It’s Time to Take the Spiritual Battle Seriously - Satan is the problem, not people
I suspect most of us have thought there is something demonic behind the chaos we're seeing in culture. I have thought it and believe it fully. I hear people everywhere saying things like, “What are people thinking, have they lost their minds?!” Or, “Why is there so much hate and wickedness around?!”. In my book, Healing America - Calling Hearts Back To God, I present the idea of Satan’s entry and influence in modern culture. Essentially, Satan has been let loose because we have increasingly turned away from God. And, when any culture does that, it leads to what we’re seeing now.
There are two scriptures I would like to share to support this, namely: Romans 1:18-32 and Matthew 12:43-45.
First, in Romans 1:18-32, the Apostle Paul is describing the perverse state of culture in Rome at the time, saying (verse 18) that the wrath of God is being revealed. Why? Because men have suppressed the truth. That is, they have denied God’s existence even though (verses 19-20) what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
But that is just the first part. That is what leads to God’s wrath. Then, there are certain consequences that follow. See if they don’t mirror exactly what we’re seeing in culture today.
The key phrase leading to the sequential consequences of God’s wrath against rebellion is "...gave them over". Three times Paul leads to the consequence with that term - Verse 24, “God gave them over”, Verse 26, “God gave them over” and Verse 28, “God gave them over”.
Beginning in (Verse 24) Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies might be dishonored among them. The Sexual Revolution of the Sixties, along with the self-pleasure mindset of the Me Generation, opened the door to this consequence. People no longer honored God by keeping the purity of sex within the confines of marriage. Instead, following the lusts of their hearts, they dishonored their bodies. This is what happens when God gives them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, their bodies are dishonored among them.
That leads to the second consequence. (Verse 26) Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. The culture unwittingly moves to an even deeper level of sexual impurity, degrading into shameful lusts - men with men, women with women. First, sexual immorality becomes commonplace. Then, when you see homosexuality and other forms of shameful behavior take hold, even being celebrated, you know the culture is progressing further under God’s wrath.
Finally, (Verse 28) Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind. First, they indulge the lusts of their hearts and dishonor their bodies in shameful ways, then the mind becomes corrupted. They don’t think straight any longer. Have you looked around lately and wondered why things seem so upside down? It’s because they’re not thinking straight any longer. Continuing (Verse 28), …they do the things that ought not to be done. They’ve suppressed God’s truth to a point where their conscience is no longer alarming them to the wrong they’re doing, impervious to the moral law of God written in the heart, replaced instead with the immorality of the godless culture. Men think they’re women and women think they’re men. They’re not thinking straight!
And what is the end result? All kinds of evil. (Verses 29-31) “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
And, finally, (Verse 32) “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them”. Well-meaning people, not wanting to hurt other people’s feelings, or to justify their own behavior, approve of their practices. Not wanting to offend anyone, they suppress the truth in the name of tolerance and acceptance when, in reality, they should be standing confidently on God’s truth, and, with love and compassion, gently instructing people, imploring them to repent and turn to God.
That’s what happens when you take God out of culture.
Second, in Matthew 12:43-45, after Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, the Pharisees questioned him about driving out demons. Jesus responded with this parable: 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.
The house Jesus was talking about was a person, but it could be applied to a group of people - a nation. When a person - a nation - is filled with Jesus, demons are cast out by his power. But, if the house is ever swept clean - that is, if God is ever taken out, swept out of the person, out of a nation - it would open the door for the demon to return. And not only return himself, but bring others more wicked than him. And the last state will be worse than the first.
America was founded and grew on a belief of God - particularly Christianity - and was blessed for it. On the solid rock of faith, Satan was, for the most part, kept out. But, early in the 1900s, a move away from God began taking root, opening the door to him and to others. Then, in the 1960s, with the birth of the Sexual Revolution, the Drug Culture and The Me Generation, Satan and his cohorts kicked the door in. And today, some 60 years later, we see the result of their work - the sexually perverted, drug addicted, self-centered culture around us today, filled with all sorts of wickedness - hate and anger, discord and factions. It’s time we understand it and fight it head on.
With Jesus’s parable in mind, let’s take a look at three specific spirits of the Bible, namely Baal, Asherah and Molech.
Baal | The Chief god
No other deity was so connected to Israel’s falling away from God and its subsequent destruction as was Baal. He was considered the supreme god worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia, and scripture has nothing positive to say about him, most often condemning Baal worship. Despite God’s efforts to dissuade them, the Israelites engaged with the Canaanite culture and adopted their practices - including Baal worship - and it would ultimately lead to their downfall. From 732 B.C. to 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded Israel multiple times, capturing Galilee, laying siege to Samaria and destroying the northern kingdom of Israel. Then, in 568 B.C., the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the first temple. God had given them over out of their rebellion. And scripture cites Israel’s worship of Baal as being central among the reasons for the calamity.
Asherah | The Consort
With the phrase ‘the Baals and the Ashtoreths’ used many times throughout the Bible, she is undoubtedly a consort with Baal. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth (Judges 2:13). And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth (Judges 3:7). And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth (1 Samuel 12:10).
She was known by many names throughout different cultures and with many aspects to her personality. In the Bible she is called Ashtoreth. In the Canaanite and West Semitic world she was called Astarte. The Symerians called her Inanna. To the Greeks she became Aphrodite, to the Romans the goddess Venus and, in Assyria, Babylon and much of the Mesopotamian world, she was known as Ishtar.
She has arguably been the most devastating of the bunch, evidenced by the proliferance of sexual perversion in today’s culture and the drug culture. She was the goddess of sexuality, seducing people into forsaking the precepts of God’s intention for sex within the confines of marriage, encouraging them to pursue sexual immorality without constraint. Much like what we see today.
She was also the patroness of the alehouse, dwelling in the taverns, and there mixing sexuality with intoxication. She was the protector of prostitutes and the patroness of the alehouse. And, with the house being swept clean, the door was opened to many other gods to follow her - Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love, passion, wine, and drunkenness; Bacchus, the Roman name for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and pleasure; Methe, in Greek mythology the spirit and personification of drunkenness; and Silenus, Greek god of wine, wine pressing and drunkenness.
Inanna | The Transformer
Inanna’s character was androgynous, having both masculine and feminine characteristics. Her determined goal was to blur the distinctions between the two. An ancient Sumerian hymn to Inanna declares: When I sit in the alehouse, I am a woman, and I am an exuberant young man. Another ancient writing records her saying: Though I am a woman I am a noble young man.
Another ancient hymn reveals her power to …turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man, to change one into the other… She had the ability to turn male into female and female into male, to blur the line between them and, in fact, to merge them.
And look at what we’re seeing today, men thinking they’re women, and women thinking they’re men. And not only do they do it, some of us applaud them for it! We celebrate it. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:32). That is the spirit of Inanna. And, maybe most sadly, they encourage children to follow her as well.
As evidenced by the idea of transgenderism pervading our culture, it seems Inanna has prevailed. She has destroyed the fabric of our culture, and many follow her into destruction, which is her determined end.
Molech | Principal of Death
His exact origin is unclear and his name takes several forms. Yet, his presence is very clear in the Bible. God repeatedly instructs the people to avoid him, referring to him as detestable and vile, painting him as an abomination and a threat to the worship of the true God. He is Molech, and is associated with what is among the most grievous of sins against God - child sacrifice.
God repeatedly warns the people against associating with him. From Leviticus, Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the LORD (Leviticus 18:21). And, If any of them offer their children as a sacrifice to Molech, they must be put to death. The people of the community must stone them to death. I myself will turn against them and cut them off from the community, because they have defiled my sanctuary and brought shame on my holy name by offering their children to Molech (Leviticus 20:2-3).
And there is a clear reference to those in the community who would tolerate the killing of children. If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek (Leviticus 20:4-5).
If Molech has indeed returned to current culture, it is no great leap to conflate the sacrifice of born children with that of the unborn. That is, abortion.
So, how should Christians respond? In my book, I describe three specific things Christians need to do to respond to this situation. But one thing is for sure. We need to stop looking at people as the problem. It’s Satan. And the only way to push him back is to turn people’s hearts back to God. God’s people need to stand up for God and his Word, speaking truth boldly with gentleness and humility. Engage people in spiritual conversations, gently and respectfully, but with boldness and truth, following Paul’s instructions to Timothy: Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
We will be called haters, but that’s one of the biggest lies going around. Please see my blog: Charlie Kirk and the Lies That Pervade Us. That is, because we speak truth - even with gentleness and kindness - we’re called haters. Jesus said it himself, The world hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil (John 7:7). Yet he implored people to repent and believe. Let us go and do likewise.
