idols

false gods, false worship, idols, self-worship, truth

Rachel’s household gods, and worshiping idols

Posted on December 12, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Pixabay, free to use

Worshiping false gods has always been a problem for mankind. God is one, there is but one God. (Isaiah 46:9, 1 Corinthians 8:6). Yet mankind insists on creating idols and gods made of stone and wood, idols which can do nothing. (Isaiah 41:29).

I am reading through Genesis. Because human nature is displayed honestly, there are many parts which sadden me. However, there is one which saddens me more than the others. When Jacob prepared to leave his father-in-law Laban, Rachel stole and hid the household idols to bring with her. The fact that household idols existed in a house of a man and his family who worshiped the one true God is a terrible thing. Had Jacob been lax in his duty to God in leading his family? Had Rachel become so enamored of the false god idols that she could not bear to leave them behind? Apparently so. Worse, when Laban came looking for his idols, knowing they had been stolen, Rachel pretended to be in the throes “of the way of women” so that she would not be asked to rise from her saddle so Laban could check her saddle bags. And of course that is where Rachel had hidden them. Her theft prompted a lie which devolved into a contention between her husband that in order to conclude, required a ritual covenant and witnessing of their relationship not to harm each other again.

Worshiping false gods never, ever leads to a betterment of the human spirit. It always leads to a worsening.

Here is a list of False gods that people in the Old Testament worshiped, sources MacArthur Study Bible and Bible Gateway.

Rachel’s household gods. (Genesis 31:19).
The golden calf at Sinai. (Exodus 32)
Nanna, the moon god of Ur, worshiped by Abraham prior to his salvation. (Joshua 24:2)
Asherah or Ashtaroth, the chief goddess of Tyre,referred to as the Lady of the Sea. (Judges 6:24-32).
Dagon, the chief Philistine Agriculture and sea god, father of Baal. (Judges 16:23-30; 1 Samuel 5:1-7).
Ashtoreth, a Canaanite goddess another consort of Baal. (1 Samuel 7:3-4).
Molech, the god of the Ammonites and the most horrible idol in the scriptures. (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Chronicles 28:14; 33:6).
The two golden images made by King Jeroboam, set up at the shrines of Dan and Bethel. (1 Kings 12:28-31).
Baal, the chief deity of Canaan. (1 Kings 18:17-40; 2 Kings 10:28, 11:18).
Rimmon, the Syrian god of Naaman the leper. (2 Kings 5:15-19).
Nisroch, the Assyrian god of Sennacherib. (2 Kings 19:37).
Nebo, the Babylonian god of wisdom and literature. (Isaiah 46:1).
Merodach, also called Marduk, the chief god of the Babylonian pantheon. (Jeremiah 50:2).
Tammuz, the husband and brother of Ishtar (Asherah) goddess of fertility. (Ezekiel 8:14).
The golden image in the plain of Dura. (Daniel 3).
Amon god of Thebes. (Jeremiah 46:25)
Baal-Zebub, a popular deity of the Philistines. (Mt 12:24, Lk 11:15; 2Ki 1:1-6, 16-17)
Chemosh, the chief god of Moab (1 Kings 11:7).

There is another idol that was brought to my mind. Moses was told by God to make the brazen serpent and lift it up, that anyone looking upon it would be saved from death by poisonous snake bite. The pole with the brazen snake was originally a good thing, a true God-given miracle. However, given the nature of humankind to transfer worship from the true God to false idols, by the time we read of Israel’s history in 2 Kings 18:4, the Israelites had made an idol of it and burned incense to it. The bronze snake had become an object of idolatrous worship, having transferred their affection from God in heaven to a bronze statue.

We remember the very first idol of all. The root-idol from which all OT idols flow (And NT idols) is self and that self-worship is expressed in pride. Pride- an evil which originated in heaven, and was transferred down to earth by the serpent. (Ezekiel 28:15; Genesis 3:1). Pride is the worship of one’s self, one’s ways, ideas, decisions. It is reliance on one’s self and not upon God. All idols are man-made and therefore all idol worship is really worship of self. (Psalm 115:4).

Pride is defined as “inordinate self-esteem.” Yet our esteem should be totally upon God, His Son and His Spirit. What have we to commend ourselves that we should esteem our selves so highly? Sin? Deceit? Perversion? Depravity? That is what is in us, without God. No, these things are not commendable at all, but condemnable.

Pride is viewed as a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belong rightly to God alone. The sinfulness of pride is condemned as evil 1Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 21:4; James 4:16 See also Mark 7:22-23; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 1 John 2:16. Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes

One day our Holy God will destroy all idols and false gods!

And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:2).

and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands; (Micah 5:13).

The LORD will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations. (Zephaniah 2:11)

And in the time of the end of the end, when all the world is folded under the umbrella of one religion, worshiping the final false god through the whore of Babylon, God will destroy it.

For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. (Revelation 18:8)

We are grateful for His deliverance to us His Son, the means by which we can and do believe which is the Spirit, and for the Father who is sovereign over all. We worship the one true God. May it never be so that we transfer our faith in Him even an inch, not even for an hour, to any man-made idol. Worshiping Him in righteousness is so much sweeter than tasting our own pride, depravity, and sin, which is always bitter. The sweetness of belief in God is unimaginably wonderful. Not that it’s easy, But trusting in and worshiping our One True God is sweet, because it is life itself!

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31).

glory, idols, jesus, nepal, repent, wrath

Everest/Nepal quake: "I don’t know where somewhere else is"

Posted on April 26, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

On Saturday, April 25, a powerful “7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal,” reports the UK Guardian. The latest update states that the-

“death toll has risen to more than 2,500. More than 5,000 people have been injured. Powerful aftershocks today between Kathmandu and Everest unleashed more avalanches in the Himalayas and caused panic in the capital, where hospital workers stretchered patients out into the street as it was too dangerous treat them indoors.”

O Nepal, your Buddha cannot help you.
Repent and turn to the Living God: Jesus the Christ. Source.

Videos of the quake occurring at Base Camp Mt. Everest are starting to surface. This video appears to show the quake and avalanche as it is occurring. Warning: The video contains strong language. The videographer says the “F-word” numerous times. At the beginning he emerges from his tent, saying, “The ground is shaking!” Then he sees the white wall of ice and snow coming and the chaos (and profanity) begins.

The UK Guardian reports: At least 17 people believed to have been killed on Everest, and 61 injured, by an avalanche which left mountaineers calling for helicopter assistance to evacuate the most badly wounded.

In this report, the computerized news reader quotes a witness, who said,

Everybody [the climbers] are pretty much in rescue mode. But this is different from an independent climbing accident where people can be rescued and taken somewhere else. I don’t know where somewhere else is.”

And that is what broke my heart. The widespread devastation in Nepal due to the quake is terrible and it will take the country some time to recover. I watched another video of the immediate aftermath in Katmandu and the people were screaming and terrified, rubble all around and nowhere to go for safety. Worse is the man’s surprised and terrified reaction on Base Camp Everest, the world’s tallest and mightiest mountain, when he perceived the ground under him was shaking. A strong and massive mountain like Everest, just shaking like a bowl of jello.

This video below really is shocking. It shows an aftershock, in neighboring Tibet. It is not the original quake and it is not in Nepal, so you can imagine the shaking that went on there. It is footage from CCTV-

https://embed.theguardian.com/embed/video/world/video/2015/apr/26/cctv-aftershocks-tibet-nepal-earthquake-video

But worst of all is…The Tribulation. Plagues, war, famine, chaos, meteors, and earthquakes and more will be common. Common. By the grace of God, the humanitarian organization World Vision is already on scene in Nepal. In the Tribulation, no one will know where “somewhere else” is. No one will be flying in with medical kits and compassion, for sin will be running rampant, and even if they could fly in, resources will be too scarce…and then another disaster will hit and that will be that.

There will be nowhere else to seek healing, refuge, comfort. The disasters that will plunge the world into darkness, chaos and sin will be occurring one after another. If you can horrifyingly imagine the Nepal Quake on Saturday and the Banda Aceh tsunami the next day and meteors fly in on Monday and a plague ramping up on Tuesday…that is what it will be like for the people left behind to face God’s wrath during that period. Where will they go? To whom will they turn?

Jesus.

He certainly offers salvation now, in the Age of Grace. In the Tribulation, God’s wrath will be poured out but He will have mercy on those who repent and give Him glory. (Revelation 11:13). He will offer salvation then in His Day of Wrath just as He does now. His compassion will be still evident in the Tribulation when He sends an angel to fly at mid-heaven during the Tribulation to proclaim to the people,
And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Revelation 14:7.

It is good advice we can take now. You do not want your worst enemy to go through it.

Share the Gospel with someone today, so they will hear and perhaps believe. The time coming, soon many think, will be horrific beyond belief, a thousand Nepal quakes all at once… and no one will know where “somewhere else is.”

But those who turn to the Living God will always have refuge in Him and a home in heaven.

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ISIS threatens to conquer Rome and break the Vatican’s crosses

Posted on October 14, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

ISIS, also known as Islamic State, publishes a glossy, slick magazine each month called Dabiq. It is propaganda, of course, but it is a nice production. In this month’s issue, the Islamic State threatened to conquer Rome and break the Vatican’s crosses.

The Clarion Project explains the magazine’s name:

Dabiq is a place in Syria that is supposed to be the location for one of the final battles according to certain Muslim myths about a final apocalypse. Choosing such a name for the magazine highlights the Caliphate’s goals.

In their eschatology, Sunni Muslims believe they must ignite a holy war to prove to Muhammad that they are serious about worshiping Allah and serious in seeking for Muhammad to return in ‘the last hour.’

The magazine is full of exhortations from “Allah”. They call westerners who are opposed to them “Crusaders”, whether they are military or Christian. Here is one example of their latest rhetoric:

From magazine Dabiq, page 37, Issue 4, The Final Crusade

This certainty was echoed by Shaykh Abū Muham – mad al-’Adnānī (hafidhahullāh) in his last speech when he said, “And so we promise you [O crusaders] by Allah’s permission that this campaign will be your final campaign. It will be broken and defeated, just as all your previous campaigns were broken and defeated, except that this time we will raid you thereafter, and you will never raid us. We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women, by the permission of Allah, the Exalted. This is His promise to us; He is glorified and He does not fail in His promise. If we do not reach that time, then our children and grandchildren will reach it, and they will sell your sons as slaves at the slave market” [Indeed Your Lord Is Ever Watchful].

In other sections, the authors of the magazine reiterate that after conquering the Vatican they will sell all the women they capture into slavery. The magazine is full of articles with titles like “The Revival of Slavery: Before the Hour”, and “In the Words of the Enemy” (US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel) and gruesome pictures of beheaded people and the slain ‘Crusaders’.

The cover photo of the current issue (October 2014) is of an image of the Vatican with a photoshopped ISIS flag atop the Vatican obelisk.

In May 2014, Pope Francis met with Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Hussein, and pointed to the fraternal dialogue and exchange between Christians and Muslims, this quote is from Vatican Radio Archives:

Dear brothers, dear friends, from this holy place I make a heartfelt plea to all people and to all communities who look to Abraham: may we respect and love one another as brothers and sisters! May we learn to understand the sufferings of others! May no one abuse the name of God through violence! May we work together for justice and peace! Salaam!

In September 2014, “Pope Francis Slams Extremists Who ‘Pervert Religion‘” saying,

“May no one use religion as a pretext for actions against human dignity and against the fundamental rights of every man and woman, above all to the right to life and the right of everyone to religious freedom,” he said. … Islamic State has declared a “caliphate” in the territories they control and have killed or driven out large numbers of Christians, Shi’ite Muslims and others who do not subscribe to their hardline version of Sunni Islam.

The acts of ISIL ARE Islam. They are the religious center, the non-violent Muslims are the extremists. Needless to say, the Pope’s entreaties are going ignored.

Islam is not a religion of peace. But God is using it to bring about His final peace, the Prince of Peace who will rule with a rod of iron, and minister justice to all the nations. He warned the ancient Ninevites (present day ISIL) against their unceasing evil, saying through Prophet Nahum,

An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. God’s Wrath Against Nineveh 2The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. 3The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. (Nahum 1:1-3)

As long as a Muslim is praying to Allah, he has forsaken the only steadfast love there is. (Jonah 2:8). But as long as a Muslim draws breath, even one involved in an unholy war as the ISIS men are, he will receive mercy if he repents. (1 John 1:19).

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Two sacred cows … examining the idolatry of UGA football, & idolizing your children

Posted on September 2, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I’m going to poke a wasp’s nest here by looking at two sacred cows. “Sacred cow” is an American idiom.

“The idiom is based on the popular understanding of the elevated place of cows in Hinduism and appears to have emerged in America in the late 19th century. A literal sacred cow or sacred bull is an actual cow or bull that is treated with sincere reverence. A figurative sacred cow is something else that is considered immune from question or criticism, especially unreasonably so.” [Wikipedia source]

The sacred cows are: making children your idol, and University of Georgia football. UGA football is a particularly virulent strain of idolatrous football in general.

We all agree that the run-of-the-mill kind of idolatry is bad. We all agree that work could be an idol and that’s bad. Shopping and consumerism could be an idol. Our car or our hobby could be an idol. When bringing them up in a Christian context, people agree that we should ratchet back down from those and put them in their proper place.

GotQuestions defines idolatry as:

“The definition of idolatry, according to Webster, is “the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.” An idol is anything that replaces the one, true God. The most prevalent form of idolatry in Bible times was the worship of images that were thought to embody the various pagan deities.”

One example of an ancient deity formed into an image is the fish deity Dagon. This is how the LORD views idols and what He did to Dagon-

“When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.” (1 Samuel 5:1-5)

There aren’t many pagan idols whom worshipers dance in front of today, but they still exist here and there. The Burning Man festival is one. I wrote about that festival earlier in the week. This is a festival where scantily clad people cavort in the Black Rock desert of Nevada for a week, drinking, fornicating, looking at profane art installations, and culminate their week with a revival of a Celtic festival in which an effigy of a man in burned. When the man is burned, they dance and worship in similar style to the Hebrews dancing and having an orgy before the Golden Calf. Just as the Golden Calf was an idol through which they blasphemed God, (Exodus 32:4, Nehemiah 9:18), it can be said that the Burning Man is an idol through which they blaspheme God also.

Source SF Chronicle

Any Buddhist shrine is an idol, where a figure of Buddha is graven and people leave presents for and bow down to him in worship.

Buddhist shrine just outside Wat Phnom. Source Wikipedia

But an idol doesn’t have to be a figure in which the person bows down to or worships in front of. An intangible thing may become an idol. In this way, it lurks in the heart and displaces or replaces God as the primary focus of worship.

Remember, the short definition of idolatry was, ‘excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.’ In this way, as I mentioned above, work, hobbies, shopping, or cars could displace God either temporarily or permanently as the primary focus of worship or devotion.

There are two idols that we rarely speak of being an idol, and if we do, people have a hard time seeing what is wrong with loving them so much. These idols are sacred cows. We aren’t supposed to question whether they are becoming an idol in a person’s life. Remember a sacred cow is something else that is considered immune from question or criticism, especially unreasonably so.

The two idols are Children. And Football. Especially University of Georgia Bulldog football.

It seems strange that a person could make their child an idol. But the flesh can make anything an idol, even the ‘good’ of loving your child. Anything that takes the place of God as primary in our heart could be an idol- including children.

In the video below, Todd Friel explains about children as an idol. I’ll transcribe and then post the video below.

“So how is it that a child can be an idol? It isn’t the baby itself, it is our attitude toward the child. And that really goes for just about anything. Even this thing, whatever it is. [Picks up decorative statue]. ‘Ohhh, I love that. I’ve got to get more of those! I need to spend time cleaning this, it’s the most beautiful…’ That’s an idol. How can something that’s an inanimate object become an idol. I guess any other god besides the true God is an inanimate object. Anyway, it’s a heart issue. Mom, Dad, love your kids. … Enjoy your kids. Did you see the recent Time Magazine cover? ‘Is it Better To Not Have Kids?’ with a picture of a couple laying on the beach, like that’s the quality life. That’s the good life. No. It’s not. Having children, is. They are a blessing from God and they should be enjoyed. But, like virtually everything else, they can be an idol. Watch that line.“

Are you a parent who has made their children their idol? Even to the exclusion of the husband? And to the exclusion of God? Where every thought, every action is focused on the children? Where every conversation is about the children? If the idolatrous mom or dad switched their child’s name in conversation for God’s name, how much more would someone think the person was weird? Yet excessive devotion to children seems like it is a good thing. It is not good, if they have become your idol.

In this essay on Motherhood in Focus on the Family, Tosha Wlliams wrote, “Taking care of our children, even going beyond the call of duty for them, is not the issue, though. The heart of the matter is that nobody, not even our kids, should have a higher place in our hearts than God, lest they become our idols.“

Consider these questions:

Do you ever break away from your children — no matter their ages — and spend time alone with God?
Do you intentionally communicate with Him as much as you do with your kids?
Do you regularly focus on getting more of God instead of getting more for your kids?
Do your kids see you read your Bible as much as they see you watch TV?
Is your relationship with God a higher priority than anything else in your life — even more important than teaching your child the alphabet, cooking healthy meals or getting your kids into Little League?

The total focus and attention of our lives should be God first, then spouse then children. However the parent who idolizes their child is thought to be a good parent and the person who speaks of God as often is thought to be a weird person to be avoided. Like Mr Friel says, watch that balance.

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College football started this weekend. Around here in the University of Georgia-land, UGA Bulldog football takes on a life of its own. The team is regularly place in the top ten of college ball, and football is revered anyway from tot squads on up to Pro ball. Football is a way of life around here.

Daniel Ausbun of First Baptist Church, Moreland published a very well-written essay on modern idolatry. In it, he asked, “How would someone know if they’re practicing idolatry? We must look at the state of our hearts. On Saturdays does Georgia football completely dominate and take-over our thinking? If you have a desire or joy for something more than God, you’re an idolater.”

Enjoying your children isn’t idolatrous. Attending and enjoying a football game is not idolatrous. However, it becomes so when excessive devotion looms in the heart. Does Saturday football consume you? Do you plan for your Saturday football all week? Does the game, win or lose, impact your worship the next day? Do you stay home from church because you’re tired the next morning? Did you fail to adequately prepare your Sunday School lesson for Sunday’s class? Do you feel hateful toward other people as you go to church? Or feel downcast, depressed, or angry at that last-minute call the referee made? If you do, you’re a football idolater.

Even after 7 football seasons here in GA I can’t believe the idolatry of the UGA devotion to Bulldogs. In the very short clip above, Todd Friel of Wretched TV asked Kevin Hynes, Fellowship of Christian Athletes Campus Director (FCA) about the excessive devotion to football, and the UGA bulldog in particular.

“We have to be careful we don’t cross a line in praising the gift rather than the giver.” ~Todd Friel

Here is the transcript of the Football clip above Hynes and Friel talking:

“This is something you don’t normally see. Where the guys come running out of the tunnel over there, but over here, this is the mascot. ‘Go Dawgs’, right?

Hynes: Uga.

Friel: Uga, U-G-A, I just got that, lol! Maybe I need to go back to school. So this is the mascot [pointing to a statue of the bulldog]

Hynes: It’s a replica of the mascot of the dog running around on the field.

Friel: So it’s a real dog running around on the field. What happens to the real dog when the real dog dies?

Hynes: Well, they have a service, to celebrate the dog’s life, and then they entomb him behind us.

Friel: Right in these little things right here.

Hynes: Yes.

Friel: They each get a plaque. See, “This dog was gone too soon”… this one, “A big dog for a big job and he handled it well” … So they get a little plaque commemorating their lives.

Hynes: Yes.

Friel: Now this could be an example of going a little bit too far with how much we love the sport, or connect a symbol with an affection. In other words, maybe…it has become idolatry?

Hynes: Absolutely.

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Do you idolize your kids? Do you idolize UGA football, or any sport? Watch out!!

“Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (1 Corinthians 10:7).

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14)

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Obama parties right on through the writing on the wall

Posted on April 10, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I read last night that the Obama family hosted yet another party at the White House. It was the 10th in the “In Performance at the White House” series since Obama took office, according to the article in The Blaze. Opponents have criticized the White House’s lavish parties as the administration continues to warn about the disastrous effects of the sequester. Fox News’ “Hannity” mockingly referred to the party as a “sequestration celebration.” The excessive partying and vacationing by Obama and his entourage reminds me of another king in former times. More on that in a minute. As far as the cost of these parties and vacations tot he American public, one website toted up the cost of Obama’s Hawaii vacations as exceeding 20M. Michelle Obama’s ski weekend in Aspen alone cost $83,182.99 according to Judicial Watch.

As Obama and his family and entourage party in high, lordly style, on the backs of his minions (us), he is also promoting a devastatingly Godless agenda that contains homosexuality, sodomy in the military, same sex marriage, abortion and live post-birth abortion, financial malfeasance, easier access to drugs, more difficult access to medical help for the ill, oppression of the poor and much much more. God does not like this agenda. He never has, and He never will.

That is why Hannity blew up, because while the money is supposed to be sequestered, plenty of it paid for this lavish party.

This comes on the heels last year of Obama celebrating his 50th birthday in lavish style in Chicago, renting an ornate ballroom costing $40,000 per night and hosting celebrities who paid up to $38,000 to attend. That was done despite a Chinese credit rating agency downgrading the US, reported the UK Daily Mail.

The ornately decorated Aragon Ballroom,
where the lavish birthday party is being held

While this is going on, the ailing budget process as demonstrated by sequester, is not the only thing that is ailing. The economy is terrible and many millions of folks in America are suffering along with it. There are soup lines, food stamps, joblessness, scavenging to survive, and desperation- people are actually living underground now, the real underground- in Kansas City

Kansas City Star

Amid this stress and poverty, Obama and his family think nothing of charging massive bills to the American taxpayer for their endless vacations, dinners, jaunts, and parties. The latest party was Tuesday night (April 9, 2013).

Reactions to the parties the lords and ladies are having on the backs of the people caused a harsh reaction in newscaster Sean Hannity. The headline reads, “Hannity Explodes at Former Obama Adviser After He Tries to Defend Obama’s Music Party: ‘You’re on Drugs! You Can’t Be Serious!’

Oh, but Obama is.

I mentioned above that Obama reminds of of another king. Belshazzar. Remember him from Daniel 5? The one where the finger of God appeared and write the handwriting on the wall while the king was partying? Here is the passage:

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. (Daniel 5:1-6)

Daniel told the king, “The Lord in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” (Daniel 5:23). The writing turned out to be translated “you have been weighed in the scales and found wanting” and that very night the King was killed.

The chapter is very interesting. Daniel tells King Belshazzar that his father Nebuchadnezzar was made to eat grass like the oxen and for 7 years lived as a beast and afterward humbled himself before the Holy God of heaven. But though Belshazzar knew all this, he still opposed God and refused to humble himself. He lifted up a toast to profane things and idols, and for that, God slew him.

God raises up kings and he takes them down, all in His timing. The bottom line is that we have a king of the united States that seems to be wanting, in the Godliness department. Worse, this state of godlessness seems not to bother him, despite the fact that Obama knows all this.

God weeps when men refuse grace (Luke 19:41) but He is still angry over sin and idol worship.

“God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Psalm 7:11)

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (Romans 1:18).

For the people who despair over having such a king in our White House, or any king who sets himself up in any part of the world, despair not! Our Lord and our God is not waiting to send wrath, He already IS sending wrath. He sends grace to us but He is wrathful over idolatry, godlessness, and the wicked living in profane ways.

Our own king Belshazzar will stand before a holy God one day. Nothing we can say on this earth in anger or heated political discussions, or even around the table at family dinners, can come near what God Himself will say to him on the Day. Keep praying for our leaders and take heart that grace is here and justice will come.