Hebraic
Musing - Have the gods of the Old Testament returned?
This is more than one page; no apology. America is in trouble!
The people in Old
Testament times worshipped gods of various physical forms and names and roles;
but those OT gods were defeated, for a season, by the arrival of the Messiah,
Jesus Christ. Now they’re attacking
America since it is a thriving example of a Christian nation. Their return and Satan’s influence has become
obvious.
Jonathan Cahn’s latest
book, “The Return of the Gods” June 2022, provides up-to-date perspectives on current
events. He focuses on the parallels
between the gods that corrupted Israel in the O.T. and parallels to their recent
strategies to take down America, a nation known by the world as Christian.
The destruction of
Israel’s Northern Kingdom, in 722 BC did not come without deservedness. “And they rejected
His statutes and His covenant that He had made ... they followed idols,
became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them,
concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them.
So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made
for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image
and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.” 2 Kings
17:15-16 NKJV
As America becomes
less Christian, let’s listen to Jesus’ warning: “When
an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest,
and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will
return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept,
and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more
wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of
that man is worse than the first. So
shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:43-45
NKJV Speaking to us?
America is in a
battle for its soul. “For we do not
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 How is America becoming de-Christianized,
especially since circa 1960?
In how many ways have
the anti-Godly OT gods come back to undermine America’s blessings?
Breakdown
of Biblical Marriage
Marriage was given
to God’s people as a Sacrament (sacred moment) with a life-long commitment to
love.
After WWII the GIs
were receiving “Dear John” letters and the number of divorces increased. My uncle divorced his wife, and our family
was surprised he did not move to California like divorcees were known to do
back then. Note also that our divorce
laws tend to give financial incentive to the woman. And with multiple generations of broken
families, more and more children are being raised without both of their
original parents. Today, teachers
tell me that less than 10% of school children go home to both of
their original parents; and we are a couple generations into that cycle! Who is raising today’s children?
And I’m hearing
boys and young men say “Why get married?” So now we have larger numbers of children
being conceived “out of wedlock”; and without fathers to participate in their
raising and/or up-bringing.
The Supreme Court legalized
same sex marriage in 2013. In 2015 the
court struck down the covenant of marriage; rainbows lit up Empire State
Building, Niagara Falls, Disney World castle and WHITE HOUSE!
Gender/Sex
Confusion
Masculinization of
women
– As I grew up, I never thought I would see women in contact sports like
soccer, hockey, boxing or wrestling! During
WWII the nation admired “Rosie, the riveter”; and millions of women left the
homes to join the workforce. What
happens to the feminine desire for marriage, motherhood and nurturing of children
when she’s committed to a workforce job?
Our military is recruiting women, even for the front lines! Our entertainment media likes to portray
women as “Wonder Woman” and in other warrior roles.
Emasculation of
men
– Nor did I ever expect to see men wanting to be women. From 1959-1973, the heroic father in Bonanza,
Ben Cartwright, led his 3 sons. In
1954-1960 “Father knows best” was a favorite sitcom. But then in 1989-2023 we have Homer Simpson
portrayed as the father on TV as a bumbling overgrown child. The entertainment media no longer portrays husbands
and/or fathers as providers, protectors, and leaders.
Traditional roles
for men and women
have changed since WWII. More and more
women are in responsible leadership roles as CEO’s, executives, managers, newscasters
and politicians. The Southern Baptists are
dealing with the non-biblical role of women as pastors. And Catholic women are seeking leadership
roles!
Unisex and cross-dressing
has gone beyond subtle to blatant.
Sex
Education
Children are being
given a right to choose the sex of their choice, often with limits on parental
permissions! Who do the children belong
to? Who else made children “wards of the
state”? A – Nazi Germany.
What was a fringe
group in society has now created a whole month to celebrate “Pride Month”, not
just a one-day holiday, Holy Day, devoted to the movement! We now have “Drag Queens” who are no longer
relegated to “Gay Bars”; but are now reading books featuring attributes of
opposite genders to the young children.
Pornography is now
readily available on the internet. When
I was in High School, pornography was viewed only occasionally on “8 pager”
comic book media; distribution and availability was limited.
Americans are
increasingly choosing their own selfish desires over lasting, committed relationships. Sexuality has moved out of the bonds of
marriage and into the public realm. It’s
not just for husbands and wives but now it’s in the public realm. How have erotic and sexual innuendos come
into the entertainment media to saturate our culture? And America has become the Porn Capital of
the world.
If sexuality can
be removed from the context of marriage, then the next step is to remove sex
from the context of gender, or normalization of homosexuality and
transsexuality. Now we have confused gender
identification issues! And the next
logical step after sexual reassignment is physical sex changes, or castrations.
Government
approved and legalized abortions
“They served
their idols, Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,” Psalm 106:36-37 NKJV Our Bible and history alludes to child
sacrifices to the gods. Hitler, China,
and Stalin also murdered millions, not deeming life to be of value!
One of the many
abominations in Leviticus 18 regarding “Laws of sexual morality” states – “And
you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech,”
Leviticus 18:21 In the OT days, children
(and adults) were used sacrificially to appease the god Molech by casting them
alive into the fire. Today, millions of
children are being aborted. Could the
objective today be the convenience of not having to care for the child? Having a child might hinder a women’s goals
of education, career prospects, success, and prosperity. As a result, more and more children are being
conceived outside of marriage, thus more likely to be unwanted. The Israelites fell into this ungodly
practice because neighboring peoples were doing it!
Is there a
difference between America’s abortions and Russia, China, Germany, and other
pagan cultures sacrificing million of unwanted children and adults for the sake
of convenience, power, control, etc.?
When one’s life has no ultimate purpose, meaning or value, then one’s
life becomes dispensable.
On January 22,
1973, the Supreme Court legalized the murder of unborn children, confirming
what states had already done. Very
interesting that in 2022, almost 50 years later (a Jubilee?), Roe vs. Wade was
overturned by the Supreme Court making abortion illegal; but the controversy
continues! How will voting be impacted as
America tries to legislate God’s view on abortion, especially considering our
majority pagan nation?
Jesus elevated the
value of human life to a previously unknown level in history. “Let the
little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom
of heaven.” Matt.19:14 What a contrast to the world!
Forgetting
God’s blessing and heritage
America has
amnesia, just like Israel did! “So
the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the
LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.” Judges
3:7 How is God’s way to be taught to
the next generations when prayer and the 10 commandments have been removed from
public schools and other places? So
also, the commandment to not worship other gods has been removed and
forgotten!!!
The war with God
was now done openly by the unclean spirits.
Acknowledgement of God has been removed from mainstream television,
movies, colleges, corporations, governments, youth and children’s culture, etc. However, when God is removed, the need
remains to worship Him or something or someone else.
Goddess worship is
an outgrowth of the feminist revival coming simultaneously with the occult revival. The phenomenon of demonic possession has existed
in pagan cultures throughout our world’s history to this day. Paul was reported to have had a few such
encounters! Have we been seeing more
demonic possessions and/or mental health issues recently?
Christianity
and worship of God replaced by new religions
Today, people are
pursuing a cult of success, a doctrine of materialism and greed, while chasing
the “Almighty Dollar”! God has been
replaced by new objects to worship, new religions! In the absence of God, there is nothing that
cannot be deified! Those who do not bow
down before these new gods and idols are being punished or cancelled. Notice how easily Eastern “New Age” beliefs crept
into Christian teachings and beliefs?
Pursuit
of gods of Americans
Americans put
forth much effort in pursuit and worship of their idols – Money, pleasure,
success, acceptance, sexual gratification, addictions, work, comfort, internet,
self-fulfillment, self obsession, possessions, and countless other gods of
one’s own making. How many of our own gods
have we created? “Their land is also
full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands,” Isaiah
2:8 Remember Paul’s reaction in Athens? “His spirit was provoked within him when he
saw that the city was given over to idols.” Acts 17:16
A bull
representing Baal has been erected just outside the financial district in New
York City. Thus, the stock market clearly
symbolizes America’s focus on money & prosperity by displaying their symbolic
god, Baal!
Fabricated
Idols & Truth(s)
To create one’s
own reality is to make an idol that is formed into what its creator wants it to
be. Similarly, truth has now become what
is true for the individual. If a man
believes he is something else, another gender, a cat, a child, a tree, ... etc.
then there is no ultimate truth. There
is no objective reality to contradict his own personal “truth”; so now, reality
has to be bent into conformity with “his truth”; and to disagree is to be
“Cancelled”!
Worshipping
of “Mother” Nature
Nature is no
longer a gift from God to be stewarded.
It is now the reality evolved or extra-terrestrially given to us to care
for. This applies not only to “Mother”
earth but also to the animal kingdom. In
fact, the animals are now receiving more rights and attention than millions of
humans are entitled to!
Biased
judicial system
Why do we have to
have multiple “news media” with some clearly liberal and some clearly
conservative. Why is some “news” not
reported on some channels? Why has the
judicial system become biased in application depending on the party in power? Does America still have a just justice
system?
High-Tech
idols breaching reality
The Israelites
strayed by serving idols made with the works of their hands. Images became a reality. Now we find ourselves in a virtual world with
fabricated reality through the TV’s, phones and/or the computer (is yours on?).
What’s real anymore?
And Artificial
Intelligence is knocking at our technological door! (Is AI an oxymoron?)
Pursuit
of pleasure
Pursuit of
pleasure in its various forms was anticipated and is now here! “But know
this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,
without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,”
2 Timothy 3:1-4 And many of those
pursuits are intoxicating.
The drug culture comes in familiar forms – pharmaceuticals, street
drugs, alcoholic beverages, etc. and finally now, legalization of marijuana!!! And each escape from reality becomes a
gateway to another.
In a mafia-owned tavern
in 1969, the LGBTQ+ peoples in Stonewall Tavern were incited into as state of
mayhem in New York City. The tavern became
their temple of hallowed ground. That
event opened the door for promoting their values re sexuality, marriage,
gender, family and even their views on Christianity. The Stonewall uprising has become a national
event on the last Sunday in June with protests marches, parades, and
celebrations in major cities, done in the spirit of religious festivals. And they now do “Pride Parades” to promote
their form of sexuality; and it is now spreading world-wide! These parades are aimed at tearing down all
walls of resistance and to remove hinderances separating anti-godly desire from
its fulfillment.
The
Sign, a Rainbow
The Rainbow flag
was designed by an openly gay man in 1978 and adopted in 1994 as the official
symbol of gay pride. We now see that
Rainbow representing rebellion being displayed in more and more places even
though those that display it know exactly what it represents – rebellion and their
need for acceptance.
Memories
need to be altered
One’s identity is
rooted in one’s past. But now we see history
and old landmarks being changed or torn down; and new landmarks being erected. Our education system is now focused on
negatives in America’s past rather than attributes that made America the envy
of the world! Our children are being
taught to revere the rainbow flag; it is everywhere now! Have we transitioned from “one nation under
God” to “one nation under the gods”?
Defying
God’s Word, twisting Scripture,
I was raised with
the 10 Commandments posted on our schoolroom wall; in fact, we told jokes by
referencing the commandment numbers. Back
then, there was daily prayer in the classroom!
Just like the way “The Word” drove the gods out 2,000 years ago; the
gods are now driving the Word of God out of Western culture.
The challenge of
transitioning Christianity from parents to children is under attack in the
education system and entertainment media.
The goal of the gods is to bring Judeo-Christian civilization to an
end.
What does “Love”
mean nowadays? How has the definition of
“love” been twisted? Christians are
being forced to comply to a new morality, to endorse it, etc. at the risk of
losing jobs, boycotting of businesses, deplatforming, defunding, prosecution,
etc. Eventually, the gods will be in
charge and Christians will “face the lions” again.
Summarized
Result
The gods have
successfully transformed our Christian civilization into a pagan one by
inhabiting government chambers, corporate boardrooms, college campuses,
courtrooms, TV & movie & computer screens, music, pop culture, youth
culture, children’s education, and virtually every corner of American and
Western culture.
America has become
the world’s chief proponent of materialism as worshipers of prosperity &
money, sexual immorality, pornography, abortion, homosexuality, transsexuality,
and gender alteration. And we’ve managed
to spread the rainbow sign around the world.
When a nation
turns away from God, it will never remain neutral; it will never stay
empty. Removal of prayer and 10
commandments left the house empty. It
will become indwelled by something else; inhabited by the gods!
Each anti-godly
step led to familiarity and numbness, then toleration,
then acceptance and finally to celebration.
What
can we do?
I wish America could
follow Samuel’s lead. “Then they cried out to the LORD, and said, ‘We have
sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths;
but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You.’” 1
Samuel 12:10 Realistically, asking a
majority of Americans to pray that prayer would be asking too much. “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:15
Bad news and good
news – the judgement applies to nations, and also to each of us, the people. Remember this critical Bible verse. “And
if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that
were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
you dwell. But as for me and my house,
we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
Points to Ponder
How much has our God-fearing culture
changed in your lifetime?
Does our culture still respect, fear
and/or even recognize Almighty God?
Why should God Bless America?
What idols do we worship? Are there idols we need to identify and be
rid of?
Is Jesus Christ truly our Lord,
Boss, Jefe, ...? Or, are we simply hoping
for a “savior”?
“He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4
Yosef a.k.a. Joe Brusherd June 27, 2023
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages
exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic Musings”
insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com
Note – Inspired,
quoted and recapped from Jonathan Cahn’s “The Return of the gods”
September 2022
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