that Adam and Eve could imagine. Satan changed the 1000 year “day” into a 24 hour “day” as most would think was meant if they did not regard the spiritual teaching of God concerning this matter. Indeed, this is precisely how Satan deceives man the most. He asks man to look at things in a “logical and realistic” fashion and not in some “spiritual” or esoteric way that God often uses. Anyone hearing God say that Adam and Eve would die in the “day” they took of the fruit would logically assume God meant a 24 hour period, or perhaps the 12 hour daylight period also called “day.” This is how Satan initiates his ways of deception. He appeals to reason, intellect, and common sense. By doing so, Satan makes God appear to mean the opposite of what He intended in many circumstances. Satan appeals to man’s intellectual reasoning powers and what man’s empirical surroundings suggest to be true. He does not appeal to God’s teachings, which often must be “spiritually” understood. And we delight in such “common sense” reasoning. It appeals to us as being honest and fair, and normally looks like the preferred thing to do or to believe.
Since this first deception used man’s intellectual powers to reason empirically, Satan has been appealing to man’s common sense and his human evaluations ever since. Satan has been highly successful in getting the world to believe his teachings that appeal to mankind’s materialistic reasoning and practical way of looking at things. Two biblical verses given later, however, show what this type of human reasoning will produce: “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Satan often looks good on the surface and men adore him as having the wisdom of God.
Satan made our first parents believe God was not telling the truth (that is, they did not die on the “day” that they took of the forbidden fruit, viewed as a 24 hour day). He led our first parents to believe there was something immortal about them. After all, they did not die. And yet, in their respect for God, they wanted to reckon God not a liar. So, since they knew that they were made in the image and likeness of God (whom they talked to in the garden), and since it was reasonable that God was immortal, they reasoned that they must have an immortality within them of some kind. This experience of Adam and Eve was the initial phase of the later doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul or spirit in mankind. This false teaching, prompted by the first deception of Satan has given rise to the most blatant of erroneous beliefs imaginable. A full 95% of all false doctrinal teachings of all the religions of the world are based on this fallacious concept. The Catholic and Protestant worlds are rife with it.
In the Christian world, the belief of the Immortality of the Soul or the spirit has led to the doctrine (among other things) that Mary, the mother of Christ, is still alive and can intercede with her son in heaven for humans on earth who need His help or forgiveness. The denomination that teaches this false doctrine also believes in a plethora of “saints” who died and are in a similar august position of spiritual power and authority in heaven, who can also intercede with Christ on behalf of mankind. It has even led Protestants to believe that as soon as Aunt Minnie or Uncle John die, their souls or spirits go to Jesus in heaven and are now alive in joy and happiness looking down on this world and all their relatives still in the flesh.
What this erroneous belief in the Immortality of the Soul has done is give Satan and his evil angels the channel for coming to humans as “familiar spirits,” that is, spirits familiar with a person’s relatives and innermost secrets. These false and lying spirits make unsuspecting and duped mankind believe that Aunt Minnie and Uncle John are returning from the grave to tell them about the joys of “heaven” if they will but do what the spirits tell them. This false doctrine of man’s supposed inherent immortality is the cardinal teaching of Satan the Devil to get mankind to follow his ways and tactics. True enough, Satan’s teachings and methods appear righteous and philosophically correct in the opinion of most humans. Why, Satan is one of the most reasonable beings around. 5
Satan the Devil has endeavored to fool the Christian world to deny their inheritance and to get them to jettison from their beliefs in their divine destiny that God has promised them. This false doctrine is to get Christians to believe that the Godhead is a closed society. While the New Testament gives the Christian believer clear teaching that there is God the Father and that Christ His firstborn Son is also considered as God, Satan comes along and places the Holy Spirit as the third member of the Godhead, making the Godhead a closed threesome. The Christian world calls this “the Trinity,” a doctrine foreign to the Bible. It is a lie.
What this nonsensical and inexplicable doctrine does (which 95% of Christian believers accept as a cardinal teaching of the Christian faith) is to appear to close the Godhead to all humans. However, as I have shown earlier, the role of Jesus Christ in coming to earth was to exalt mankind into becoming members of the very Family of God, into becoming Elohim themselves, Elohim being the Hebrew word for “God.”
But note this. If mankind assumes their rightful position of being members of the Family of God, then Satan has to submit himself to them — even to the lowliest of them, since they will be “Gods.” Satan is not about to relinquish power and sovereignty on earth as long as he can to do as he pleases within God's guidelines.
What Satan has done is to establish his Christian churches that accept the Immortality of the Soul and the anti-biblical doctrine of the Trinity. These false doctrines make it possible for Satan to introduce countless heathen teachings among Christians that they themselves believe are righteous and proper. And, where is almost all of Satan’s “righteous teaching” conducted so he can control the people and sustain his governments, especially those within western civilization? These teachings are given in “churches” found all over our lands. Believe me, Satan loves the word “church” because western people in particular think that “church” is where they find God and His true teachings. He designed his western societies to love church.
What about “church”? What does the word really mean? Satan has caused many of our intellectuals who devise our dictionaries to state that the word “church” comes from the Greek word “kyrios” which means “Lord” and that “church” means “Lord’s House.” They state it means either a building or the name of the denomination where people will find the “Lord.” But this is in no way true from a biblical point of view.
Only the Temple at Jerusalem or its equivalent could ever be called, in a legitimate and biblical sense, “the House of God” or the “Lord’s House.” 6 The naming of buildings where Christians assembled for worship as “Lord’s Houses” did not become popular until the 4th century C.E. and it was wrong to call them such even then. It was wrong and illegal in the Bible to have any Lord’s House (or House of God) other than the Temple at Jerusalem. God sent the ancient Israelites into captivity and ruin for constructing their numerous “Lord’s Houses” (their “Bethels”) over the land (2 Chronicles 33:1–3; Hosea 8:11). Churches cannot be “Lord’s Houses.” God allows only one “Lord’s House” on earth and that was the Temple in Jerusalem. All other “Lord’s Houses” are an abomination to God (Amos 3:14).
Nowhere in the New Testament does the Greek word ekklesia (which modern translations usually render as “church”) ever refer to a building or a denomination of people that we presently call a “church.” It simply means a group of people. In the Bible it referred once to a mob of rioters assembling to do the apostle Paul harm (Acts 19:32). The word ekklesia simply means an “assembly” or “congregation” or “group,” not “church,” and this is the way it should always be rendered and understood in English.
Now for an important point. If the word “church” means “Lord’s House” as most of the dictionaries state, then when God looks down from heaven to see His people at worship, He looks at multiple “Bethels” (Lord’s Houses) strewn over the land, the very establishments God utterly condemns (Amos 3:14). And in truth, every stone altar raised up by heathen priests of the Gentiles over the early European, West Asian, and North African worlds became known as a “Bethel” (normally spelled through the Greek Baetyl) and there were literally thousands of such pagan “Bethels” scattered over the land. 7 Indeed, even the so-called “Bethel Stone” formerly underneath Queen Elizabeth’s throne in Westminster Abbey is a classical example of one of thousands such pagan “baetyls” (or Bethels) that God condemned when the Israelites, following Gentile practices, began to establish them in profusion.
There is a great benefit to us who know the truth when the word “church” is used to identify places of Christian worship (even though the word “church” is a wrong translation). I believe God has allowed the translators of our Bibles to render the word ekklesia as “church” to give God’s people a significant clue as to what these “bethels” (or, “baetyls”) actually are in His view. The truth is, the word “church” does not mean “the Lord’s House.”
In Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible (one volume edition) under the article “Church,” 8 Professor Smith states the English word “church” comes from an early word meaning “circle” which is akin to the word “circus.” He cited a study by Professor Lipsius of Germany, a great historian and theologian during the Reformation, showing that our modern word “church” in fact derives from the word “circle.” We also find that Professor A.R. Fausset in his Home Bible Study Dictionary under the word “Church” mentions favorably this same research by Lipsius. 9 That does not end the matter.
Scholars who compiled the exhaustive 10 volumes of M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature under the article “Church” 10 also subscribe to this pagan derivation of the word “Church.” It says:
“The word Church. The origin of the word is uncertain. In the Germanic and Slavonic languages it is found as follows: Anglo-Saxon, cyrica, circ, cyric; English, church; Scottish, kirk; German, kirche; Low-German, karke; Frisan, Izierke; Danish, kvrke; Swedish, hyrka; Bohemian, cyrkew; Polish, cerkiew; Russian, zerkow. ...
“There was probably some word which, in the language from which the Teutonic and Slavonic are descended, designated the old heathen places of religious assembly, and this word, having taken different forms in different dialects, was adopted by the Christian missionaries. It was probably connected with the Latin circus, circulus, and with the Greek kukios. Lipsius, who was the first to reject the received tradition, was probably right in his suggestion”
Yes, Professor Lipsius was right. Yet there is more.
For English readers, one of the greatest historians on the origin of words was Brewer. In his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 11 under the entry “Church,” Brewer states:
“The etymology of this word is generally assumed to be from the Greek, kuriou oikos (house of God); but this is most improbable, as the word existed in all the Celtic dialects long before the introduction of Greek. No doubt the word means ‘a circle.’ The places of worship among the German and Celtic nations were always circular. Compare Anglo-Saxon ‘circe,’ a small church, with ‘circol,’ a circle.”
Look at the circular Stonehenge in England. In fact, the Scottish “Kirk” or the German “Kirche,” are clearly from “Circe” (with the letter “c” having a “k” sound in the original vocalization).
This historical research gives abundant evidence to show that the word “Church” comes from “Circe.” But what did the original word “Circe” refer to in ancient times? The word “circe” is well known by classical historians. In his classical study, The Myth of Kirke, Robert Brown gives extensive meanings derived from various usages in the ancient Greek world and concludes that it simply means “Circle” or “Circular.” 12 It not only referred to a building or monument that was “circular,” but one of its chief meanings was its reference to one of the ancient Goddesses of the ancient world.
Brown’s book was devoted to the exploits of this early Goddess called “Kirke” or “Circe.” She was the great heathen Goddess, the daughter of the Sun God. She was famous for taming wild animals in her circus. She met Ulysses returning from the Trojan War and had an adulterous relationship with him that produced, as one of the children, Latinus the supposed founder of the Latin race. And how is Circe pictured in the classical accounts? She is shown holding a golden cup in her hand mixed with wine and drugs through which she controlled the kings of the world (among whom was supposed to be Ulysses). Now for a surprise!
This Goddess is also found in the symbolic teaching of the Bible. It is here that God gives His people a real clue regarding His opinion of our “churches” today. This Goddess is nothing less than the Great Whore who sits on many waters and seven hills and who masterminds Mystery Babylon. Listen to what God says:
“I will show you the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication ... having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Revelation 17:2–5,
capitalization in KJV
This is a clear biblical description of the Goddess of the classical world known as Circe (or “Church”), the great sorceress. As a matter of fact, when Circe (“Church”) died she was buried on one of the islands of the Pharmacusii group in the Aegean Sea within sight of the Isle of Patmos where the apostle John saw most of the Book of Revelation. God has allowed the name “Church” (the Great Whore) to adorn all Christian churches in existence, if the churches use the term “church” to describe themselves. What an excellent device God and Christ use to indicate to people what to avoid on this earth. This is a wonderful clue to God’s people who want to live by the truth. God has given this great sign of identification in these historical and biblical references.
Satan is allowed to control the nations of this world that the Great Whore has caused to err with her wine mixed with drugs. God also allows the name of the Great Goddess and Whore (“Church”) to be placed on all religious meeting places where the teachings of the Great Whore are disseminated. God allows each of these buildings to be called a “church” so that God’s people will know this is where “Circe” the Great Whore has her ministers teaching Satan’s doctrines of the Immortality of the Soul and the nonsensical Trinity doctrine.
Listen, the word ekklesia in the New Testament means simply a group, assembly, or congregation. It does not mean the House of God (or a Bethel, condemned by God in the Bible), nor does ekklesia mean a “Church” which derives directly from “Circe” the Great Whore of Revelation. In biblical teaching a “Church” is nothing but a Whorehouse! That is a strong statement, but it is true.
When people enter most of these “churches” named after the Great Whore of Revelation, what do they see prominently displayed in most of them? Why, either in an idolatrous fashion with images, icons, or statues, or in picture form, you will see a bearded longhaired personage, a representation of Jesus, the Son of God. Besides the fact that God even in the days of Moses condemned the making of any images whatever of any God (even the true God), we find Christian churches (even the most prominent Protestants) displaying an illegal form of a person they inform you is Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible did not look like “our” modern Jesus.
In fact, Jesus did not have long hair when He was on earth, nor does He have long hair now. There is abundant biblical and historical material to prove this without doubt. The personage they display as Jesus in their churches is no more than an image of Zeus, usually in the form of the Egyptian God Sarapis that Satan cleverly deceived people into believing is Jesus of the New Testament. Listen, if the apostles could enter these so-called Christian churches today and see the image of a long-haired personage in the chief area for worship, they would instantly ask why such an idolatrous and illegal image of Zeus is in that place of Christian worship? Satan has people believing that the grooming denoting Zeus (the chief heathen God) now identifies Jesus.
Jesus does not have long hair, as can be understood clearly in 1 Corinthians 11:3–16. This nonsense we see in the churches is like placing a picture of Tiny Tim with his long hair in a photo art gallery and placing a sign under his picture stating that he is John Wayne. This practice of identifying Zeus with long tresses as being the Jesus of the Bible is a travesty of the truth. It is an outright lie! But not only are such pictures false depictions of Jesus, even displaying a true picture of deity is itself blatant idolatry and an expression of rebellion to God on the highest level, according to the Bible. But go into these “churches” named after the Great Whore and you see a longhaired Zeus prominently displayed and falsely called “Jesus.”
Do you know what these “Churches” (these “Circes” named after the Great Whore) have as identifying signs to show they are a “church”? For almost a millennium they have had a steeple or spire placed on top of their buildings of worship. In Europe near the start of the Crusades, people learned to make such spires and put them on places of worship to mimic the minarets of the Muslims from which the Musseins (the men in the tower) would call the faithful of Islam to prayer. However, not preferring the human voice to call the faithful as in Islam, Europeans put bells (that is, Baals) in their newly created spires and called them “belltowers.” And why did they come to a point on top? This was to indicate that this was a tower that had the appearance of reaching up to heaven. Such a pointed shape at the top gave the illusion of a tower vanishing into the heavens and that people can attain heaven by coming into the place of the tower.
In the Bible, however, the first time people on the earth wanted to make a tower that looked like it reached to heaven, God got angry with them. He came down, confused their language, and scattered people to all areas of the world for their rebellion to Him in raising such a tower (Genesis 11:1-9). But about a thousand years ago, forgetting all about the warnings in Genesis of God’s condemnation, Christians began to raise up such towers all over the Christian world.
Christianity learned this practice of raising towers over churches from Muslims who then represented the apex of modern, sophisticated society. In the Muslim world at the time it was fashionable to erect such towers with each Mosque, and Christians in Europe wanted to be modern like the advanced Arab society. They began to do the same thing as the Muslims, although Christians usually put their towers on top of churches or cathedrals. Where did Muslims get the practice? It is known that most Muslim architecture was copied from the Great Mosque of Damascus that can be proved once to have been a Roman temple to the pagan gods.
And remember, though Muslims themselves preached the shunning of making idols or pictures of God, Mohammed could not dissuade the Arab tribes (especially the Koreish who controlled Mecca) from worshipping toward the black meteorite stone called the Ka'aba which had been an idolatrous object of Arab folk for centuries. Unable to dissuade them from worshipping that stone or praying toward it, Mohammed came up with an ingenious idea. Because he fell out of sympathy with the Jews, and to win over the Koreish tribe, Mohammed ordered all Muslims to stop praying toward Jerusalem, and bow down and pray toward that idol five times a day as a cardinal teaching of their faith.
Now, Satan laughs at Muslims (who think they oppose idolatry) by having them pray five times daily to that ancient idol of the early Arabs. All Muslims are in utter idolatry and they show it five times a day. Muslims mean well but they are as uneducated and ignorant in this matter as Christians are in their profuse practices involving idolatry today. Satan is very sly in getting people to think that their righteousness and their religious ways are right, when they are as wrong as can be.
Yes, even Muslims are greatly deceived, and this applies to their adoption of towers near their mosques. But where did the Muslims get their basic design for their mosques and minarets (towers)? As mentioned before, it was basically from the great Roman (pagan) temple at Damascus. But why should anyone want to raise up towers in the first place in association with places of religious worship? The use of towers stemmed from the practice in early Egypt of erecting obelisks as sacred shrines or monuments near or at places of worship. Almost all of them are displayed as long, erect, and normally with a type of point or pyramid on top like our steeples and spires. But why have such towers?
Classical history is clear on this matter. When the Egyptian God Osiris was killed and dismembered with body parts scattered around the country, the Goddess Isis (his sister and wife) sent messengers to gather the body parts together for a proper burial of Osiris. They were successful in discovering all the parts of the body except the penis. They looked all over for it, but it was never found. So what did Isis do? She erected various kinds of obelisks always erect and upright in a type of penis-form to remind the people to look for Osiris’ lost penis. To not let them forget it, she erected numerous obelisks (penis-like monuments) at the main places of Egyptian worship. 13 The Egyptians gave the practice to the Greeks and then it came to the Romans. The Romans transported to Rome some Egyptian obelisks for their own worship purposes. One is now in the center of Vatican City, prominently erected there as pretty as you please.
Following the example of the Egyptian Goddess Isis, the practice of raising obelisks in the form of spires and towers continued throughout the pagan world with various types being used. Often their designs were subtlety changed to hide the actual meaning of the obelisk. 14
Let us go further. Look at the word “pinnacle”? It does not come from the word “wing,” though it became associated with a “feather” because feathers provided “pens” (that is, a type of “pencil”) for people to write with. The word “pinnacle” has a similar origin. Pinnacles are simply another indication of upright penises. And, believe it or not, if you look up the early use of the word “prick” in the exhaustive Oxford Dictionary, 15 you will find that five hundred years ago people customarily referred to pinnacles as pricks even in normal non-gutter language. The Dictionary even shows one translation of the New Testament that Satan took Christ to the “prick of the Temple” in order to throw Him down.
By the way, there were no standing towers or spires in the Temple at Jerusalem. The word translated “pinnacle” in the King James Version actually meant an “arm of the Temple” (Matthew 4:5). And since it was quite common a few centuries ago to refer to the steeples and spires on churches and cathedrals as “pricks,” I frankly think they should be called by this name today. At least people would then begin to understand what these steeples represent. As a matter of fact, at some of the eastern European churches, the architects became bolder. They left the top of the steeple globular, which is more penis-like in shape than the pointed pencil-like spire of our western churches and cathedrals. Yes, symbolic penises now identify and adorn our “church” buildings.
With this brief overview I hope that you begin to understand how Satan the Devil uses his subtle ways to deceive the world. He laughs at God every day a church is built with an erect penis on top to identify it. God calls such structures a sign of the Great Whore called “Circe” from whence we get our name “Church.” Why do they want such a sign to be there? It does not keep off the rain. It has no function. It is there because it identifies that the building is a “church.” God, however, identifies it with something else. He sees it as the original penis-sign erected by the Goddess Isis as a place of worship for the pagans who were to look for the lost penis of the Egyptian God Osiris.
Some may say that such signs today have lost all their original meaning and no one any more thinks of a steeple or spire as an erect penis. That is true, and that is how Satan deceives “the many” of which Christ spoke. People today are so ignorant and uneducated that they do not know their erection of a steeple and spire over a church is their erection of the Isis penis-sign. But, do not churches do much good for society and should we not excuse them for their ignorance of the origin of their signs? Indeed, I wholeheartedly agree that much good is done by churches today, but Satan the Devil also practices “good” 99% of the time for the benefit of his societies. It is his mixing in 1% of religious strychnine that poisons the whole thing. This is the problem.
But let us forget for a moment how we humans view these symbolic matters. While Christians today show an indifference to these corruptions, God the Father and Christ Jesus are not ignorant of the meaning of these penis-signs and other such abominations in our churches. They are well aware of what these profligate signs mean. Satan laughs at so-called righteous Christians over their stupidity in erecting such penis-signs over their churches.
Really, should God and Christ be subjected to view such pagan idolatry when they look down from heaven on the worship services of their people? Why should they have to view these heathen corruptions adorning our Christian church buildings? It is outrageous that when God and Christ want to observe their people assembling for worship, they find them each Sunday or Sabbath under the upright penis (or penises) that Satan had them erect over their churches. And Christians today show not the slightest shame in their actions. This indicates just how deceived Christians have become.
This corruption, however, not only involves God and Christ viewing these obscene signs from the ancient world, what about all of us who know these historical and biblical truths? Why, every time my wife goes to buy groceries, she passes three churches that have those erect penises identifying them. She knows what they signify. The least the ministers of those churches could do is to put some kind of covering over their penis-signs to hide them from the sight of my wife and the general public. Should our wives and children be subject to such indecency? Our intellectuals know this to be the case and are well aware of these ancient sex symbols.
As an example of this, Newsweek magazine for December 13, 1993 had an article (with a photograph) of the citizens of Paris, France placing a gigantic condom over the obelisk from Egypt located in the Place de la Concorde (which is like the obelisk in Vatican City). It was to commemorate the promotion of World AIDS Day and remind homosexuals to use safe sex. The intellectuals in France are well aware of what that obelisk sign from Egypt means. It is time that Christian ministers and priests were honest enough with the general public to put the same kind of sheath over the penis-signs on the top of their churches. At least then, all people would then know what those steeples represent.
Really though, can you see why God calls our religious societies today “Mystery, Babylon the Great”? He calls them “Mystery” (or “Secret”) because people today are so ignorant and uninformed that Satan has even the most religious Christians thinking these disgusting and obscene signs on the tops of their churches, and the equally offensive signs within them are actually holy, righteous and proper. 16
Yet in spite of this present idolatry adorning our churches, all too many church leaders (ministers, preachers, and priests) have the nerve to call themselves “New Covenant Churches.” That is fine, let them do so. But God says that the New Covenant is made only with the nations of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31–34). So, here are these “covenant churches” with rampant idolatry overflowing, acting like the Israel and Judah of old who God said were classic examples of first-class whores (Ezekiel 23).
In closing, let me give you a present day fictional scenario using an example of an event mentioned in the Old Testament. When God today calls a council in heaven of His Sons with all the angels and including Satan the Devil, they all dialogue with one another. This is just like when Satan came to God’s heavenly council in the time of Job (like in Job 1:6–12 and 2:1–6). God no doubt still asks Satan where has he been. Satan would tell God he had been going throughout the earth. God would then ask Satan if he noticed the humans on earth who were His sons and daughters?
Satan would then answer God.
“Yes, I have been witnessing the people you call your very own sons and daughters, and they are so ignorant and stupid that I have them worshipping you in the most disgusting ways imaginable. I have them all meeting in ‘churches’ named after the Great Whore of Revelation. I have them assembling where they can find upright and erect penises over the churches. And when they go in their churches, I have them placing Zeus with his longhair in a prominent position and I get them to call this image of Zeus by the name ‘Jesus.’
“I have them teaching the doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul which you stated in the Bible is wrong. I have them worshipping you with the false doctrine of the Trinity. I have them congregating on the pagan days of the ancient world which they now call Easter and Christmas (with other heathen days and customs they call 'Christian festivals'), when you have said not to learn the way of the heathen. I have given them religious ceremonies that they call Christian, worship which originated with the pagans that you always condemned and told them not to use. I have them reading from Bibles with an order of biblical books completely opposite to your original manuscript design from the apostles. This false design brings utter confusion in understanding true biblical doctrines.
“That is what I have your sons and daughters doing who are supposed to be members of your divine Family. I have done this deceit while your sons and daughters believe my deceptions are righteous, holy, and good. God, you have let me do it and I believe I have done a jolly good job.”
After hearing Satan’s report from earth, God would answer Satan and admit that he has indeed deceived the world. But God would then remind Satan that there is a remnant of God’s people that knows better and eschews such evil, and that He is soon to give them the power to reveal the truth of these religious corruptions to the whole world. The reason God would tell Satan of this coming change in society is because it is prophesied in the Bible. For us there is hope. Indeed, God and Christ have called you and me to know this truth beforehand. He has selected us to help pave the way for this new reformation.
1 Clement 5:6, this historical book is not in the Bible, nor does it belong there, but it does contain some useful historical information. ELM
2 In fact, the Bible prophesies that Satan will finally be allowed to bring in a world government that the majority of people will accept, but the Bible calls it the rule of the Antichrist. This will develop just before the Second Advent of Christ. ELM
3 The reason I put Eve first is because the Bible says this Satanic teaching was first given to Eve, though Adam was in the immediate background and listening to and agreeing with Eve’s conversation with Satan. ELM
4 See Book of Jubilees 4:30, a Jewish work written about 150 B.C.E. ELM
5 Listen, Aunt Minnie and Uncle John, even if they were Christians (along with Mary the mother of Jesus, the apostles Paul and Peter), are dead and still in their graves awaiting the resurrection from the dead which will occur at Christ’s second advent (1 Corinthians 15:42–54; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). The Bible teaches that all the dead from the time of Adam and Eve until now are still dead, in their graves, without consciousness (Hebrews 11:13), awaiting the resurrection from the dead (Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalm 6:5; 146:4). Of all people who have ever lived, only Christ has been resurrected to inherit immortality (1 Timothy 6:16). ELM
6 The Temple had another designation: “the House of the Name” meaning God’s name. See the article, “A Name for the Temple of God” at http://www.askelm.com/news/n020921.htm. DWS
7 See any exhaustive classical and religious encyclopaedia about ancient religious beliefs and they will adequately confirm this fact about the “Baeytels.” ELM
8 William Smith, A Dictionary of the Bible (Philadelphia: Winston, 1948). DWS
9 After giving the traditional definition, Fausset says about the word “church”:
“But Lipsius, from circus, from whence kirk, a circle, because the oldest temples, as the Druid ones, were circular in form. Ekkleesia in the New Testament never means the building or house of assembly, because church buildings were built long AFTER the apostolic age. It means an organized body, whose unity does not depend on its being met together in one place …”
Fausset Bible Dictionary, “church”
Andrew R. Fausset, Fausset Bible Dictionary (London, 1888). DWS
10 Volume 2 (New York: Harper, 1894–95), p. 322. ELM
11 E. Cobham Brewer, The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Classic edition, New York: Avenel Books/Crown Publishers, 1978). Check any of the original editions by Brewer, not the watered down ones edited by modern interpreters. ELM
12 London: Longmans, Green, 1883, p.22. ELM
13 See Diodorus Siculus, Book I, Chap. Two (1.22 by Loeb numbering system). ELM / DWS
14 As a matter of fact, would you not think that a steeple with its spire looks more like a large upright writing instrument that we call a pencil (with a sharp point at the top) than an obvious erect male penis? Yes, most people would think so. But go to any good size dictionary and look up the word “pencil” (a pencil we use to write letters). Get ready for a shock if you have not looked up the origin of this word because the word “pencil” means “a small penis”! ELM
15 See the article “Prick,” vol.V2, p. 1345, Col. A. ELM
16 For more information on this vital subject, see my two Doctrinal Reports titled: The Anatomy of a Church (http://www.askelm.com/doctrine/d980927.htm) and Female Sex Signs in Churches (http://www.askelm.com/doctrine/d981127.htm). ELM
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