Behind the Scenes of Biblical Scenes, Pt. 3
Study Guide, August 18, 2024
Pastor Clay Olsen
How remarkable that every planet in our Solar System is named after Roman gods and goddesses, except for one. Mercury is named after the Roman messenger god. Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Mars is the Roman god of war. Jupiter was the supreme god of the ancient Romans. Saturn was the king of the Titans who ruled before Jupiter. Uranus was the Roman sky god. Neptune was the Roman god of the sea. And Pluto was the Roman god of the underworld.
So every planet was named after ancient gods, except for one. Our planet already had a name… ‘Adamah’, given by God and recorded by Moses some 1500 years before the Romans were even around. Gen 1:1- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the (adamah-eres) earth.” NASU Earth is the Anglo-Saxon word which is derived from these Hebrew words meaning, ground and soil…or Earth.
But we point this out as an illustration of how mankind has a history of adding so-called gods to this world in which there is really only one God, the one True God, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End…the Lord Jesus Christ, who is one with the Holy Trinity of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All other so-called ‘gods’ or ‘goddesses’ are not gods at all…although they certainly are real! They are real spirits! Oh yes! Let’s explore as we look behind the scenes of some Biblical scenes of gods and goddesses.
Here is something that is essential to understand in order to understand what is really going on in our world around us. Yes, we live on a physical planet, but we live in a spiritual world. Underline that in your mind – We live in a spiritual world! But here is the problem: Most people of this world believe that this world is ruled by human rulers, particularly as in nations and governments and such. But it is not! No, this world is not ruled by human rulers…this world is ruled by spirit rulers, who rule the human rulers who think that they are ruling over this world.
Remember, the Apostle Paul pulled back the curtain on this world and revealed what is really going on behind the scenes in this world. Eph 6:10-13- “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” NASU
Yes, the struggle plays out in flesh and blood…it displays itself in the physical realm of people and families and governments and nations, but the push and the pull and the temptation and the deception all come from the relentless pressures from the spiritual forces of wickedness that actually do rule over this world. (The Women’s Tuesday night Life Group will be studying spiritual warfare this Fall) Remember, Daniel revealed that behind every nation’s governmental rulers are corresponding ‘spirit rulers’ that are directing and influencing the minds and hearts of those who do not belong to the One rightful ruler over the Heavens and the Earth, the Lord Jesus Christ! Oh, be very clear about this: the gods and goddesses that we see named and described in the Old and New Testaments that are referred to as the ‘Ancient gods’ are much more than ‘Ancient gods’. For although they are ‘Ancient gods’ they are very much ‘Active gods’ all around in our present world! The ‘Ancient gods’ are still ‘Active’, and they are still ruling the hearts and minds of people and nations all over this world.
If you want to read some clear examples of this, Jonathan Cahn, an American Messianic Jewish Pastor, has written a fascinating book entitled ‘The Return of the Gods’. And we will glean some thoughts from this as we look behind the scenes of some Biblical scenes of these ‘gods’ as revealed in the Scriptures. But to help us identify the true nature of these ‘gods’, again, we learn from the Apostle’s revelation that they are not gods at all. What they are is that they are demonic spirit rulers that rule alongside of their ruler…the ‘god of this world’. 2 Cor 4:3-4- “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” NASU
The Apostle John also confirms the devil’s powerful influence over this world by stating this: 1 John 5:19- “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” NASU And the NLT puts it this way: “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.” And remember what Paul stated in 2 Tim 2:26? “…and (that) they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” NASU
We are often rightfully disturbed by so many immoral and unethical things that so many in our government and in our nation are doing. But we should never be confused about ‘why’ they are doing these immoral and unethical things, because not only is their sin-nature bent toward immoral and unethical things, but the devil and his fellow demons are relentlessly driving them to choose and to do that which is immoral and unethical! And the power that the devil and his fellow demons wield over those who will not repent toward God is so strong that these unrepentant souls are in fact living as captives and doing the will of the devil in their personal lives and in their public lives. And, again, even though people are not calling these ancient gods… or demons gods…by their historical names, they are still worshipping and following these ‘gods’ nevertheless.
For example: Look who’s back? Over the last several years there has been a replica of an ancient arch that has been on tour across the world. Here is when it was on display in London, England. [Pictures of Palmyra Arch in London] And what is the history of the Palmyra Arch? One of the centers of Baal worship in ancient times was Palmyra, Syria. The Romans erected an arch there to lead to the Temple of Baal. So the worshipers of Baal would walk through the arch and approach the temple in which they would then worship and venerate their god.
So of all the replicas of ancient artifacts that could have been chosen, government leaders chose this Arch that was a part of Baal worship to go on display in New York City, in the park outside of City Hall. It also had a visit to our nation’s capitol. [Picture of Arch in DC] And isn’t this picture also a commentary on the state of our nation today?
Num 25:2-3- “For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel.” NASU So who was this god called ‘Baal’…or who was this demon god of Baal? Baal was the chief god of the Canaanites. His name meant ‘lord of Heaven’. Early on we see that Satan, who is the great counterfeiter, now gives this counterfeit god to the nations of Canaan, and even to Israel in times of their departures from God. Baal was the god of provisions and prosperity, of fruitfulness and increase, and basically, the god of materialism. Later the Greeks would refer to him as Zeus, the head of the Greek pantheon of gods.
But primarily, this demon god of Baal would pressure people to worship at the altars of materialism. Even people like Israel, who had worshipped and had been consecrated to their Maker, at times succumbed to Baal’s pressure to abandon God and to worship at the altar of the material. You see, Satan knows that human nature is prone to worshipping the things that been made more than worshipping the Maker of all good things. People are bent toward worshipping creation more than the Creator, and Satan and his demons keep pushing them more and more into the love of mammon over the love of God.
But once people or a nation turn from worshipping the Creator to worshipping created things they detour onto the road to corruption and destruction. So how do you destroy a nation…how do you destroy its people? 2 Kings 17:15-18- “They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do like them. They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.” NASU
Remember, that’s what happened to Israel in the fall of 722 B.C. to the Assyrians. And although our own nation was not brought into a covenant relationship with the Creator, like with Israel, still, just like for every person and nation on Earth, all are subject to living according to the civil righteousness that the Creator of Earth expects for all people and nations living on planet Earth. Even our Declaration of Independence gives homage and honor to our Creator as the Giver of our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…with said happiness based upon honoring the rightful rule of our Creator! But again, there is another ‘god’ that seeks to rule both people and nations. And he is that ‘god’ that Paul and John told us about. He is the ‘rebel god’ or ‘the devil’ that is behind the other ‘gods’, or demons, that seek to deceive and destroy both people and nations.
So that is why Baal is back. And even though Americans don’t call their worship at the altar of materialism ‘Baal’, they still worship there just the same. But now notice that whenever people turn from worshipping the Creator to worshipping the things of creation, they also fall into the worship of another so-called god as well…for that passage went on to say…‘and (they) made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal’. So now we have another god…Asherah, or Ashtoreth, as we also see in the Bible. And who is this? Asherah or Ashtoreth is first a ‘demon’, remember? But Asherah was connected with Baal, and often appears as his wife or consort. In the Canaanite world, she was also called Astarte. In Babylon she was Ishtar. To the Greeks she was Aphrodite. And to the Romans…Venus. And if Baal was thought to be the lord of heaven, Ashtoreth was thought to be the queen of heaven. But what Asherah really was, what she really was the queen of, is that she was the queen of immorality! And if there is one idol or god or goddess that is worshipped in our own country today it is ‘Asherah’…this goddess of immorality. And along with this immorality Asherah was also ‘the destroyer’, particularly the destroyer of marriages and families. Asherah worship not only promoted physical relationships apart from the covenant of marriage, but also promoted physical relationships apart from the created order of humanity itself, causing confusion among genders and the destruction of families and communities. Asherah worship has swept over much of the American landscape today, destroying marriages and families and industries and institutions and universities, and much of the government.
But wherever you have the worship of Asherah, the worship of immorality, you will also find the worship of another god…and that is the god of Molech. Because once you sacrifice morality on the altar of immorality, you will then need to sacrifice the fruit of that immorality. Remember what followed the worship of Asherah and Baal? “Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him.” And Jeremiah described what it was like for the nation that had turned away from God to follow these gods of the nations, right before the destruction of Judah: Jer 32:31-35- “Indeed this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from before My face, because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger — they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction. But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” NASU
Molech worship involved human sacrifice, particularly the sacrifice of children, a sin the Lord called an abomination so inhumane that it wouldn’t even enter His mind to do it. The Lord calls it an ‘abomination’. The world calls it ‘abortion’. It’s the same thing. But if you worship at the altar of Asherah, or immorality, you move on to sacrificing the children to Molech, in abortion. Child sacrifice was the essence of Molech worship. And it’s also striking to learn that the setting of Molech worship in the land of Israel was ‘in the valley of Ben-Hinnom’. Why does this ring a bell? Hinnom had been the place where the idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children to Molech. After the Exile, in order to show their abhorrence of this location, the Jews made this valley the dumping ground for the city. Plus, for the destruction of the debris, a fire was supposedly kept constantly burning there. And so, this valley of Hinnom became a symbol of the abode of the wicked after death. It came to signify Hell, or Gehenna, which is the Greek form of Hinnom. Jesus used this name and place to symbolize the place of future punishment. In fact, He used it eleven times in His discourses.
But how ironic that both people and nations fail to realize that in spite of people making plans and having plans for their own lives, that really, their life is always being played out between the plans of two entities. One is the plans that the Creator has for their life, which first is life itself, both temporal and then eternal through the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And second, Jesus’ plan for people who repent and receive Him, is for them to have an abundant life in following His will of blessings now and in His coming kingdom. But the other entity…the devil, also has plans for every person’s life. And for those who will not repent and receive Christ as their God and their Savior, he has plans for the destruction of their life, especially in Gehenna. His name is ‘the Destroyer’. And his plans for the unsaved is – ‘to steal, to kill, and to destroy.’ (Jn. 10:10)
And the way that this unholy god of this world destroys people’s lives is that he pushes them to go ahead and live out their own plans for their lives, as long as their plans don’t include surrendering to God and God’s plan for their lives. And, since he knows that people are religious by nature, and that they are going to worship something or someone, through the help of his fellow demons, he gives them gods for them to worship. And even if they don’t call them by name, like Baal, and Asherah, and Molech, still, they will be worshipping what these demon gods are pushing them to worship, like so many unrepentant Americans are worshipping the god of materialism, the god of immorality, and the god of child sacrifice…abortion. But those gods always destroy both people and nations!
And that’s why we both pray and communicate the Gospel of salvation righteousness for people in our nation, and we pray and call for civil righteousness to be lived out in our nation. For civil righteousness exalts a nation, but sin destroys it.
Ps 2:10-12- “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” NASU
(Some information gratefully gleaned from The Return of the Gods, Jonathan Cahn)